Funding crisis threatens decades of progress on global poverty

Mari McNeill, Christian Aid Cymru

When times are tight, sacrifices are made.

But with cuts in foreign aid budgets and a global cost of living crisis, the sacrifices of those at the sharp end of poverty become overwhelming and the ability of international and local charities to sustain essential services is threatened.

With the Senedd elections looming, Christian Aid Cymru is urging the Welsh public and all prospective candidates to continue thinking on an international scale – to remember poverty, debt and the climate crisis are issues which affect us all and the actions we take now become our legacy for future generations – protecting economies, livelihoods and ultimately the planet.

Christian Aid’s partners see the sacrifices of people in vulnerable communities – parents forced to choose between food and medicine for their children; farmers travelling miles on empty stomachs to find water for their crops; and families in conflict zones leaving behind homes and friends for the fragile safety of resettlement camps.

The past year has been a turbulent one, notable for the scale and intensity of humanitarian emergencies around the world, and the dramatic cuts in official aid funding, which threaten decades of progress on global poverty.

Standing by us throughout, have been our dedicated and determined supporters and partners from all walks of Welsh life, whose generosity and hope for a fairer world enables the life-changing work of our partners within the most desperate communities.

Thanks to their hard work, over the past 12 months, we have reached more than four million people directly through innovative and practical projects in places like Ukraine, Myanmar, Gaza and South Sudan. Programmes such as community kitchens, urban gardens, savings and loans schemes, and counselling for survivors of sexual violence. Every gift helps make a genuine difference for families for whom hunger, sickness and fear cast a shadow over their daily lives.

But across the world, donor funding cuts, coupled with rising costs, mean donations are stretched further than ever in the face of intensifying demand. This is why Christian Aid is asking supporters to help bridge the gap so we can continue to step up for people in need.

In South Sudan, we are seeing the human cost of this crisis on people who have left everything behind to survive – people like Akech.

This April marks three years since civil war broke out in Sudan, forcing millions to flee their homes in search of safe shelter, food, water and medicine. The knock-on effects of the war, in neighbouring countries like South Sudan, has created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.

Akech’s husband and eldest son were killed trying to stop soldiers from raping her. Their sacrifice gave Akech time to escape with her other children but by the time she got to relative safety across the border, what little money she had was gone. Thanks to the generosity of Christian Aid’s supporters, our partners in South Sudan provided cash assistance, enabling Akech to decide for herself how to prioritise her needs, giving her support, dignity and some control.

Christian Aid’s work came to life 80 years ago, in the rubble of World War Two, thanks to British and Irish churches. Welsh communities have been part of the humanitarian response from those first years. In 1948 a man named Gwynne Hodge founded the Mumbles Christian Aid Group – believed to be the first of many hundreds of voluntary church-based groups in Wales which, to this day, raise vital funds for the work of our partners around the world.

Gwynne’s desire to help came from his time in a Prisoner of War camp in Burma, now Myanmar. Forced to work on the infamous Death Railway, he said: “The worst thing was lack of food…with malnutrition, we lost one in three.” Once home, Gwynne remembered the kindness of the Burmese villagers who pushed fresh food through the fence of the prison camp, and vowed to do what he could for those in need.

Eighty years on, we’re still transforming this hope for a just and peaceful world into action.

When times are tight, Christian Aid will be there standing shoulder to shoulder with people who have already sacrificed so much. Will you stand with us?

Find out more and donate at caid.org.uk/survive