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November 9, 2017

More than a decade after the conflict between Christian and Muslim religious groups in Ambon, there is still a significant need to rebuild relationships between religious groups and to provide economic opportunities for women.

We support mixed groups of Christian and Muslim women with education and microfinance to increase access to economic opportunities in the community and the ability to have a voice in household decision making. This encourages friendships between women from different faith backgrounds, enabling women to act as agents of peace within their families and community.

One effective initiative is supporting the establishment of  kitchen gardens, to create a locally led, sustainable solution to the food crisis that our partners hope to scale up each year to impact thousands of lives. The project will be kickstarting local food production, improving the health of children and families; reducing food miles, pollution and reliance on foreign imports; connecting and educating local communities about nutrition; and building resilience to global food supply disruptions.

 

 

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November 9, 2017

West Timor is the poorest province in Indonesia, and people’s ability to better their lives is limited by their ability to earn an income.

We support micro-finance training and education for women and men across West Timor and Bali to gain livelihoods and participate more fully in community life. We support loans for people with disabilities and educational loans for poor people, with affordable low interest rates.

We also support vocational training for women and people with disabilities, in areas such as kitchen gardens, livestock, health and nutrition, and clean water to increase the resilience of community for the prevention of stunting and the risk of maternal death.

You can help!

 

 

 

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; lifting families out of poverty and helping people improve their lives.

 


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

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November 9, 2017

Papua and West Papua remain the poorest provinces in Indonesia, with limited opportunities for employment, quality education and health care.

UnitingWorld works with our partner church GKI-TP and its development unit P3W to help alleviate poverty, improve nutrition and empower women and children. P3W currently provides skills training, WASH and disaster preparedness to several communities in the highlands and around Jayapura.

Through the project, groups of women are helped to grow vegetables like soya and kidney beans, spinach and kale in their gardens. The women use it to feed their families and also supplement their family income. The groups are also provided with education and training about financial management, helping them be able to better save money for education and emergencies.

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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

Religious and caste discrimination is one of the leading causes of poverty and social exclusion in India. This has prevented access to basic services, including education, livelihood, health facilities and other government services and schemes for large sections of society.

We support the local churches in India to provide services such as study centres for children from vulnerable backgrounds; life skills education for adolescents (especially girls); women’s economic empowerment through their involvement in self-help groups; awareness raising activities on environmental concerns through tree plantation campaigns, installation of submersible pumps in West Bengal (to improve irrigation and farming practices), and waste reduction drives; and through these activities to empower marginalised communities, enabling them to be organised, resilient, educated and healthy, involved in local governance and capable of accessing government services and schemes.

Our projects in India now have an increased focus on cross-cutting issues including gender equality, disability and social inclusion, to ensure the work is effective in reaching socially disadvantaged groups, preventing unintended harm, exclusion and further marginalisation, and by promoting rights, equitable opportunities and benefits for all community members.

The projects operate in the rural communities and urban slums of West Bengal and in rural communities in Amritsar near the Pakistani border areas.

You can help!

 

 

 

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; lifting families out of poverty and helping people improve their lives.

 

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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.

 

 

 

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November 9, 2017

Cyclones and droughts are increasing the frequency and intensity across the Pacific. We support our partners to prepare vulnerable communities and reduce the impacts of natural disasters. $1 spent in preparedness saves $15 in response later. This now includes pandemics like COVID-19.

Activities include community-based risk assessment and contingency planning, training networks of disaster response chaplains and resourcing our partner churches with Christian theology that gives hope and inspires faith-filled action.

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.

   

Resources

UnitingWorld has taken the lead within CAN-DO on coordinating the writing and development of a ‘Theology of Disaster Resilience in a Changing Climate.’ This work, undertaken by Pasifika theologians following a participatory baseline survey across four Pacific countries, is a resource for communities and churches to explore the meaning of resilience, preparedness and suffering during disaster from a biblical point of view. These resources are available for download here.

   

 

Our Impact

We and our partners have been able to respond to COVID-19 and TC Harold in Tonga, Solomon Islands, PNG, Vanuatu, Fiji, Kiribati and Tuvalu.

Partners across Tonga, Kiribati, Tuvalu and Fiji participated in regional training of Disaster Recovery Chaplaincy Networks and are now running training workshops at the national level to build their teams of qualified and ready first responders to support communities in the wake of disaster.

In Tuvalu, a song about gender based violence has been written and released.

In Tonga and Solomon Islands, much needed water and sanitation facilities have been built.

In Tonga, 47 Ministers and theological students have now been trained in Disaster Recovery Chaplaincy, covering modules in trauma counselling, keeping people safe and the nature of disaster.

In Kiribati, 29 church leaders trained and qualified as Disaster Recovery Chaplains. This group will respond to disaster recovery needs in communities across 18 of the 23 inhabited islands.

In Solomon Islands, radio segments led by church leaders have reinforced positive messages about hygiene, preparedness and addressing gender based violence; reaching around 70 per cent of the population.

In Tuvalu, 14 church leaders qualified as Disaster Recovery Chaplains. This group will support communities in seven islands to help people deal with the stresses and impacts of COVID-19.

An estimated 75 per cent of the Tuvaluan population (7,984 people) have been reached through a nation-wide TV and radio campaign focusing on faith, gender equality and protection and COVID-19.

Twenty new water tanks were installed throughout Tonga. These have directly benefited more than 83 people (57 per cent women and 15 per cent people with disabilities) and helped another 124 indirectly.

In Vanuatu, COVID-19 related sermons were played on national television and livestreamed on Facebook (receiving 114 comments and 257 likes).

Support this project

You can help vulnerable communities become disaster ready. Click here to donate now.

Media

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November 9, 2017

More than 90% of people across the Pacific identify as Christian, and the Church’s teachings have a significant influence on people’s attitudes and behaviours. But ~68% of women and girls experience violence in their homes and communities and climate change is disproportionately affecting women and girls.

Our Church partners are acting as change agents in society to address gender equality through Biblical teaching on gender relations and human dignity. What is preached from the pulpit impacts life within the home. They are challenging traditional views on gender and addressing institutional inequality. 

We support a network of churches, Pacific theologians and gender practitioners who are developing and implementing safe church policies and using theological resources to lead dialogues with church and community leaders in gender theology and run workshops to engage men, women and young people in examining beliefs and behaviour.

This regional project brings together this network of change makers to tell their stories, to learn from and with each other, and to collaborate on new theological, culturally relevant resources.

You can help!

 

 

 

This project is currently supported in part through the ACT Alliance Gender Justice program with financial support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.

 

This project was partly funded by the Australian Government through the Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development initiative between 2016-2021.

Resources

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

UnitingWorld Gender Equality Theology Poster series. Download the high resolution files here.

 

 

 

Our Impact

Seven mainline denominations in PNG officially adopted gender equality as their doctrinal position, and have committed to teaching this theology as part of their ministerial training.

In Fiji, the ten denominations that make up the Fiji Council of Churches made a joint public statement condemning violence against women as sinful, played at cinemas around the country.

Churches in Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Kiribati developed and adopted Safeguarding and Protection Policies at the national level including complaints mechanisms and Codes of Conduct for ministers and church workers in line with local protection laws.

The Methodist Church in Fiji changed their advice to women seeking help for domestic violence, suggesting they access the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre, an organisation previously condemned by the church for supporting divorce.

Churches in Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Kiribati appointed focal points for gender equality and identified trained ministers to resource the church with sermons and bible studies about gender equality. Together, they hold training for leaders across all parts of the church promote key messages on social media, television and radio, and provide school students and young couples with information about gender equality and healthy relationships.

In all countries, church ministers, pastors and other leaders have publicly shared anti-violence and gender equality messages in churches and online, including during COVID-19 lockdowns when rates of domestic violence dramatically increased.


Stories of Change Vanuatu: Pastor Nippy from UnitingWorld on Vimeo.

 

Stories of Change Vanuatu | Gender Equality Theology from UnitingWorld on Vimeo.

 

Mary’s Story from UnitingWorld on Vimeo.

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November 9, 2017

People with disabilities are some of the most vulnerable people in Sri Lanka. They are often excluded from society, lack access to services and find it difficult to secure employment.

We support our partner Deaf Link to provide access to education for children with disabilities and vocational training and livelihood support to people with disabilities. This enables people with disabilities, through work and study, to be accepted, equal and valued members of society.

Activities occur primarily in the North and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka.

You can help!

 

 

 

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; lifting families out of poverty and helping people improve their lives.