Well-Being For All

Project Global Village - Honduras Part 7

Honduras, August 22, 2006

Enrique Castillo of the Rural Reconstruction Program (PRR) introduced me to Chet Thomas, Director of Project Global Village or Proyecto Aldea Global (PAG) in 1984. Within a couple of years, World Accord was able to provide some project funding for about ten years. In the mid to late 1990’s, the Government of Canada began to reduce funding for Development Programs that were managed by Development Agencies like World Accord. Hundreds of thousands of dollars per year were cut for World Accord programs alone. World Accord struggled to replace the lost government funding. Thus, when project agreements like those with PAG came to an end, World Accord was forced not to make new agreements even for good projects, in order to have the money we needed to meet other commitments made before the Government cuts began.

World Accord was able to honour every pledge made to every project. Some were a few months late but all grants were made to cover all project commitments. The real cost of our Government change of policy at CIDA was the loss of many great Project Partners like PAG. Despite this, World Accord and most of the former Partners remained in casual contact.

Three years ago, World Accord contacted PAG. We had an opportunity to access some new funding. We knew the kind of quality program work they do to assist the poor combat their poverty. In part, it was the World Hunger Fund of the Community of Christ Church that supported this new initiative. Some of the PAG Program areas border with World Accord’s other program partner, PRR, in the protected area of the watershed for Lake Yojoa and the Meambar Azul National Park (a Mountain Cloud Forest).

World Accord has again contacted PAG. We requested their plans for a proposal to expand their program in the environmentally critical areas. Their plan will help the residents of the watershed area to protect future clean water sources for dozens of communities in the area as well a assist the residents to address the causes of their poverty. World Accord will place this project plan into our Program for Central America. We will present our Program to CIDA in September 2006.

World Accord will post more information about this new aspect of our Program on our BLOG and web page in the coming months if we are successful in getting CIDA support to the concept. We will also be seeking match funding for this new program too. CIDA will provide a 3 to 1 match ratio. This means they will fund 75% but World Accord must have the other 25%. World Accord will present the best case we can to get an increase in funding from CIDA. They will send their budget regardless. We will simply offer them some of the best programs that meet our Government’s highest stated values and make it harder for them to say no.

Terry Fielder

posted by World Accord Staff @ 8:31 AM