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ELCIC

Policies and Guidelines to be Applied to
Synodical GHDA Project Applications

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Global Hunger and Development Appeal (GHDA) is a program of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) which is designed to raise funds and awareness in support of the hungry and the poor of the world. The GHDA mission is two-fold:

  1. To provide the majority of its funds to CLWR in support of its work world-wide.
  2. a) To provide the synods with resources to jointly work with the national co-ordinator to develop educational and interpretative resources for congregations and synods;
    b) to work with government and non-government organizations; and
    c) to provide local emergency needs.
Goal: To engage the sustained commitment of synods and congregations in God's mission of alleviating hunger, understanding the causes of hunger and poverty, and walking with the poor to find solutions.

National Objectives

  1. To provide funds for the immediate relief of hunger and other emergency needs.
  2. To provide funds to assist people to deal with the causes and effects of poverty through long-range development.
  3. To help the synods and congregations to understand and confront the causes of poverty.
  4. To promote social and economic justice as it relates to poverty, including support of and advocacy for government policy and programmes.
  5. To support ecumenical/inter-agency efforts and coalitions where possible.

Guidelines of Synod Projects

  1. Activities should lead to an awareness of the issues of hunger and poverty as well as the solutions.
  2. Activities shall relate to one of the following areas.
      a) food production, distribution, acquisition, nutrition;
      b) employment (i.e. job training, counselling, placement, day care centres, health);
      c) development (i.e. primary health care, sanitation, water supply, economic self-help, land use, literacy, housing, social structures).
  3. Activities should build on resources and energies of the poor and their communities as much as possible (people, goods, equipment).
  4. External assistance should promote self-reliance in the shortest time possible (normally assistance should not be planned for more than five years).
  5. Activities should enable persons to deal with those elements of social and political and economic situations that cause and reinforce poverty, and should encourage all people to confront those aspects of their personal lives that prevent people from breaking out of the cycle of poverty.
  6. Activities, when feasible, should be ecumenical/inter-agency.
  7. Activities should be carefully planned in a way that fits the local situation so that the specific objectives of the activity are fulfilled.

Guidelines for Synod Awareness and Education Programs

  1. To work with the national co-ordinator to design, develop and provide education, learning materials and opportunities.
  2. To work with the national co-ordinator to promote GHDA as the ELCIC funding mechanism for global development projects including projects and activities in each synod.
  3. To plan activities in a way that fits the local situation so that the specific objectives of the activity are fulfilled in a meaningful way.
  4. To support ecumenical/inter-agency efforts and coalition where possible.
  5. To look for opportunities to work with other synods on education and awareness projects and activities.

Guidelines of Funding Applications

Applications will be accepted twice a year (March 1 and October 1). Decisions regarding allocation of funds will normally be made in March and October.

Applications should include:

  1. specific objectives,
  2. anticipated time line,
  3. project budget,
  4. project outline, and
  5. anticipated outcomes or results.

Applications will state all other sources of funding that applicants will be utilizing for the project. All funds will be granted on continuing projects on an annual basis. More information may be requested from applicants prior to final decisions. The committee has absolute discretion in the granting of all or any portion of the monies requested. All funds will not necessarily be expended in any given year. Decisions may be deferred depending on availability of funds and/or competition for same.

Ongoing programs must reapply annually.

A report with full details of expenditures must be provided to the synodical committee responsible for GHDA administration. The report should be completed within two months of the stated date of completion of the project, or annually upon reapplying for funds at the end of the current year for ongoing projects must be provided.

Applications should be submitted to the attention of the Rev. Guenter Dahle, GHDA Sub-Committee, 74 Weber Street West, Kitchener, ON N2H 3Z3.

Annual Reporting by Synods on Projects and Awareness/Education Projects

On an annual basis synods must report to the national committee a list of project and education
activities funded, along with copies of grant applications, final reports and materials relating to those activities. In addition, a written description of all other GHDA related/funded activities not covered in the above project reports must be provided.

Adopted: Eastern Synod Council - December, 1996
Format Revised: November 8, 1999