22nd September 2011
Development and Faith
I have just returned from a short visit to London, where I took the opportunity to meet Chris Bain, the Director of CAFOD, the principal Catholic charity in England and Wales (its main partners in the United Kingdom are SCIAF in Scotland, and Trocaire in Northern Ireland – which also operates in the Republic of Ireland).
CAFOD raised £56m in 2010/11, of which £55m was spent on international development projects, disaster relief, development education, advocacy and campaigning and governance work in over developing countries. The British government contributed some of that funding, and was happy to do so as it recognises that CAFOD’s grassroots work ensures that its assistance and development money gets to the people it is meant to support. But it is worth highlighting that two thirds of the money CAFOD raised, or £37m, came directly from the British public, principally the Catholic community in England and Wales.
I wanted to talk to Chris to see how the embassy might help in our work together – through the British government, the Holy See and its international development arm Caritas Internationalis, and the NGO sector including charities like CAFOD – to ensure that development aid is well targeted, well co-ordinated and well spent. I got plenty of ideas. But I also came away marvelling at the extraordinary generosity of the British people. CAFOD is one of the six largest British NGOs. But they, and others like Oxfam, Save the Children or Christian Aid, simply could not do their work if the British public did not believe it worthwhile, understanding very clearly that – for all Britain’s problems – we also have a moral obligation to support countries and peoples less fortunate than ourselves.
Chris Bain has said that: “The fact that the government is still holding on to its promise to commit 0.7% of the national income to overseas aid is something we should be proud of”. I happen to agree. But I am even more proud of the way so many millions of British people – in addition to contributing through their taxes – are prepared to support organisations like CAFOD by giving, and giving generously.