CAFOD
CAFOD is the Catholic Agency for Overseas development. It is a member of Caritas International, a world network of Catholic Relief and Development organisations. It works with some of the poorest communities of the world, listening to their needs and helping them find their own solutions. CAFOD works with all people regardless of race, gender, religion or nationality.
Fast days
In 1969 a group of catholic women organised the first Family Fast day to raise funds for health care in the island of Dominica in the Caribbean. The following year the catholic bishops of England and Wales set up CAFOD to promote fast days as a way of raising money to help the poor. There are two during the year, one at the start of Lent and the second at Harvest time. Lent is traditionally the time of year when catholics are encouraged to think of others in need. I am very happy to relate that despite the credit crunch fund-raising during Lent 2009 has gone extremely well. Over the years the demands to set up development programmes and the need to produce emergency relief have staggeringly increased and as a result many church communities and catholic schools raise funds in many other ways.
Campaigns
A major part of CAFOD’s work is campaigning. At present the most important campaign supported by CAFOD is for Climate Justice. At its recent launch campaigners were calling on Gordon Brown to put the needs of poor communities at the heart of a fair and binding global climate change deal when world leaders meet for talks in Copenhagen at the end of the year. We must remember that drought, floods and extreme weather conditions will intensify with climate change and threaten to reverse the progress made towards eradicating poverty in the developing world. CAFOD is being continually reminded by their workers on development projects about how climate change is already affecting poor communities. Millions of people are being pushed deeper into poverty because of extreme weather conditions yet they have done the least to cause the situation. Poverty is not a misfortune but an injustice and we must do everything in our power to eradicate it.
Local contact:
Elizabeth Donoghue
Tel. 735758