AUSTRALIAN HIGH COMMISSION PORT VILA

PRESS RELEASE

11 March 2010

For immediate release

Official Launch Of Vanuatu Church Partnership Program.

The official launching of the Vanuatu Church Partnership Program (VCPP) on Thursday 11 March 2010 marks a new program of support to the Vanuatu Christian Council (VCC) and six other local churches including the Presbyterian Church, Anglican Church, Seventh Day Adventist Church, Churches of Christ, Apostolic Church and the Assemblies of God Church.

Partnership with churches is a relatively new approach for AusAID given that the first Church Partnership Program was established in 2004 in PNG. The Vanuatu Churches Partnership Program has been developed after a significant period of baseline research conducted by the representatives of local churches in consultation with local congregation, the Government of Vanuatu and the Australian Church NGOs partners (Anglican Board of Mission, Uniting Church Overseas Aid, Adventist Development Relief Agencies, Baptist World Aid and the National Council of Churches Australia).

The program of support is for $4 million over 3 years. The objective of VCPP is for the Vanuatu Christian Council and churches in Vanuatu, individually and collectively, play an increasingly recognised and effective role in improving governance and service delivery at national and local levels.

The VCPP follows through on a commitment between the Australian and Vanuatu governments to increase community engagement, in line with Australian commitment to building demand for better governance in the Pacific. The Vanuatu Priorities and Action Agenda (PAA), 2006 – 2015 also provide a policy platform for government to work with civil society organisations including churches.

Over the 3 years, the program will focus on strengthening governance, management and operations of the Vanuatu Christian Council (VCC) and institutional strengthening of individual churches. The funding will support local churches develop their Human Resource plan, conduct capacity building training including administrative and financial management and fund office equipment that will help improve the performance of local churches. Local churches are expected to individually and collectively engage effectively with Vanuatu Government, donors and other development partners to expand and improve development initiatives as a result of this support.

Ends For more information, or if you wish to obtain a hardcopy, please contact AusAID on 23341

Winston Churchill Avenue, Port Vila, Vanuatu Telephone: 678-22777 Facsimile: 678-23948

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