The History of Christian Aid
For more than 60 years, Christian Aid has fought against poverty. They have strengthened the poor and turned the hope of many many people into action.
The 1940's-
After World War II, the British and Irish church leaders met and came together to do all they could to help the European refugees who had lost everything! They gave themselves the name of Christian Reconstruction in Europe. Their purpose was to alleviate suffering for just ordinary people, no matter what their faith was. They became a department of the British Council of Churches... In a decade they raised £29,000!
The 1950's-
Janet Lacey became president in 1952. She made a mark of courage, honesty and determination in the organisation which has remained ever since. Her aim too was to 'combat poverty' across the world. In the years of the 1950's the organisation began to look further beyond just Europe and developed work in places such as Africa and Asia. They responded to emergencies worldwide. The organisation wanted to make sure that the public was aware of the problems in the world so they set up the first Christian Aid Week in 1957. Since the first Christian Aid Week five decades ago they have had their little red envelope dropped through tens of millions letter boxes.
The 1960's
In 1964 the success of the Christian Aid Week made them make the decision of changing their name to Christian Aid! The change worked out well as they reached £2.5 million by the end of the decade. When the world food shortages increased, Christian Aid began to look more at the causes of poverty rather than just trying to deal with it all the time. They began campaigning when they challenged the British Government on its Aid and Trade policies in 1969!
The 1970's
In the 1970's Pakistan, Sudan and Ethiopia promoted a huge rise in public support for Aid. However to Christian Aid it was becoming obvious that all the emergency relief wasn't enough anymore. They believed they needed to do more and that the starving people needed a solution, not handouts! They saw it was not just an act of nature that caused people to be poor but political and economic decisions. They started to work alongside Traditional Relief and Development... they were working for the rights of people. Together they worked in the worlds hotspots such as Vietnam and Laos, Uganda and Cambodia. By the end of the decade they were working in 40 countries, funding more than 100 long term development projects.
The 1980's
Christian Aid saw a huge change in the way aid agencies operated. Big fundraising events like Live Aid brought the worlds troubles to the public like never before which meant more people were giving and for the first time government funding was made available to Christian Aid. By the end of the decade they received £28 million which was a big increase from the 70's as then they received just £5.5 million! All of this extra funding was in great need. The global economic recession was gathering pace, they provided support in many countries such as Lebanon, Ethiopia and Mozambique. Reverent Michael Taylor, director at the time, drove the creation of the Southern Africa Coalition which brought together Trade unions and Church groups.
The 1990's
Christian Aid became one of the first organisations to highlight 'unsexy' and complex global economic issues... Christian Aid set up a campaign called Banking on the Poor which alerted people of the need to cancel the Third World debt. They were not afraid to confront Governments and challenge the rules of the day that said Charities should be apolitical. This helped change the government trade policy and establish the Fairtrade foundations. Christian Aid was also quick to respond to humanitarian crises in Rwanda, the Middle East and at the end of the decade they were working across ethnic and religious divides in Serbia and Bosnia... They were very successful in a supermarket campaign when hundreds of thousands of supporters helped out! As the new millennium was coming Christian Aid they were able to announce that the World Leaders promised to deliver $100 billion in debt relief after all of Christian Aids hard work campaigning as part of the Jubilee 2000 coalition.
The 2000's
The 21st century bought many many challenges to Christian Aid. There was the so-called war on terror, climate change and the increasing number of natural disasters such earthquakes. Plus almost half the worlds population lives on less that US $2 a day! This meant that Christian Aid had to get working fast and that they were needed more than ever. In 2007 their annual income was £86.5 million and now they work with more than 650 overseas partners in around 50 countries! However after 60 years they have still not come to victory... The world isn't getting any fairer, children in Gaza are going to school with bullet holes in the walls. Now thats just not fair! Parents are selling their daughters in marriage to earn money and the life expectancy for women in Zimbabwe is now just 34 years old, that is just ridiculous.
However Christian Aid explain that they won't stop now. They will carry on tackling the causes of poverty and they will work to make sure everyone can fulfil their right to a decent life!
Note: Information taken from the Christian Aid Website (not copied) - http://www.christianaid.org.uk
