Irrelevant of the faith group you may belong to, we all benefit from the building of an equitable, inclusive and just society.
Helsinki HO recently invited the FCA Cambodia team to join a Skype meeting on what it means to represent a Faith Based Organisation (FBO). It was an insightful discussion and made us think more about the universal values we should all promote through hope creation, peacebuilding and advancing justice for everyone.
Irrelevant of the faith group you may belong to – or whether you are agnostic, atheist or simply uncertain – as a global community, we all benefit from the building of an equitable, inclusive and just society.
As an agnostic, I considered the issue in more depth and concluded I am hugely proud of FCA’s approach taken as an FBO. Having the term ‘Church’ in the name of an aid organisation is a great way to raise awareness about the positivity faith can bring. This is especially important today where there exists a climate of fear, mistrust and skepticism around the concept of religion. FCA’s non-missionary approach is an essential reminder that all faith groups can be, and should strive to be, open, tolerant and collaborative, respectful of different worldviews, and oppose all forms of discrimination.
The ethics of my personal belief-system are to always recognise the immeasurable value of every individual with the aim to advance the human rights of all people in an equitable, inclusive way; these are codes that FCA represents. For me, the fact that FCA are an FBO with a non-missionary outlook is vital; fundamentally, whether you are religious or not is inconsequential, what is important is the action you take and the intent you have.
Kirsty A. Evans
The writer works as Resilience Coordinator for the EU Aid Volunteers programme at Finn Church Aid office in Cambodia.
Ms. Tarja Kantola, Chair of Finn Church Aid’s Board of Directors, has been appointed to co-chair the Faith-Based Advisory Council for the United Nations Interagency Task Force on Religion and Development. The other co-chair for the Council is H.E. Faisal Bin Muaammar, Secretary General of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID).
“As co-chair of the Advisory Council, I look forward to the opportunity to advance human rights and build upon the experience of faith-based organisations with the UN”, says Ms. Kantola.
The UN Interagency Task Force was formed in 2010 as a mechanism to generate more learned and systematic knowledge about faith-based engagement around the development, peace building and human rights’ agendas of the United Nations. In April 2018, the UN Task Force and over 50 of the faith-based NGO partners agreed to develop an Advisory Council.
The responsibility of the Advisory Council will be to provide strategic advice to the UN Inter-Agency Task Force in order to strengthen human rights-based policy advocacy, coordinate engagement with faith-based entities, and to focus on the representation of religion in peacemaking.
In celebration of Mr. Annan’s legacy of engaging with faith-based actors, the Task Force will launch an Annual Kofi Annan Faith Briefings’, which will uphold the importance of strategic partnerships by the UN system with faith-based civil society actors around the world.
“Finn Church Aid and the Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers applaud the efforts of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Religion and Development. It is a significant development to see this effort being institutionalised through the first-ever Advisory Council of faith-based organisations. It is a tremendous recognition to Finn Church Aid’s thematic work to have its chair, Ms. Tarja Kantola, as the co-chair the Advisory Council”, states Dr. Mohamed Elsanousi, Executive Director of the Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers and Advisory Council member.
Ms. Tarja Kantola has an extensive career in international relations and promoting human rights. She is Member of the Church Council of the The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and Chair of Board of WISE Wider Security Network. Prior to serving as Chair of Finn Church Aid’s Board of Directors, she worked for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland as political Advisor in Foreign Ministers Cabinet with four Foreign Ministers and chaired the Advisory Board on International Human Rights Affairs set by the Finnish Government. Kantola has also worked with several civil society organisations, including the International Solidarity Foundation, the Finnish Refugee Council and Save the Children Finland. She has been Member of the City Council of Helsinki and Member of the City Board.
For more information
Ms. Tarja Kantola, Chair of Board, Finn Church Aid
tel.+358 050 555 0833, kantolantarja(a)gmail.com (Time zone GMT +3, Eastern European Summer Time)
Dr. Mohamed Elsanousi, Executive Director, The Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers
tel. +1 317 506 2835 (Time zone GMT-4, Eastern Daylight Time)
There is a desperate shortage of decent jobs in developing countries. Finn Church Aid’s (FCA) investment company responds to this need by introducing a new tool to Finland’s development policy.
Finland will invest EUR 16 million in small businesses that create jobs through FCA Investments Ltd, a new company established by FCA. The investment is made in a form of a loan and, according to the terms and conditions of the loan, assets will be paid back with interest to the State of Finland in 18 years with profits from investment activities.
At the initial stage, FCA Investments Ltd will invest in business activities in Asia and Africa through two funds. The company will also start to make direct investments.
“The lack of moderately priced financing in developing countries is a key obstacle to setting up businesses that create jobs. The new company can support promising businesses’ growth potential in cases where their activities are still too small-scale to interest traditional development finance companies,” says Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Anne-Mari Virolainen.
FCA Investments is planning to make direct investments of EUR 0.1 –1 million. Traditional development finance companies seldom make investments that are under one million euros because the administrative costs of small investments become too high in relation to the investment made.
Making small investments is worthwhile for FCA because at the initial stage it will use also other resources to support the financing of businesses. It can support them, for example, in matters related to the management of finances, business planning and marketing.
Compared to other similar actors, FCA Investments benefits from the fact that Finn Church Aid has staff on location and they have experience from countries in which investments will be made,” says Executive Director Jouni Hemberg from FCA.
FCA Investments is planning to make its first direct investments in Uganda in Eastern Africa. In addition to Uganda, FCA will probably make direct investments also in Somalia, Kenya, Jordan, Nepal, Myanmar and Cambodia. In some of these countries the operating environment is clearly more challenging than in Uganda.
“Work and sufficient income are the only way to achieve sustainable peace. By providing loans for vocational training and small businesses we can lift people out of poverty. We believe that the private sector will play a key role in providing support also to the poorest countries,” says Hemberg.
Inquiries:
Jouni Hemberg, Executive Director of Finn Church Aid, tel. +358 50 325 9579
Max von Bonsdorff, Director of Unit for Development Finance and Private Sector Cooperation, tel. +358 50 344 1014
Juha Kirstilä, Special Adviser to Minister Virolainen, tel. +358 40 552 8200
Fact: a loan with interest to Finn Church Aid
The loan to be granted to FCA is a so-called development policy investment. Previously, development policy investments have been made in the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) (EUR 9.2 million), Finnfund (EUR 130 million) and the Finland–IFC Climate Change Program (EUR 114 million).
The interest for the loan is 0.5 per cent, and FCA will start to pay the interest in 2019. The loan period will be 18 years and the loan capital will be repaid in four installments.
More information about development policy investments on the website of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs at: um.fi/kehityspoliittiset-finanssisijoitukset
Donors’ and international investors’ trust in FCA remained strong in 2017.
Finn Church Aid (FCA) spent 38.6 million euros on aid work last year, an increase of 7.5 million from the previous year. The growth in operations was enabled by the increase in international funding and private donations. The effects of the cuts to development cooperation funding by the Finnish government were still felt in 2017, and operations in Haiti had to be discontinued.
Last year, FCA spent 5.7 million euros on domestic operations and general administrative expenses. Therefore, of one euro, over 87 cents were spent on aid work, and under 13 cents were used for lobbying, fundraising, communications, training, and general administration.
In 2017, Finn Church Aid’s fundraising yielded 41.8 million euros. The support of private donors to the work of FCA is still the single most important source of funding. The funding received from private and business donations in 2017 was 12.7 million euros. In addition, international funding continued its rapid growth, amounting to 12 million euros last year. Parishes were responsible for 7.7 million of the proceeds, and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs for about 9 million euros.
The work of the 70 -year old Finn Church Aid still concentrated on the most fragile and challenging operative environments in the world. Despite difficult circumstances, the work bore fruit, and hundreds of thousands of people around the world received aid. In Finland, work with immigrants continued to grow.
”In addition to our traditional aid work, occupational training, creating jobs, and improving subsistence are becoming important focal points for FCA. Cooperation with Finnish education operators, such as Omnia Education Partnership Oy and universities, is rapidly yielding results,” says executive director of FCA, Jouni Hemberg.
The high number of prolonged crises around the world in 2017 could be seen in FCA’s humanitarian work. Almost all humanitarian aid focused on supporting refugees in South Sudan, Myanmar, Jordan, Greece, Syria, and the Central African Republic.
Based on funds used for delivering aid, Finn Church Aid is the biggest organisation providing international aid in Finland. As in previous years, most of the work focused on Africa, representing 40 percent and over 18 million euros of all FCA’s work.
Inquiries: Executive Director of Finn Church Aid Jouni Hemberg, tel. 050 325 9579
Finn Church Aid (FCA) carried out an internal audit in the late autumn of 2017. Some deficiencies were detected in the Nepal Country Office.
The process has not affected the financing, quality of programme work or efficiency of the operations. FCA’s professional and committed staff in Nepal will continue to implement FCA’s strategic goals and the country programme with quality.
FCA has recently started new large projects in Nepal with UNICEF and the EU, among others. These projects and the other programme work will continue in a normal manner. FCA and the Asian Development Bank are also planning cooperation.
The Country Director and the Finance Officer have resigned on January 18, 2018. A new Country Director and Finance Manager will recruited to Nepal Country Office as soon as possible.
More information: Director of International Cooperation Marja Jörgensen marja.jorgensen(at)kua.fi
Finn Church Aid (FCA) has become a globally valued expert in education and peace work. At the end of September, the 70 years of FCA’s aid work were celebrated in Helsinki.
FCA’s anniversary year culminated in the #courage2017 seminar held in Helsinki on 27 September. Among the speakers were Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipilä, Archbishop of Finland Kari Mäkinen, the UN Under-Secretary General and Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide Adama Dieng, and Alice P. Albright, the Director of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), which is the world’s most important funder of education in developing countries.
“It is admirable, that despite the risks, Finn Church Aid has decided to work in the world’s most fragile countries”, Prime Minister Sipilä said in his speech.
The Prime Minister commended FCA’s practical work in peace mediation and in the fight against violent extremist groups, as well as its courage to open-mindedly try out new methods and partnerships.
“My office receives some of its greatest support from civil society actors like Finn Church Aid”, said UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide Adama Dieng.
Partnership with Finn Church Aid, and the Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers working in connection with it, has led to concrete results.
UN Special Adviser Adama Dieng answered questions from the audience. The seminar was hosted by Baba Lybeck.
“At the heart of all religions is the belief in our common humanity and respect for others. Together we have succeeded in placing a discussion about the positive power of religion at the heart of the work of the United Nations”, Dieng said.
The importance of education was a recurring theme in the event’s speeches. According to the latest estimates, there are 264 million out-of-school children and youth in the world.
“Hundreds of millions of young people are being left behind. They will never acquire the skills they need to break out of poverty or to compete in an increasingly globalised world. The countries they live in are deprived of their input in the building of economically stable and sustainable societies. As a result, we are all less well off”, said GPE’s Director Alice P. Albright. GPE is working to improve education in developing countries.
Albright reminded the audience that we live in an increasingly interconnected world, and inequality of opportunity leads to discontent and conflict, which in turn can spill over national borders. It is the responsibility of everyone – whether from traditional donor countries, emerging economies, developing countries, foundations, civil society or the private sector – to invest in education.
New direction and a wider reach
Ten years ago, Finn Church Aid completely changed its direction. Where earlier FCA had focused on funding the work carried out by its partner organisations it now decided to specialise in peace work, education and improving livelihoods. It also began sending its own relief workers abroad and set up country offices to manage the implementation of its own projects.
“We wanted to take a bigger responsibility for the results of our work. On a global scale we are a small organisation and it is not sensible for us to seek out projects in areas that already have a large number of actors in them. Our work has its biggest impact in the world’s most fragile countries”, says FCA Director Jouni Hemberg.
In ten year, FCA’s income has doubled, partly as a result of international funding. FCA currently employs 350 people, which is nearly ten times more than a decade ago. Last year, 132,500 children and youth received access to education as a result of FCA’s work.
Among the guests at the anniversary event were representatives from FCA’s Finnish and foreign partners, the Finnish government, the Finnish church, other civil society organisations, the media and parishes.
Deaconess Heidi Karvonen from Oulu has been FCA’s contact point in her parish for 20 years.
“International charity work is important for me and I have always wanted to bring FCA’s work forward in my parish. Initially, disaster relief was closest to my heart, but now I feel most strongly about peace work, about how conflict and human suffering could be avoided. At the event today, we’ve heard a lot of emphasis put on the importance of education as the foundation for peace work”, Karvonen says.
“Finn Church Aid’s courage is a result of it recognising its roots and identity and drawing from them”, said Archbishop Kari Mäkinen.
The Archbishop spoke of how after the Second World War, churches understood that they were part of a reality in which people’s basic security had been shaken. Talk of a loving God rang hollow when people were not fed, clothed or cared for. The foundation of the churches’ work was the principle of mutual dependence and reciprocity. God’s world is one; its hope and despair are common to us all.
“This courage is needed now as Finn Church Aid works around the world from Central Africa to South Sudan, from Syria to Nepal and Europe. The vulnerable must be protected, the hopeless must be afforded hope, peace must be brought to places of violence.”
The theme for FCA’s anniversary is #courage2017.
In the 70 years worship preceding the seminar, the World Council of Churches General Secretary Olav Fykse Tveit thanked FCA for its contribution in the ecumenical movement. In his sermon Tveit said: ”We live in a world that is getting divided, polarized, focusing on the differences and the dividing forces between us as human beings and between us and nature. We need the courage to live with a vision for unity.”
Et ole hyväksynyt markkinoinnin evästeitä nähdäksesi videon.
More than 80 percent of the world’s population belongs to a religious community. The lives of the vast majority of people are thus affected or guided by religious values or beliefs. Due to this, religions and religious leaders and actors have a pivotal role in creating the foundations for sustainable change. In order to create sustainable development, religious aspects need to be taken into consideration both in the planning and implementation of development cooperation.
Finn Church Aid and the Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers have partnered with the International Partnership on Religion and Sustainable Development (PaRD) network. Together with PaRD and its network members and partners, Finn Church Aid and the Peacemakers Network aim to strengthen cooperation to support the role of religious actors in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals set forth by the United Nations. The cooperation will focus on work in the fields of peace building and gender equality.
PaRD was founded in 2016 to support cooperation between states, NGOs and civil society actors working in or funding the development sector. The members and partners of PaRD are located around the world. PaRD provides its members and partners a network in which to create joint funding projects, share knowledge, and develop inclusive cooperation and training.
Peacemakers Network and PaRD work together in order to strengthen the sustainable impact of peace building and conflict transformation. Both networks work in order to support the global peace building activities engaged by their members and partners. Conflict transformation is a key element providing the ground for sustainable development. In order to create a peace that lasts the inclusion of religious actors, women and youth, both on local as well as international levels cannot be compromised.
In spite of the trend of secularization seen in the global west, religions and religious actors are durable and resilient actors compared to, for example, civil society. The role of religious communities especially in developing nations is essential and religious communities have access and connections to secluded regions even in circumstances, where a functioning central government is non-existent and social services are weak.
Religion remains an immensely important resource and source of hope in dire circumstances and emergencies. To add to this, religion motivates millions of volunteer workers around the world. In order to meet the Sustainable Development Goals set forth by the UN, it is important that the potential of religious communities is considered and included in all the work done.
Finn Church Aid (FCA) grew from a recipient of aid into Finland’s largest organization within development cooperation and second largest provider of humanitarian aid. Now we have a reason to celebrate!
Our 70th anniversary is commemorated in various ways during the year. We begin with a modification of our website’s logo. The actual birthday is celebrated in September.
This is where it started. FCA was founded in 1947, although its name only goes back to 1965. That’s when the Lutheran Church in Finland took part in founding the Lutheran World Federation. Finland was in tatters after years of war, and FCA was the recipient of aid from countries supporting the reconstruction. The picture shows the signing of the Lutheran World Federation’s founding documents in Lund, Sweden.
Photo: LWB Photo
Aiding Biafra and Vietnam. FCA arranged its first aid Come and help campaign in the mid-1960’s in support of Biafra (today’s Nigeria) and Vietnam, as well as the victims of the earthquake in Peru and the famine in Ethiopia. The picture is from the delivery of food aid to Biafra.
Photo: LWF National Committee in Finland
Celebrities get involved. In 1970, Pippi Longstocking (Inger Nilsson) participated twice in children’s parties in Helsinki, collecting money for undernourished children in Nigeria. The campaign resulted in a total of 45 000 mark.
Photo: FCA
Kosovo in our minds. FCA helped Jugoslavian war victims in Kosovo as a part of the reconstruction of Mitrovica. Finnish engineers also participated in the project.
Photo: Martti Lintunen
Focus on fragile states. In 2016, FCA’s budget was around 40 million euros, and its work focuses on the most vulnerable people in about 15 countries. We work for everyone’s right to peace, quality education and sustainable livelihoods.
Food aid arrives to the village of Bukhel, Nepal in the aftermath of the earthquake in 2015. Photo: Antti Helin
Our 70th anniversary is commemorated in various ways during the year. We begin with a modification of our website’s logo. The actual birthday is celebrated in September.
