CAFOD, the 'Catholic Agency For Overseas Development' is a UK based international agency that is working to alleviate poverty and suffering in developing countries. CAFOD was started on March 11th 1960 when Catholic women organized a 'family fast day' in order to raise money for a mother and baby program in Dominica.
CAFOD Catholic Agency For Overseas Development
That first year they raised £6,672 to help treat babies suffering from malnutrition. By 1962 the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales had set CAFOD up officially and developed the mission 'to promote human development and social justice in witness to the Christian faith and Gospel values'.
By 1972 they were helping to fund 245 self help groups in 40 countries and in 1980 they launched their first national education program, focused in Brazil. During 1990, during the conflict in Sri Lanka CAFOD, along with their partners SEDEC, were one of the few grassroots groups able to bring aid and relief to the population.
As well as working with the people in need of help, they also donate large sums of money to help with crises and natural disasters all over the world. In 2004 they gave £4 million to help in the Darfur province in Sudan, and in 2005 they gave £9 million to help with the Asian Tsunami. Their work is mainly focused on the poor and disadvantaged communities in countries south of the equator to overcome poverty and to bring change to development and humanitarian programs.
The vision for CAFOD is "a world transformed to reflect the kingdom of God" this vision can be summed up to a world where:
To work towards their vision they often use the catholic community to not only raise money, but to rally together to challenge governments and international bodies to adopt policies that help end poverty and promote social justice. They also try to raise awareness and understanding of the cause of poverty to inspire a commitment to lasting change. During emergencies such as natural disasters they also work to protect lives and relieve suffering. Part of their work in this area is by trying to reduce the risks in venerable communities.
Today CAFOD work in over 60 countries helping the poor, the disadvantaged and those effected by emergency situations. It does this by working with more than 500 partner organizations, these are mostly local organizations staffed by local people. In Bangladesh they work to promote and fight for rights for the disabled, in Cambodia they work to protect the lives of the indigenous people from deforestation and they are working in Rwanda helping people to rebuild their lives after the wave of violence in 1994 years ago.
During the tax year 2008-2009 CAFOD had an income of £42.637 million, the large majority of this was from general donations, followed by emergency appeals, legacies and lastly government and institutional program gifts. Their expenditure was £49.7 million, 75% of this was spent on their work, with only 12% on generating funds.
Their fundraising methods are by asking for general donations, giving in memory, leaving legacies or asking people to run fundraisers at work or schools. They also offer CAFOD challenges and team runs, where people get sponsored to run. They also ask people to write not just to their local election candidates but also the PM to voice their views and bring about a change in policies.
They are also supporters of the 'robin hood tax' this is a scheme asking for a 0.05% tax on money traded by banks, this works out at 50p for every £1000 traded. If this scheme was implemented they would be able to raise £400 billion a year to fight poverty and climate change. www.cafod.org.uk