The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) is an international development charity and the official

aid agency An aid agency, also known as development charity, is an organization dedicated to distributing aid. Many professional aid organisations exist, both within government, between governments as multilateral donors and as private voluntary organizatio ...

of the

Catholic Church in England and Wales The Catholic Church in England and Wales ( la, Ecclesia Catholica in Anglia et Cambria; cy, Yr Eglwys Gatholig yng Nghymru a Lloegr) is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See. Its origins date from the 6th c ...

. It aims to tackle poverty globally. Through local Catholic Church and secular partners, it helps people directly in their own communities and campaigns for global justice. Established in 1960,Side by Side: The Cafod magazine, published Spring 2022 it is funded by the Catholic community in England and Wales, the

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(through

UK aid The Department for International Development (DFID) was a department of HM Government responsible for administering foreign aid from 1997 to 2020. The goal of the department was "to promote sustainable development and eliminate world poverty". D ...

), private and institutional donors, and the general public. CAFOD is part of

Caritas Internationalis Caritas Internationalis is a confederation of 162 Catholic relief, development and social service organizations operating in over 200 countries and territories worldwide. Collectively and individually, their missions are to work to build a bet ...

, the worldwide federation of Catholic aid organisations with a presence in 165 countries and is a member of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) and the British Overseas Aid Group. CAFOD's Director Christine Allen was appointed in March 2019. In 2019/20 CAFOD's income was £45million and it employed approximately 410 staff along with more than 6,000 volunteers carrying out a range of roles such as campaigning, fundraising, media, office support and youth work. CAFOD's work is based on Gospel values and

Catholic social teaching Catholic social teaching, commonly abbreviated CST, is an area of Catholic doctrine concerning matters of human dignity and the common good in society. The ideas address oppression, the role of the state, subsidiarity, social organization, ...

History

CAFOD's origins can be traced back to the launch of a ''Family

Fast Fast or FAST may refer to: * Fast (noun), high speed or velocity * Fast (noun, verb), to practice fasting, abstaining from food and/or water for a certain period of time Acronyms and coded Computing and software * ''Faceted Application of Subje ...

Day'' organised by a group of Catholic women in 1960, who used the money saved through fasting to support a project in Dominica. The

Bishops' Conference of England and Wales The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales (CBCEW) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. Overview The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales is the permanent assembly of Catholic Bisho ...

registered the charity in 1962. Its current governing document dates from 2015. In 2020, CAFOD launched a new strategy, ''Our Common Home'', based on

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

' encyclical

Laudato Si' ''Laudato si (''Praise Be to You'') is the second encyclical of Pope Francis. The encyclical has the subtitle "on care for our common home". In it, the pope critiques consumerism and irresponsible development, laments environmental degradati ...

, which calls for a new definition of progress rooted in integral ecology, recognising that everything is connected and hearing both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor, calling on all people to dialogue in society about how best to tackle the global issue. CAFOD's magazine, ''Side by Side'', is published quarterly. In September 2021, a business restructure appointed Liam Trower as Audit Manager.

Campaigns

CAFOD has had many campaigns over the years and participated in joint campaigns with other charities such as: * The Time is Now - mass lobby of Parliament * Power to be * One Climate, One World * Jubilee 2000 Their current campaigns are: * Fix the Food System * Human Rights Defenders * Push for Peace in Ukraine * Cancel the Debt

Celebrity ambassadors

* Julie Etchingham *

Jo Joyner Joanne Mary Joyner (born 24 May 1977) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Tanya Branning in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' and Mandy Carter in Channel 4 drama '' Ackley Bridge''. Since 2018, she has starred as Luella Sha ...

Dermot O'Leary Seán Dermot Fintan O'Leary Jr. (born 24 May 1973) is an English broadcaster who currently works for ITV and BBC Radio 2. His radio career began when he worked as a disc jockey at Essex Radio, but he is best known for being the presenter of ' ...

Ben Price Ben Price (born 30 June 1972) is a British actor, director and writer. He has played the role of Nick Tilsley in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' and has made four films as a writer/director, the first of which, ''I'm Sorry To Tell Yo ...

* Emma Rigby * Delia Smith

International programmes

CAFOD currently has programmes in 32 countries and has offices in Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Goma and Kinshasa), Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Myanmar (Burma), Nicaragua, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Sudan and Zimbabwe.

References

External links

* *
Caritas InternationalisCAFOD Kidzzone children site
{{Authority control 1960 establishments in England Caritas Internationalis Catholic Church in England and Wales Charities based in London Christian organizations established in 1960 Christian charities based in the United Kingdom CIDSE Development charities based in the United Kingdom Organisations based in the London Borough of Southwark Religion in the London Borough of Southwark