fbpx
1800 998 122Contact

News

The 16th Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia approved the appointment of Lin Hatfield Dodds as Chair of the UnitingWorld Board in July 2021.

Lin Hatfield Dodds (pictured centre) brings a wealth of expert knowledge and experience to the Chair of the UnitingWorld Board.

An active member of the Uniting Church from early life, she completed a master’s degree in counselling psychology and worked in the areas of drug rehabilitation, trauma, and abuse.

After working in government and the community sector, she was appointed National Director of UnitingCare Australia from 2002-2016.

She’s held senior leadership positions including Deputy Secretary in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Associate Dean in the Australian and New Zealand School of Government, Chair of the Australian Social Inclusion Board, Chair of The Australia Institute, and President of the Australian Council of Social Service.

Lin is a member of the Australia Institute of Company Directors, was ACT Australian of the Year in 2008, received a Churchill Fellowship in 2004, and was awarded a Chief Minister’s International Women’s Day Award in 2002. Lin also serves on the board of Better Evaluation and mentors emerging women leaders.

Lin has been CEO of the Benevolent Society since July 2021 and has served on the UnitingWorld Board since 2019.

We’re thrilled to have you Lin! We look forward to working with you for a world free from poverty and injustice.

As we came to end of the 2019-2021 triennium, UnitingWorld celebrated some significant milestones that required visionary leadership from our Board.

The journey of the past three years has seen UnitingWorld restructure the teams to merge two business units (Relief & Development and Church Connections), integrate finances into a single set of books, unify under a single Mandate and a single Board, with DFAT accreditation across the whole agency rather than one unit.

In 2020, UnitingWorld completed the final stage of this transformational journey, winning the support of the Assembly Standing Committee and successfully registering with the Australian Charities and Non-Profits Commission (ACNC) with our own ABN as a Public Benevolent Institution.

We wanted to acknowledge the excellent work of Dr Andrew Glenn, the retiring Board Chair and the significant contributions of members of the Board during a transformational period.

Andrew Glenn (BSC Hons, D Phil, FAICD)

Andrew’s engagement with UnitingWorld has spanned nine years. As Chair, Andrew has spearheaded the recruitment and induction of new Board members, as well as playing an active role in both Board committees.

In the Board room, Andrew has brought structure and discipline to proceedings, championing the use of the consensus process; encouraged robust debate, never shirking complex challenges; and fostering a generous and inclusive culture where all participants felt welcome and safe to make their contributions.

Andrew’s contributions to UnitingWorld outside the boardroom have been as significant as those inside.

He has been a tireless advocate for UnitingWorld within the polity of the church, leading our engagement with the Assembly Standing Committee, the Assembly Finance, Audit and Risk Committee and the Assembly Investments Advisory Committee. It is a tribute to Andrew’s leadership and vision that UnitingWorld’s relationships with these councils have been both productive and supportive.

His warm pastoral concern for the staff of UnitingWorld has made him well-loved by the team, as has his generosity with his time and expertise. He will be sorely missed.

During his tenure, Andrew has undertaken several additional projects for UnitingWorld above and beyond his role as Chair. He has played a key role in maintaining our quality systems by regularly auditing our compliance with policies and procedures, and once travelled to Papua New Guinea to conduct a hugely successful workshop on the ‘Theology of Good Governance’ with our partners the United Church of PNG.

David Hodges, Tina Rendell-Thornton, Margaret Watt and Paul Swadling.

This past year also marks the conclusion of service for several other Board members who had served their full nine years on the Board.

David Hodges has been an able Chair of the Finance Audit and Review Committee and a thorough and engaged member of the Board.

Margaret Watt stepped down in early 2020 as Chair of the International Programs Committee, but continued to serve on the committee and has been a strong advocate for our partners.

Paul Swadling also finished his service in mid-2020, having thoughtfully contributed to the Church Connections National Committee, and then as Deputy Board Chair of the Board.

Tina Rendell-Thornton served as Chair of the Governance and Compliance Committee of the previous Relief & Development National Committee.

The loss of David’s legal acumen and eye for detail, Margaret’s expertise in international development and government relations, Paul’s understanding of the UCA and fundraising and Tina’s incisive analysis and knowledge of cross-cultural engagement will be deeply felt by the Board.

Above all, their passion and commitment to the work of UnitingWorld, their love for our global church partners and the generosity of spirit and service they brought to us will be profoundly missed.

UnitingWorld has been extraordinarily fortunate to have the commitment, energy and wisdom of the members of the Board.

We honour and give thanks for the contributions during the last triennium of all the Board members spread across the nation, listed here in alphabetical order:

James Batley, Lin Hatfield Dodds (incoming Chair), Andrew Glenn (retiring Chair), David Hodges (retiring), Ashleigh Johnston, John Manning, Renee O’Shanassy, Tina Rendell-Thornton (retiring), Paul Swadling (retired), Warren Tapp and Margaret Watt (retired).

We are also grateful to those who served on Board subcommittees, including Carolin Leeshaa, Kylie Schmidt and Nacanieli Speigth.

They have all overseen a period of significant change and shown discernment on the issues, significant wisdom and great good will. We have been fortunate to have their commitment and assistance.

Thank you so much for your valuable service.

The UnitingWorld Team

The fight to free slaves, incredibly, has a history that stretches back to at least 6ooBCE. But for all the fantastic advances, we still have a long way to go. In 2018, there were 50,000 reported victims of human trafficking from 158 countries. Many, many thousands more cases go un-documented.

Whenever a crisis hits, human traffickers seize the day, and COVID-19 has provided ample cover for exploitation. In Zimbabwe, it’s not uncommon for women and girls to be moved out of the country and trafficked into domestic servitude or sexual exploitation; men and boys, too, are lured far from home to toil in unpaid heavy labour. Children as young as nine-years-old work as nannies, housemaids, and gardeners in urban areas and mining communities; some employers forcing the children to work by withholding wages, denying them access to school, and subjecting them to gender-based violence.

UnitingWorld’s partner the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe is determined to help people recognise and fight the threat. Beginning with their own leadership and then moving to congregations, they’re training people to understand what trafficking looks like in their own communities, where to get help and how to report it. They also work to help communities stand up strong, providing opportunities to generate a living locally and keep their kids in schools close by.

The 2030 Sustainable Development Goals include goals and targets on trafficking in persons. These goals call for an end to human trafficking and all forms of  exploitation and violence against women, children and men.

In 2021-22, the Methodist Development and Relief Agency (MeDRA) and the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe (MCZ) will continue to address human trafficking in Zimbabwe as part of the Safety and Inclusion (Leadership) Project supported by UnitingWorld. Over the next year MeDRA and the MCZ plan to achieve the following:

  • Church wide inclusion, safeguarding and gender officer appointed
  • 50 church leaders and 273 ministers trained on Safeguarding, Disability Inclusion, Human Trafficking, including topics and policies
  • New policies and training manual on Safeguarding, Disability Inclusion and Human Trafficking translated to local languages and printed.
  • 422 church representatives receive training manual on Safeguarding, Disability Inclusion and Human Trafficking
  • IEC materials and bulk messaging on Safeguarding, Disability Inclusion, Human Trafficking, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management distributed among church leaders, ministers and communities (including videos of church leaders promoting the message to be circulated via Facebook or Whatsapp)
  • Continued collaboration between the MCZ and other Wesleyan Church Anti Trafficking Taskforce members

Your gifts help our partners MCZ to do this critical work safeguarding people and communities. Thank you so much for your support!

 

Photos:

  1. Header: Boys from a rural community in Gokwe, Zimbabwe taking a look at one of MeDRA’s posters about human trafficking. Photo credit: MeDRA
  2. In-text: Another poster produced by MeDRA to help raise awareness of human trafficking in rural communities. Photo credit: MeDRA

“There is no shame in being a victim of sexual violence; the shame must lie with those who perpetrate such heinous acts.”

Christian leaders marked the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict (19 June) with a united message to churches in South Sudan. 

In a statement released last week, the South Sudan Council of Churches (SSCC) urged all churches across the country to include messages about the elimination of sexual violence in conflict in services being held over the weekend.

The prevalence of conflict-related sexual violence is a hidden crisis in South Sudan.

The UN Mission in South Sudan documented 193 cases of conflict-related sexual violence in 2020, affecting 142 women, 46 girls and five men. They estimate that for each rape reported in connection with a conflict, 10 to 20 cases go undocumented due to the fear and cultural stigma associated with it.

“The Church commends survivors – both men and women – for their strength in speaking up against sexual violence defying a culture of stigma and fears of retaliation,” read the statement. “There is no shame in being a victim of sexual violence; the shame must lie with those who perpetrate such heinous acts.”

“Acts such as rape, sexual slavery and forced marriage are crimes under South Sudanese laws and are inconsistent with teachings and principles of Christian faiths”.

“Everyone must uphold the sacredness of human life, the inherent dignity of every human being as well as their physical and mental integrity as reflected in the teachings and values of the Christian faith.”

Read the full statement here.

Our partner the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan (PCOSS) is a member of the South Sudan Council of Churches. PCOSS Moderator Rev James Choul co-signed the statement. Both PCOSS and SSCC support the World Council of Churches #ThursdaysinBlack campaign to end rape and violence against women.

Darshi was born without hearing in an area of Sri Lanka’s west coast which was devastated by the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004. The population are mostly Tamil, and they’ve worked hard to recover and build a better life for their kids. But people with disabilities are up to five times more likely to live in poverty. They represent the most vulnerable group in the world.

Darshi’s parents were understandably worried about her future.

The Methodist Church of Sri Lanka, through Deaf Link, are committed to overcoming extreme poverty by advocating for structural changes in their communities and equipping people with disability to take control of their own lives.

They don’t believe in charity. They believe in long-lasting change, at all levels and by all members of society. Your gifts, combined with investment from the Australian Government, are helping make it happen.

Deaf Link invited Darshi to take part in a disability inclusion class – rare in many parts of Sri Lanka. All the children in the class use international sign language to communicate with one another and here Darshi discovered not just the power of a community, but a love of dance and talent for art.

When we met her last year, she told us she hopes to be a teacher in a class similar to her own, where she wants to give other children with disability the chance to succeed.

You can give Darshi and others like her a hand so they can go on to change their worlds. Right now, your donation can have up to six times the impact beating poverty and building hope.*

Your tax-deductible donation will help provide urgent resources for our partners in Sri Lanka, India, Papua New Guinea and more as they work against the pull of poverty, which is the strongest it’s been in decades due to COVID-19. You can read here about exactly how it will go up to six times as far to build hope and beat poverty.


*How your gift can go up to six times as far

UnitingWorld is a valued partner of the Australian Government, receiving funding each year to carry out poverty alleviation, gender equality and climate change projects overseas.

Every donation you make to this appeal will be combined with funding from the Australian Government to reach more people. We have committedto contribute $1 for every $5 we receive from the government, which means your gift can go up to six times as far helping us extend the reach of our programs.

 

India’s COVID-19 surge has overloaded its struggling heath system and is causing thousands of deaths per day.

Our Uniting Church partners, the Church of North India (CNI), are not immune. Battling to keep people fed as a second lockdown wreaks havoc, and spreading critical health information to help beat the spread of the disease, they’re on the frontline of the response in their communities.

“The ‘Corona ‘Tsunami’, if one could say that, has left all of us paralysed,” Bishop Khimla of the Diocese of Durgapur told UnitingWorld.  “There is immense suffering as the medical and social infrastructure struggles to cope with the pandemic. The Church has also lost many ministers, both Pastors and Bishops.”

Project Officer Sanjay Khaling was recently hospitalised after contrating COVID-19, while several staff of the Durgapur Education and Social Empowerment project have contracted COVID-19 along with family and friends.

Despite the dangers, the church continues to serve the community as best they’re able. Bishop Samantaroy of the Amritsar Diocese said the church is working on immediate interventions including free distribution of cooked food, dry rations and hygiene products like masks, sanitiser and soap.

Schools have been closed across the area, so girls attending the hostel project in Amritsar have gone home to their villages for at least a month and possibly two. At the Amritsar Social Empowerment and Education project, study centers will continue in each village and the team are doing what they can to support people remotely.

“There has been a drastic rise in cases every day here in Punjab,” Project Coordinator OP Prakash said this week.  “In some [rural] villages people have tested positive but the situation seems under control.”

While this team has experience from last year’s lengthy lockdown, the pandemic is reaching new heights in other areas.

The Eastern Himalayas Education project has had to close the school and move all activities online. Teachers are navigating the difficult task of teaching online while resourcing children who have little or no access to internet or devices.

“We are assured that UnitingWorld continues to be with us in spirit and prayers and believe that this too shall pass,” Bishop Khimla said yesterday. “We very much appreciate your prayers.”

UnitingWorld is supporting our partners to divert project funds to their COVID-19 responses where needed. Donations will be very gratefully received to support their work.

Click here to donate online.

India recorded 323,144 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, amid a surge that has overloaded its struggling heath system and is causing thousands of deaths per day.

UnitingWorld and the Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) have reached out to our partners in the Church of North India (CNI) based in West Bengal and Punjab. UCA President Dr Deidre Palmer and UnitingWorld National Director Dr Sureka Goringe have written to Bishop Pradeep Kumar Samantaroy to offer prayers and solidarity during the crisis (read full letter).

Our partners are responding to the outbreak at the community level through existing projects, diverting resources to help prevent the spread of disease and aiding vulnerable people impacted by the economic fallout. You can help. Click here to donate online.

Our partners have sent some updates below.

West Bengal

West Bengal this week registered its highest single-day spike of 15,889 cases pushing the tally to 743,950 on Tuesday. The death toll rose to 10,941. The number of active cases currently stands at 88,800.

At the Eastern Himalayas Leadership project we support, project officer Sanjay recently contracted COVID-19 and was hospitalised but is now feeling better.

The Eastern Himalayas Education project has had to close the school and move all activities online. Teachers are working from home, navigating the difficult task of teaching online while also resourcing children who do not have little or no access to internet or devices. They have been communicating via WhatsApp and leaving printed worksheets in safe places for students to collect.

Several staff members of the Durgapur Education and Social Empowerment project have contracted COVID-19 along with family and friends. The project is continuing as normal with added precautions, personal protective equipment and limited interaction.

Punjab

The number of new COVID-19 cases has passed 7,000 per day in Punjab and a daily curfew from 6pm to 5am has been introduced until 12 May. The state has recorded 339,000 total cases and 8,400 deaths.

Schools have been closed across the area, so girls attending the hostel project in Amritsar have gone home to their villages for at least a month and possibly two.

At the Amritsar Social Empowerment and Education project,  schools have closed again so study centers will continue in each village and the team are doing what they can to support people remotely. UnitingWorld Project Manager Dan Maddingham has been in contact with Project Coordinator Om Prakash (OP) this week.

“There has been a drastic rise in cases every day here in Punjab… in some [rural] villages people have tested positive but the situation seems under control,” said OP.

“The Church is doing well but all religious places are remaining closed until further notice and there is a complete curfew and lockdown on weekends.”

Yesterday the Australian Government announced an aid package for India.

Please stand with the people of India and our partners as they lead and support their communities through this this crisis. Join us in prayer (UCA Assembly National Consultant Rev Dr Apwee Ting has written a prayer for India in English and Indonesian Click here to read) and donate as you are able.

UnitingWorld is continuing to support our partners to divert project funds to the COVID-19 response. Additional donations will be gratefully received to support their work.

 

“Loving God and loving our neighbour are woven together as we open our lives to the transforming power of the Risen Christ.”

Uniting Church in Australia President Dr Deidre Palmer has shared a sermon for Celebration Sunday, an event to conclude UnitingWorld’s Seven Days of Solidarity.

You can watch it here:

Download the video.

Download the full transcript.

Find out more about Seven Days of Solidarity

Heavy rains across West Timor, Flores and Timor-Leste in early April caused devastating flash floods and landslides in the region.

The latest:

  • In West Timor and Flores, 181 people have died, 47 people are missing and 49,512 have become displaced. Flooding and landslides have also damaged 66,509 houses, hundreds of them wiped out completely.
  • In Timor-Leste, 45 people have been killed by flooding and landslides and 8,852 have been displaced from their homes. Thousands of homes have been badly damaged or totally destroyed.
  • Our church partners in West Timor and Timor-Leste have been responding through their respective development agencies and have asked for support. The need is currently greater than their resources can meet.

UnitingWorld has launched an appeal and has sent initial funds to support the immediate relief effort. Thank you so much to those who have already donated! It helped us be able to quickly support our partners with financial aid and plan for ongoing support. The need is still great, so please give as you are able. Click here to support our appeal for West Timor and Timor-Leste.

 

UPDATES FROM OUR PARTNERS:

West Timor

Moderator of GMIT Rev Mery Kolimon visited a church shelter on Alor Island, West Timor

Our partners in West Timor, GMIT, have been responding to the disaster through their development agency TLM. TLM staff have conducted surveys using their project networks in villages across five regencies (local councils). Due to transport access difficulties and various level of urgency across disaster locations, TLM have focused assistance on four regencies using funds sent by partners, including UnitingWorld.

Funds have been used to buy food aid such as rice, sugar, coffee and cooking oil, instant noodles, eggs, biscuits, powdered milk, instant porridge for babies and first aid supplies, as well as building material such as nails, zinc and cement.

So far, TLM have assisted 2,643 families across five regencies.

 

Timor-Leste

Many houses were completely wiped out in Dili, Timor-Leste’s capital

Our partners in Timor-Leste, IPTL, and their development agency Fusona, have been conducting a rapid emergency response to provide food for 125 families and 135 students that have become isolated by COVID-19 lockdowns and the floods.

Volunteers were trained in safeguarding before going out to identify vulnerable and impacted families across 13 communities. They have also been monitoring the local food prices, as disasters and scarcity tend to push prices up and make them unaffordable for many people. Funds sent have allowed them to purchase food supplies for the emergency response.

Fusona’s volunteers have identified small communities with small or subsistence incomes and students living in boarding houses that have been at risk of starving because they ran out of food and have no means to buy more. Fusona has focused their humanitarian assistance to these groups.

Thousands of people that have evacuated or become displaced continue to take refuge in church buildings and other public facilities.

 

Please continue to support and pray for our partners in Timor-Leste and West Timor

UnitingWorld has launched an appeal to support the emergency relief work of our partners. Funds raised will help provide displaced and vulnerable people with immediate needs of food, shelter and health care. In the longer term, it will support rebuilding, rehabilitation and the re-establishment of people’s livelihoods. Your support will make a huge difference and will be a powerful gesture of solidarity with our close neighbours dealing with the double crisis of floods and COVID-19.

Header image: A GMIT church in Alor Island, a community that was devastated by flooding and landslides.

We were so encouraged by your response to our appeal late last year, helping us raise $122,000 to support the COVID-19 response and peacebuilding work carried out by our partners in South Sudan and beyond.

Thank you so much!

A few weeks ago, South Sudan has re-entered a lockdown period due to a spike in cases in Juba. Schools, churches and colleges, including the Nile Theological College, are all closed. Our partners are concentrating on helping educate people about the seriousness of the disease. 43 leaders from communities attended a workshop you helped fund, to learn about the pandemic, its symptoms and the precautions to take.

“Corona virus is a real threat to humanity around the whole world,” the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan writes to us. “South Sudan is not exceptional. The Bible says, ‘my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge’ and we find this to be true. Although all the countries right now are aware of the Coronavirus pandemic, the majority of South Sudanese are still not aware of it… In Juba city itself, people do not observe safety rules. Wearing of face masks and social distancing are not seriously followed… We thank God our partners are always standing on our side to fight the pandemic together in South Sudan.”

Thank you so much for your support and solidarity during this crisis.