Can we end poverty?
Do you really want to know?

Donate now and save this starving child! It’s a familiar refrain that is echoed in TV ads, website banners, on the sides of buses and in our newspapers.

It works too. In Australia child sponsorship programs bring in hundreds of millions of dollars every year to ‘tackle poverty.’ But beyond the emotional pull of such images, carefully crafted to elicit guilt and get money, the question remains; do they really work?

Well the answer, like most things is complicated.

Reading the fine print of many of these child sponsorship sales pitches informs you that the money doesn’t actually go to the person, usually a child, depicted on the sign up form. Funds are now most often distributed to the entire community.

This is a recent development and has come about in clear recognition that it is only through assisting an entire community that our aid money can ever really make a sustained difference.

These sales pitches, where the donor is asked to virtually purchase a child for upwards of $30 per month, propose difficult ethical questions for aid organisations. Yet they deliver such huge benefits in terms of earnings for the agencies, that sometimes the ethical issues don’t get much consideration.

Caritas Australia, the international aid and development agency of the Catholic Church very clearly chooses not to promote child sponsorship.

We believe it is far better to help whole communities through our partner organisations than to sponsor individuals. A village well, a community school, a trained primary health worker; these can all help to improve life for everyone, rather than just an individual child.

Some sponsorship schemes do support projects that benefit the community, but even then, the mechanics of sponsoring, recording the progress of each child, translating letters, taking photos costs a lot of money. This is money which is being spent on the needs of the donor, not of the child.

Many organizations that promote child sponsorship mention their community focus in the fine print because the power of the emotional pull of the young child, full of potential, is a much stronger trigger to give than the community based method. Child sponsorship creates a strong personal connection between the well meaning giver and the child. The added bonus is you can see the picture of that child on your fridge and it proves a valuable educational tool for your own, relatively well off children, that life is not so good for everyone.

There are many hundreds of organisations involved in international development in Australia. Internationally there are many thousands of organisations who aim to assist those living in dire poverty.

It is often difficult for the person who wants to make a difference, to choose between the many groups who do this. The competition in the aid and development sector, in large part due to the growing awareness of international poverty issues, is exceedingly diverse.

Where is the greatest need?

Many groups who are engaged with tackling poverty have a religious connection, like Caritas Australia. Yet Caritas Australia does not ever proselytise, or attempt to convert people to Catholicism or any other religion. Similarly we do not discriminate on any measure except need.

Regardless of the religion, ethnicity, culture or gender Caritas Australia works with those who are most vulnerable. Their faith, or lack of it, is of no interest to us. Some of our partners are Catholic, others Christian, some are Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish or Hindu and some are of no religious persuasion at all. As long as they are building communities to take control of their futures, we do not discriminate.

The Caritas Australia mission, as part of the Catholic Church, clearly states that we must undertake this endeavour. We work through local partners, many of them members of the Catholic Church and the church’s network.

Tackling injustice

Caritas works for the freedom of those who are oppressed by injustice, bringing 'sight' to both those who are powerless and powerful and proclaiming to the poor the good news of their human dignity. This work is undertaken principally through the life-giving activities of humanitarian aid and long term development.

At Caritas we realise that we alone cannot effectively tackle the structures which keep communities, families and people trapped in the strictures of poverty.

The only way to effectively and sustainably tackle poverty is to assist communities and people to do it themselves.

People are the power

People here in Australia; the people who work in developing countries as our partners; the people in the communities that they in turn work with and the many hundreds of thousands of Church and community organisations and groups; people like you, are the partnership that can really tackle injustice and free the world from poverty.

Crucially we also work through people here in Australia. Caritas recognises that without practicing solidarity here in our own country, without us promoting justice both internationally and domestically, we can never effectively change the structures which keep people trapped in the cycle of poverty.

Partnership the key

Caritas Australia doesn’t parachute aid into the 35 countries in which we work. By working together, in partnership with communities on the ground; the ones who are the most affected; who best understand the local situation and culture; and who ultimately will be the guardians of change, we are best placed to deliver positive change that will be appropriate, life giving and sustainable.

Poverty is political?

Poverty is political there’s no way round that. When 1 billion people are hungry, yet the world produces more than enough food to satisfy everyone, something is fundamentally wrong. Despite the wealth in the world having never been so great we have to ask who is responsible and get our political leaders to change the situation for the better.

Caritas though is never party political. We are interested only in changing policies to benefit the poor. We fight for justice. In this pursuit, we will talk to and challenge whomever can make this happen.

Where do the dollars come from?

The vast majority of Caritas Australia’s funding comes from people like you. We get no direct funding from the Catholic Church. The remainder of our support comes from comes from governments, international institutions, trusts and foundations, plus some income from our investments and trading activities. This year, less than 15 percent came from governments and institutions. Our board has set a ceiling on how much money we can take from governments of 30 percent to ensure we can maintain our independence.

Your support making a difference

Our money goes directly to our local partners - the people working on the ground, directly responsible to the communities they are working in.

In India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, your money enabled our partners to help half a million people begin to return to some sort of normal life after the Indian Ocean tsunami.

You helped us raise the profile of the Democratic Republic of Congo in Australia, raising the profile of some of the most vulnerable women in the world and helping them to achieve their innate human dignity.

You helped us get people out on the streets for Make Poverty History and enabled us to get over a million Australians to Stand Up Against Poverty.

What about corruption?

We do not give aid to governments. That way, corrupt governments can’t misuse our funds. We do recognize that Governments are crucial to tackling the problem of poverty though and hence we do sometimes work with governments such as the groundbreaking PASHIP program in PNG, which is effectively tackling HIV in our nearest neighbour with the Australian and PNG Governments.

To ensure our partners aren’t corrupt and that our money is spent effectively, we have a detailed process for evaluating partners and projects which is as robust as any system implemented by financial institutions around the world.

The power of our network

Caritas Australia is a member of Caritas Internationalis, one of the largest aid and development networks in the world operating in over 200 countries.

When an emergency happens we collaborate through Caritas Internationlis to coordinate the responses from the many Caritas members across the globe. This increases our impact and our effectiveness by using the many and varied skills of the global Caritas staff and to bring together under one umbrella all of our combined resources.

We are also part of alliances including the global ecumenical network Action by Churches Together, the Australian Council for International Development, we receive support from the World Food Program and other multilateral bodies.

When we plan any new project, our staff and partners always check whether there are any other agencies working in the same area, and whether what we are planning to support will complement or duplicate the work they are doing.

Where to start with tackling poverty?

Every aid agency is different. Many just focus on the individual or on a particular religious or ethnic group or community. Caritas Australia works directly in over 35 countries and is focused on empowering communities to take control of their own futures.

This is harder work than just handing out food or building a hospital. Although we do conduct these activities too, our goal is to give communities the tools to take control and be sustainable. It takes a long term commitment but it is the only way we can ever truly wipe out poverty.

Child sponsorship offers an easy way to begin the learning journey about international poverty. Ultimately though, it isn’t solving the problem. Partnership is the key to solving poverty in the long term. Working together with communities on the ground and giving them the power to really change things for the better. This is how you can really make a difference. Supporting agencies like Caritas, is certainly a step in ridding the world of poverty.

You can support Caritas Australia’s long term development programs by calling 1800 024 413, posting a cheque or money order to GPO Box 9830 in your capital city, or donate online.