Caritas: 2009 A Year in Review

It is the start of the new year. I glance across the road and see my neighbours power-walking up the street with a younger fit man leading the way — a personal trainer I surmise. We call out to each other. They have a new year’s resolution to become fitter… too many mince pies! And yes, this is their new trainer who will help them reach their goal.

I find myself thinking, what do I want to achieve this year? I also begin to wonder: why is it so important for us to stop and think about the year that has been, to take stock of our achievements and to set new goals for the coming year?

Perhaps the answer lies in the fact that history often repeats itself. If we want a different outcome then we must be prepared to reflect, evaluate, build on our successes, and where necessary, be open to change.

As I reflect on the work of Caritas Australia over the past 12 months, I ask: have we maintained our focus? What are the successes that we could build on? And what learnings could we take away?

I am astounded by what has been achieved, especially in a climate of global financial crisis, in a world where over one billion people are now starving, and where the impacts of climate change are placing further burdens on the most marginalised of nations.

In our work, Caritas Australia has three main focus areas: we encourage long-term sustainable development, we respond to emergencies and we engage Australians in the quest to tackle poverty. We are proudly Catholic but do not limit our work to Catholics. We discriminate only upon need: regardless of race, religion, ethnicity and difference, wherever the greatest need resides is where you will find us working.

Unlike some aid agencies, we don’t focus on individuals. It is our belief learned through decades of experience, that the best way to attain a just world is to tackle the structures which perpetuate poverty, and to provide a helping hand to communities, building on the strengths already present there.

It was a horrific start to 2009 with news coming out about a Christmas Day massacre in the Congo. Violence also escalated in the Gaza Strip destroying a Caritas Gaza Medical Clinic.

In Sri Lanka, hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) became caught up in the Sri Lankan Government’s push to oust the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam). Without taking sides, Caritas Australia raised concerns about the humanitarian plight of those affected in these conflicts as they unfolded, calling on the Australian Government to take action to stop the violence. We also delivered humanitarian aid through our international networks and partners on the ground.

Though not confined to poor countries or communities, poverty and conflict tragically often go hand-in-hand in a self-perpetuating cycle. From Sri Lanka to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), closer to home in Bougainville and all the way to Sudan, Caritas Australia was there in 2009, delivering assistance through immediate aid and longer-term peace-building efforts.

The events in the DRC, Gaza and Sri Lanka were followed by disaster in Australia with the Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria, resulting in Australia’s highest ever loss of life from a bushfire. While Caritas Australia is primarily involved in international emergency responses, because of our extensive experience in dealing with disasters, we were able to offer support to St Vincent de Paul and other agencies to help them cope with the scale of the disaster and response.

At the same time, Caritas Australia was responding to floods in the Solomon Islands. Severe flooding on the main island of Guadalcanal and neighbouring Savo Island washed away homes and bridges, affecting 1,800 families.

Later in the year, the Asia-Pacific region suffered immensely with a devastating earthquake in Indonesia, flooding in the Philippines, Cambodia and Vietnam, a tsunami in Samoa and Tonga, an earthquake in West Sumatra, flooding in India and then, south Asian rains triggered landslides in Nepal.



In response to unprecedented concurrent disasters in our region, Caritas Australia opened its Communities in Crisis Appeal in addition to individual country appeals. So far, generous supporters have contributed over $236,000 to this appeal.

Caritas is there before, during and after the devastation, and our response, in addition to meeting immediate needs for water, shelter, food and medical supplies, includes providing disaster-risk reduction and protection initiatives. Through our network operating in 200 countries around the world, in 2009 Caritas Australia worked to save lives and rebuild communities following disaster.

While responding to disasters and crises, in February, Caritas launched Blueprint for a Better World, a nationwide interactive exhibition about the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the global effort to eradicate poverty. This joint venture between Caritas Australia and AusAID (the Government Agency responsible for managing Australia’s aid program) aims to educate Australians about the MDGs and invites them to take action.



The community spirit and engagement which this exhibition has generated has been phenomenal. The outstanding work of our volunteers and Diocesan Directors to bring the exhibition to their communities must be applauded.

After the Brisbane launch, the exhibition continued around Queensland before travelling to Western Australia, South Australia and Victoria. In 2010, the exhibition continues its journey around Australia.

February 2009 also saw the launch of Project Compassion, Caritas Australia’s largest fundraising campaign which raised over $8.69 million. This was a remarkable achievement considering the uncertain economic climate and the immense generosity of Australians in response to the Victorian bushfires.

Our Project Compassion materials featured Teopista from Uganda. Recently, Teopista was elected to the local government, an outstanding achievement for a woman who was only formally educated to primary school level.



Other exhibitions and events we supported in 2009 included the Human Rights Film Festival, Make Poverty History Stand Up event, the Darfur Australian Network’s Far to Here Exhibition, and the Parkston Photographic Exhibition.

At Caritas Australia we believe that the intractable nature of poverty will never be solved unless we are prepared to take responsibility and action. In early March, our Be More website, an online platform for promoting action for social justice, went live with over 260 people signing up in the first month. This was followed later in the year by the extremely successful “Be More Weekend” with over 6,500 participants committing to the challenge.

In 2009, advocacy work also played an important role in Caritas Australia’s work. We believe that giving voice to the most impoverished and marginalised communities is crucial to developing a better world.

Through our policy work and developmental practice, Caritas Australia helped to improve access for people with a disability, supporting disability empowerment projects in four countries.
In April 2009, Down to Earth, an Indonesian partner of Caritas Australia, produced an incredible resource entitled Forests for the Future.



Written by indigenous communities in Indonesia, this publication illustrates that indigenous communities who have preserved and lived off the forests for thousands of years still have much to offer the future work of forest and livelihood protection.

Later in the year, Caritas Australia released a ground-breaking report, Food the Fundamental Right, which advocated for a clear focus on the right to food and explored how soaring food prices and the financial crisis have for the first time seen up to one billion people at risk of starvation.
This report was followed by the publication of resources for Simply Sharing Week which encouraged Australians to learn about and become more involved in social justice issues. In 2009, the focus was on food.

By demonstrating their concern to Australian MPs and Senators, participants of Simply Sharing week gave a voice to the millions throughout the world who are denied one of the fundamental rights – the right to food.

In 2009, the world celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Caritas launched “HAART for Children: Greater Access to Paediatric HIV and TB testing and treatment”, a campaign urging governments and pharmaceutical companies to live up to the Convention by developing medicine that will treat HIV and TB in children and save lives. Caritas also called for greater attention to the prevention of mother-to-child transmission and campaigned on the elimination of barriers that exclude women or children from diagnosis and treatment.

Leading up to the UN Climate Change Summit in Copenhagan, Caritas advocated for worldwide solidarity to help find sustainable solutions to the effects of climate change with the release of the climate change report “Putting People First”. Caritas Australia called on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to upgrade Australia’s climate change policy and take to the Copenhagen negotiations an emissions reduction target of 40% below 1990 levels by 2020.

And who can forget Kevin Rudd’s $900 cash payment to households? In response, Caritas Australia called on the community to remember the poor “and make your bonus really count”.

At the heart of Caritas Australia’s activities in 2009 was our work with partners throughout the world to achieve long-term sustainable development. We worked tirelessly to strengthen communities. Through our 141 projects in 32 countries we utilised the strengths and skills of local people, empowering them to be the architects of their own development. Projects supported included sustainable agriculture, health provision, water and sanitation, HIV/AIDS and microfinance.

Like my neighbours with a personal trainer, some people have more resources than others to achieve their goals. Compared to the corporate sector and some other non-government organisations (NGOs), I am always astounded at what Caritas manages to achieve with limited staff and resources.

We are very blessed to be part of an international network operating in 200 countries through 164 member organisations and to have such a strong support base in the Australian community with hundreds of volunteers who are always quick to respond to our calls for assistance.

Who knows what challenges and opportunities 2010 will bring, but we are off and running. The disaster in Haiti is challenging us to dig deep and be confident that we will respond and make a difference. Our Blueprint for a Better World Exhibition will be travelling to Tasmania and throughout NSW, our Project Compassion appeal will be bigger than ever with lots of activities and events planned, and the Be More initiative will be offering lots of grassroots activities to tackle the root causes of poverty.

With your support, I believe that we will be able to build on the successes of 2009, make changes that are needed, and continue to be there before, during and after the headlines.

For a full and compressive overview of Caritas Australia’s work in the financial year 2008-2009 read Caritas Australia’s Annual Report.

Anna Orchard, Communications Officer

You can support Caritas Australia Projects around the world, by making a donation on line today. Donate now.