Tearfund
Encyclopedia
Tearfund is a UK Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 relief and development agency which works in over 50 countries. It is a founding member of both the Micah Network and the Disasters Emergency Committee
Disasters Emergency Committee
The Disasters Emergency Committee is an umbrella group comprising fourteen UK charities. These charities are all associated with disaster related issues such as providing clean water, humanitarian aid and medical care....

.

History

The charity was created out of the Evangelical Alliance (EA)
Evangelical Alliance
The Evangelical Alliance is a London-based charitable organization founded in 1846. It has a claimed representation of over 1,000,000 evangelical Christians in the United Kingdom and is the oldest alliance of evangelical Christians in the world....

 and the Evangelical Refugee Fund created by the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

. Tearfund's original name was The Evangelical Alliance Relief Fund Committee George Hoffman headed up the fund.

In January 1969 Sir Cliff Richard did two fundraising concerts for Tearfund at London's Royal Albert Hall. He has served as the charity's Vice President and in 1999 served as its president. In 2009 Sir Cliff gave the proceeds of his first 50th anniversary concert in Wembley Arena to Tearfund.

Tearfund was registered as a charity on 6 March 1973.

Tearfund Ireland was launched as an independent charity in 2008 and now works closely with Tearfund UK as a sister organisation.

Work

Tearfund first sent staff overseas in 1972 when nurses were sent to flood-struck Bangladesh to work with the Bible and Medical Missionary Fellowship. The nurses spent from 6 months to two years working in hospitals, clinics and feeding camps.

Tearfund engages both in direct operational work (via its Disaster Management Unit), and in development work partnering with local Christian groups.By 2006 Tearfund was working with 297 partners, many of them church-based groups, in a total of 565 projects. In 2006 - 2007 it provided £9 million to partner groups working in emergencies.

In 1994 Tearfund set up a Disaster Response Unit, now called the Disaster Management Team. The first disaster responded to was the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide. By 2006-2007, Tearfund had teams working in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Liberia, Darfur, Indonesia, Pakistan and Kenya, caring for people affected by conflicts and natural disasters.

Incidents

In 2000, four Tearfund staff were kidnapped whilst performing charity work in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...

. They were freed after four days but robbed of all their possessions.

Literature

The charity produces a grassroots development magazine named Footsteps which is produced in seven languages and has a print run of ~50,000.

The charity has also produced a booklet entitled Don't Forget Your Ethics which advises people how to travel in both an eco-friendly and fair trade manner.

Campaigning

In 1997 Global Action Network became Tearfund's first full-scale programme of equipping supporters to campaign on poverty issues from a Biblical basis.

Tearfund is a member organisation of several coalitions, including:
  • The European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad)
    Eurodad
    Eurodad is a network of 58 non-governmental organisations from 19 European countries. Eurodad and its members make up a network, this network researches and works on issues that are related to debt, development finance and poverty reduction.Recently this network has focussed on issues such as...

    .
  • The Jubilee Debt Campaign
  • The Make Poverty History
    Make Poverty History
    Make Poverty History is the name of a campaign that exists in a number of countries, including Australia, Canada, Denmark , Finland, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Romania, the United Arab Emirates, Great Britain and Ireland...

     campaign
  • The Stop AIDS Campaign
    Stop AIDS Campaign
    The Stop AIDS Campaign is a campaign run by the UK Consortium on AIDS and International Development, a coalition of more than 80 of the UK's leading international NGOs and HIV/AIDS groups....

  • The Stop climate chaos
    Stop Climate Chaos
    Stop Climate Chaos is a climate change coalition of primarily environmental and international development NGOs that was formed in September 2005. The coalition ran the big I Count campaign in 2006–07 and organised The Wave - a campaign focused on the climatic impacts of energy production which...

     campaign
  • The Trade Justice Movement
    Trade Justice Movement
    The Trade Justice Movement is a British coalition, founded in 2000, of more than 80 organizations campaigning for trade justice.The coalition has a particular focus on UK and EU trade policies...


Inspired Individuals

Tearfund piloted an Inspired Individuals Initiative in 2008. The Initiative seeks to identify, support and resource social entrepreneurs, change agents whose unique vision has the potential to transform the lives of millions living in poverty.

Tearfund’s support for these Inspired Individuals is threefold: firstly, each individual will be paid a stipend for a period of three years; secondly, Tearfund will provide a network of like-minded people to encourage and challenge; and thirdly, a bespoke support programme is offered. Members of the initiative include Kelvin Mwikya
Philemon Ministries
Philemon Ministries is a charitable foundation started by Kelvin Mwikya in Nairobi, Kenya in 1992. The charity provides food, shelter, counselling, community, training and employment to prisoners and former prisoners...

.

External links

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