Projects

Coalition Against Poverty

UN Gold Star

Updates

PONT (RCT-Mbale) link awarded UN ‘Gold Star’ at Eisteddfod

First Minister makes presentations at premier cultural event

Two Welsh and two African communites are the first in the world to be awarded a United Nations ‘Gold Star’ for their efforts in building peace and prosperity through developing longstanding friendships between the two countries.

The civil society links between Pontypridd and Mbale in Uganda, and Amlwch and Sankwia in The Gambia have won them the Gold Star Communities Award as part of an initiative being piloted for the UN through Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA), funded by the Welsh Assembly Government’s Wales for Africa scheme.

First Minister Rhodri Morgan and UN Anti-Poverty Champion Edith Wakumire from Uganda  presented  the awards at the opening ceremony of WCVA’s Sbardun pavilion at the Cardiff Eisteddfod on Monday (4 August).

The project recognises excellence in cross-community linking and the mutually beneficial contribution made by links towards improving health, livelihoods, life for children, the environment and social harmony in the communities both in Wales and Africa.

The award has been developed with the involvement of more than 50 Welsh linking groups between BUILD UK (Building Understanding through International Links for Development) - which originated the concept - and the Wales Civil Society Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Task Force, the UK and Welsh umbrella bodies aiming to increase the impact of community linking on poverty reduction, social cohesion and understanding.

The event  celebrated  the extraordinary contribution of ordinary people and communities in Wales to combating global poverty and injustice.  Examples include:

• Training by medics from Pontypridd of more than 100 health outreach volunteers in Mbale, Uganda, who work with rural communities diagnosing and treating malaria, diarrhoea and providing basic public health education that has saved many hundreds of lives - while proving a hugely challenging professional development opportunity to health workers from Wales.  

• Twinning of more than 40 schools in Rhondda Cynon Taff with schools in Mbale Region in Uganda, which has been highlighted by Estyn for improvements attained in education performance and citizenship.

First Minister for Wales, Rhodri Morgan AM stated......

“Communities the length and breadth of Wales have developed a new way of expression through developing their links with their couterparts in Africa. The Assembly Government’ssuppor for this  scheme is not about propagating charity or aid – it is about building friendships, equal partnerships and solidarity with other continents and cultures. I am proud that the Assembly Government is supporting the Gold Star scheme, and that Pontypridd and Amlwch are being awarded as the first two ‘beacon communities’ in what we hope will grow to be a worldwide movement that is ‘made in Wales’.”

Edith Wakumire, UN Awardee and Anti-Poverty Champion from Uganda

‘It is a great privilege to be representing and bringing the voices and hearts of the peoples of Africa, to Wales’s National Eisteddfod for such a special event.  Africa is not one place or face - we are many different nations, of many different communities - and it is not until you reach out the hand of friendship and walk alongside us, that we can truly understand and learn from each other as equals.  This heart and soul is what this community linking has brought that is really important for us – not to be faceless subjects of charity, but to be human beings who share, talk, laugh, eat, learn and solve mutual problems together.  It has been a source of great hope in Uganda and I hope many more people in Wales will be inspired to follow the ‘Gold Star’ example.’ 

PONT – Mbale Link Health Projects Coordinator, Dr Cath Taylor

“We in Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taff and our friends joining us from Mbale are thrilled to be among the first to receive this prestigious award.  Having grown from such small beginnings – some local GPs, teachers and church activists – it really shows what we can do when we pull together, working with local political leaders, engineers, environmentalists and many others.  The PONT-Mbale Link been a life changing experience for many of us: distant issues become real, distant people become lifelong friends and teachers to us all, and ending poverty becomes personal.  We feel and can see a real difference being made - and for that to be recognised with a UN-endorsed award, is something that we can be really proud of in the valleys for years to come.”

Graham Benfield OBE, Chief Executive of the Wales Council for Voluntary Action

‘The Gold Star awards really spotlight the role that civil society and communities can play in addressing the Millennium Development Goals on poverty reduction. For many people here in Wales, it can difficult to see how we can make a contribution between the levels of personal commitments (such as buying fairtrade, or giving to charity), to that of international campaigns. WCVA’s support for the Gold Star project is about the difference that local communities can make through working together and building long-term, purposeful links between Wales and Sub-Saharan Africa. Links to Africa create a wealth not financial, but far deeper –sharing ideas and understanding, knowledge, expertise, and intercultural friendships that change lives and develop social harmony and purpose here in Wales.  Amlwch, Sankwia, Pontypridd and Mbale must be congratulated for the example they have set, and we look forward to a day where every community in Wales has a link with a community in Africa that is making a difference to people at both ends.’

John Whitaker, Treasurer of BUILD UK (Building Understanding through International Links for Development) and ex-Deputy Director of Oxfam GB (born and brought up in Penarth) 

“BUILD brings together over 50 high profile organisations who believe passionately that building living relationships for mutual benefit leads to greater understanding, justice and peace in the world; greater social cohesion in the communities involved; and real opportunities to address the Millennium Development Goals. When we first developed the Gold Star Award concept in 2006 with the UN, we were in search of a partner to pilot such a scheme, and we chose Wales. The support of the Welsh Assembly Government and the Wales MDGs Task Force has turned the idea into a reality, and we have learnt a great deal through the pilot so far. It has been truly inspiring working with community links between Wales and Africa who are undrtaking truly amazing work, and these first awards are a milestone in the development of what we hope will grow into a worldwide movement.” 

Peter Davies OBE, Sustainable Development Commissioner for Wales and Coordinator of the Wales Civil Society MDGs Task Force

‘Wales is a world leader in thinking and acting on sustainable development – but we cannot do this without consideration for the international impact of our decisions and actions, and the need to confront challenges together with those who share our planet’s resources. Sub-Saharan Africa is undoubtedly the continent most affected by the impacts of our unsustainable behaviours. The Wales MDGs Task Force took up the pilot for the UN Gold Star project and awards scheme as a means of turning ‘good words’ into meaningful, grassroots-led activity that can bond local communities in Wales and Africa. By bringing together at a local level a wide range of groups across communities, the benefits to social harmony, sustainable development and problem solving can be as profound in Wales as for tyheir African partners.  This is a truly Welsh model of partnership working for sustainable development.”

Desmond Tutu, Former Archbishop of South Africa and Patron of BUILD UK

‘The work being done by Gold Star Communities and links between Wales and Africa is truly an inspiration. Follow your passion and you will change the world!’