Press Release
25 July 2006
Ethnic minority groups share in £5 million fund to raise awareness of poverty in the developing world
Three ethnic minority organisations have won grants from the Department for International Development (DFID) to teach schoolchildren, young people and community groups about the lives of people in Africa and Asia. Pupils will learn about challenges to reduce poverty in the developing world and will be encouraged to see how their actions as consumers can reduce global poverty.
The grants are from DFID’s Development Awareness Fund which aims to raise awareness and understanding of development issues among people in the UK:
£137,532 for Hindu Aid to work with the Hindu community in temples, schools and Asian businesses and at Hindu festivals to raise awareness of global development. The project will raise awareness about global poverty, the Millennium Development Goals and increasing global interdependence.
Ramesh Kallidai of Hindu Aid said:
"The DFID grant to Hindu Aid will allow British Hindus, many of whom are already engaged in aid and poverty alleviation programmes, to organise their international development activities in a more structured manner. Hindu Aid will focus on information sharing, use of good practices and an increased awareness of development education, which will increase the effect and outreach of poverty alleviation and international development programmes originating in Britain."
£235,000 for Minorities of Europe to train 150 14-24 year olds from black and ethnic minority communities in Coventry, Leicester, Birmingham and London as ‘champions’ for international development. The champions will work with other young people in their communities to highlight the challenges of poverty and the impact of an increasingly interdependent world.
£300,000 for The Muslim Council of Britain to work with the UK’s Muslim community to increase awareness of the role that can be played by faith communities in reducing global poverty. The project will produce teaching materials for Muslim schools and madresas, a website focusing on work to reduce poverty and links between Muslim communities in the UK and in India, Bangladesh and Nigeria. Final arrangements for this project are still to be agreed.
Gareth Thomas, International Development Minister, congratulated the projects and welcomed their work:
“The elimination of extreme poverty is one of the greatest challenges the world faces – a challenge that the children of today will be taking forward in the future. In an increasingly interconnected world, it is essential that all young people are given the opportunity to learn about the global community of which they are a part. The problems of the developing world become ours, as our problems become theirs – people desperately seeking refuge because of conflict, farmers trapped in crippling poverty because of subsidies in the West, the global problems of climate change and terrorism.
“The Department for International Development is pleased to give funding to these projects. Through them young people and other communities will gain a global perspective and will understand how their actions can make a difference.”
Notes to Editors
1. Through the Development Awareness Fund (DAF) DFID has awarded £5 million to development awareness projects in the UK starting in 2006 and lasting 2-3 years. The DAF is a UK-wide competitive funding scheme. Proposals are assessed in accordance with published criteria.
2. Applicants should meet a proportion of project costs from their own resources or from other sources. The total costs of the projects are:
- Hindu Aid: £178,362
- Minorities of Europe: £285,850
- Muslim Council of Britain: £720,000 (subject to final arrangements).
3. For further information on each project please contact:
- Hindu Aid: Ramesh Kallidai 07915 383 103 or 020 8965 0671
- Minorities of Europe: Deepak Naik 02476 225764 or m.07932 065453
- Muslim Council of Britain: Dr Akber Mohammedali 07768 764786.
4. DFID is the part of the UK government that manages the UK’s aid to developing countries, working to get rid of extreme poverty.
5. The Government’s White Paper on international development, published on 13 July, set out that the government will double investment in development education in the UK.
For further information, contact 020 7023 0233, e-mail d-murray@dfid.gov.uk or call our Public Enquiries Point on 0845 300 4100.
Useful links
Minorities
of Europe
