Primate’s World Relief Development and Development Fund

by Peggy Bush

The PWRDF was established in Canada in 1959 in response to the needs of people in Springhill, Nova Scotia at the time of the mine disaster and also to the needs of people in other countries who needed help quickly. After 10 years of being an emergency relief agency, the word "development" was added in recognition of the continuing work that was needed to prevent disasters and assist with development. The Primate's Fund works in six ways:

EMERGENCY GRANTS: help people whose lives are shattered by war or natural calamities.

REFUGEE PROTECTION: is provided through grants addressing refugees' needs in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, and through refugee work, research and advocacy in Canada.

YOUTH INITIATIVE: encourages youth engagement in the Primate's Fund work for global justice. Its goal is to provide a cumulative program for young people that builds a meaningful understanding of solidarity, partnership and global citizenship.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT WORK: is supported by means of grants to community-based organizations throughout the world who meet basic human needs, build local expertise, work towards peace and reconciliation, promote human rights and democratic development and strengthen the role of women.

INDIGENOUS CANADIAN DEVELOPMENT: is facilitated through grants to community-based projects and helping to develop a relationship between Canadian and overseas indigenous communities.

GLOBAL JUSTICE EDUCATION: is provided through our national PWRDF networks, ecumenically, and in every Anglican parish across Canada, through the Parish and Diocesan Partnership Program.

The Primate's World Relief and Development Fund is also a member of Action by Churches Together, a worldwide network of churches and related agencies meeting human need through coordinated emergency response. The PWRDF has recently been instrumental in assisting in Kosovo, Turkey, India, Philippines, Sierra Leone, Mozambique and the Caribbean in various emergency situations.

In 1999, the people of St. John's gave $32, 000 to the fund.

For more information, please see: http://www.pwrdf.org/.