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October 30, 2023

In the first three days of March 2023, Vanuatu was hit by two Category 4 cyclones which tracked similar paths, most severely affecting Shefa and Tafea Provinces. The cyclones caused widespread damage affecting approximately 80% of the population. Many families either lost part or all their home, suffered damage to or total loss of gardens, and experienced flooding in low lying areas. A program supported by the Australian Humanitarian Partnership Program targeted cyclone-affected communities, schools and households to have access to appropriate support, services, and resources to stay healthy, informed and feel safer, and increased access to specialist health services in cyclone affected rural communities. 

As part of this recovery effort, our partner, Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu (PCV), and UnitingWorld decided to focus on two strengths of PCV: gender and protection, and health, including:

  • the next phase of PCV’s Plan blong God long laef blong Man mo Woman (God’s Vision for human relationship), Child Protection and Care, and Climate Resilience programs
  • additional focus and new activities relating to PCV having a church-wide policy on Gender Equality and Child Protection and Safeguarding
  • new focus on and activities engaging young people relating to women and children experiencing decreased violence and fear of violence in the home and community.  

These activities include participation of PCV and its Presbyterian Women’s Missionary Union (PWMU).

 

Part of this program includes working ecumenically through the Church Agencies Network-Disaster Operations consortium (CAN-DO) funded by the Australian Government as part of the Australian Humanitarian Partnership Program.

 

Banner photo by Seiji Seiji on Unsplash

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October 30, 2023

Our partner, Methodist Church in Fiji, has just commenced this new project phase to ensure MCIF churches and communities provide safe and inclusive environments for women, children and other vulnerable groups, and to support MCIF churches and communities to be prepared to respond to and recover from natural disasters.

The current project priorities are:

  • Setting up a working group to drafting a Disability and Social Inclusion policy.
  • Drafting a Disaster Risk Reduction and Disaster Risk Management (DRR/DRM) policy and a draft infrastructure assessment tool.
  • Building on the Disaster Recovery Chaplaincy Network (DRCN) that has been developed over the last 3 years, by providing DRCN/trauma healing training and supporting 10 trained chaplains to complete higher training in Pastoral Counselling.
  • Family Life Institutional Transformation (FLIT) is building on the work done over the last five years through Gender Equality Theology – Institutional Transformation (GET-IT), with the new name chosen to better reflect the focus on children and young people, and the MCIF approach of engaging men and boys along with women and girls.
  • Safeguarding and Protection policies and Bible Studies on God’s Vision for Human Relationships will be promoted to church leaders and communities, and be made available in several languages.
  • Organisational strengthening will be undertaken for improved project and financial management and project monitoring.

 

This project is supported by the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP). Thanks to ANCP, we’re making a huge difference together.

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November 24, 2017

The foothills of the Eastern Himalayas are steep jungle-covered terrain, with families mostly eking out a subsistence livelihood. To get to school, children may have to walk up to four hours through jungle tracks. The dropout rate is very high, especially among girls, and contributes significantly to human trafficking.

We supported our partner church to build a small school in a remote mountain village, enabling boys and girls from neighbouring hills to access good, affordable education. We continue to support this school to provide affordable education to families, train teachers and pursue government accreditation.

Challenges this school community face include a staggering remoteness, lack of access to health services and facilities and an aching poverty. Children still need to walk long distances to school along challenging terrain, increasing the potential for child trafficking due to vulnerability.

This year, a priority of the project is to ensure that children have access to safe and engaging school education by creating awareness on Protection from Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment (PSEAH) policy and safeguarding among the students, staff and parents.

 

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November 24, 2017

UnitingWorld and our partner, the the United Church in Papua New Guinea (UCPNG), have been part of the Church Partnership Program (CPP) since its beginning in 2004. It is now one of the longest ongoing projects of Australia’s aid program. The CPP supports churches in Papua New Guinea to improve their capacity to deliver crucial health and education services, especially in rural and remote areas, as well as a broad range of activities in support of gender equality and social inclusion, peace and prosperity, and disaster risk reduction.

The current work in this project has four pillars:

  1. Organisational strengthening of UCPNG’s Development Unit, including staff capacity building and strengthened governance and financial management systems and processes.
  2. Developing capacity for collaboration to solve local development problems, including working with government agencies and CPP partners to achieve change.
  3. Exploring and developing a unique UCPNG social accountability approach connected to theology, leading to increased participation of UCPNG leadership, communities and colleges in social actions, public campaigns, and advocacy to government.
  4. Integrating Gender Equality, Disability Inclusion and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) throughout the program, with the stated outcome that “Church leaders will actively promote gender equality, disability and social inclusion” through awareness, strengthened policy and procedures, increased social action, and increased participation by women in leadership and decision-making in UCPNG.

 

The Church Partnership Program is supported by the Australian Government through the Papua New Guinea–Australia Partnership.

 

 

Use our resources on gender equality theology in your church or Bible study group! Download them here.

Click to download

 

Bible Studies on Human Dignity and Equality

-Rev Dr Cliff Bird and UnitingWorld

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click to download

 

The Theology of Gender Equality

-Church Partnership Program

“The Theology of Gender Equality is built upon ten, theological principles that enable participation and inclusion of both men and women in creating and sustaining communities that reaffirm, respect, and celebrate that being female and male are divine gifts.”

 

 

 

 

 

Banner image: Photo by Vika Chartier on Unsplash

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November 24, 2017

This project aims to strengthen the institutional capacity of our partner, the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe, to support and protect vulnerable people by equipping church leaders with the knowledge and skills relating to child protection, gender-based violence (including sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment), disability inclusion and human trafficking, and developing church-wide policies and reporting mechanisms.

Current activities include improving the ability of the church, including church schools, to promote gender equality, safeguarding and disability inclusion, through training, implementation of policy and accountability mechanisms and awareness raising.

 

This project is supported by the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP). Thanks to ANCP, we’re making a huge difference together.

Photo: Sign language training to facilitate disability inclusion.

 


Uploaded on Vimeo in Mar 2014. Download this video or Click here for more videos.

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November 21, 2017

Across the Pacific, churches are central to family and community, but leadership is predominantly male. The voices and representation of women are often excluded in decision-making, teaching and leadership, which reinforces gender power-imbalances in society.

We support women to study theology and seek ordination, equipping them for leadership in the Church and community.

Click here to support this project.

This project was proudly supported by the Alan Walker College of Evangelism from 2020 to 2023.


Uploaded on Vimeo in Mar 2017. Download this video or Click here for more videos.

 

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November 9, 2017

Timor-Leste has one of the highest malnutrition rates among children in the world. Our partner, the Protestant Church of Timor-Leste (IPTL) through their agency, Fundasaun Sosial Naroman (FUSONA Foundation), has a goal to develop food security to overcome malnutrition of children and women through this project. This is a shift away from operating health clinics.

A major initiative is to train FUSONA staff and community members to create and run kitchen gardens to increase the reliable supply of fresh food to families and decrease spending on imported nutrition-poor foods. Nutrition education will also contribute to reduction in malnutrition and disease and promotion of healthy living.

Another key piece of work for the church is in child protection and safeguarding. 42% of Timor-Leste’s population is under the age of 14. That is a lot of young people to be nurtured and guided, all of them the children of parents traumatised by years of conflict during the fight for independence. The IPTL Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy will be in place to educate the project participants, congregations and Sunday School children about child protection and violence and non-violent behaviours.

While this work is underway, IPTL and FUSONA will continue institutional strengthening activities, including staff training and organisational governance.

You can support this project to develop kitchen kitchen gardens to combat the food crisis. It costs just $90 for a family to set up a kitchen garden on their own land or in a community space offered by the church. It covers a variety of seeds, tools, training sessions and ongoing support by our partner’s program teams.

 

 

 

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November 9, 2017

In India, the Dalit caste is the lowest within the Indian caste system, many of whom are politically powerless and living in poverty. Girls are more disadvantaged than boys in terms of access to education, as a poor family will choose to pay for the advancement of male children.

We support a girls’ hostel, enabling vulnerable girls to access high-quality education, accommodation, and care during the school term to holistically support their growth and development.

As well as education, the girls are also supported to participate in extra-curricular activities including celebrations/festivals and local outings, as well as sports, dance, singing, music and cooking. The girls access regular health check-ups and participate in information sessions on health and hygiene practices. As many of the girls are ‘half-orphans’, which means they are children of single parents, new activities are being introduced to ensure healthy transitions towards adulthood, including life skills and counselling to develop emotional resilience.

The hostel supports the girls to maintain close family ties and spend as much time as possible in their home communities during school breaks. Our support also includes training in planning, management and child-protection. Safeguarding and inclusion initiatives are being strengthened in the project design.

Our Impact

Every year since this project started, we have been providing hostel accommodation and remedial education to 25 to 30 girls from disadvantaged backgrounds, enabling them to succeed in their schooling. The project is now seeing students graduate from high school and continue their links with the Hostel as they attend tertiary education or training.