DIRECTOR’S REPORT AGM, 11 October 2010

1. DIRECTOR’S REPORTAGM, 11 October 2010 by LungisaHuna C A T H O L I C W E L F A R E & D E V E L O P M E N T

2. “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”-- Mahatma Gandhi The sheer significance of this fairly simple quote: • It speaks to the very fundamentals of Catholic social teaching, and what it teaches about helping and supporting each other, both the served and the server. • It certainly informs my view of what an organisation such as CWD is all about; it’s about service and a commitment to bringing humanity to parity with oneself. • Experience teaches one that this mutually enforcing relation- ship, however successful, almost always comes at a cost, with a certain measure of pain and uncertainty.

3. SOME INTRODUCTORY THOUGHTS • 40 years ago, for good reason, SA was overseas funders’ favourite cause. The political dynamic may well have changed, but the needs certainly haven’t. • Development in South Africa is supposed to move in step with the consolidation of our democracy. But, 16 years on, hunger remains one of our country’s biggest problems. • The rand has been strengthened by about 20% since the start of the recession two years ago. This automatically translates into less money for the organisation. • The recession has ushered in a strong element of uncertainty for the NGO sector, especially in terms of secured funding. So the whole funding dynamic is affected by macro-economics.

4. THE PAST YEAR IN BRIEF • Our experiences have taught us the following: • Real impact and learnings do not always translate into numbers. • The effect of changes in the economy on CWD and the roll-out of its work showed certain focus areas to be less affected, while other projects started to show increasing income levels. • The value of creative thinking, critical analysis and evaluation, which prompted CWD to pursue its strategy of integrating programmes and fine-tuning its community-based structures to become self-reliant, sustainable models, able to exit the organisation. C A T H O L I C W E L F A R E & D E V E L O P M E N T

5. THE PAST YEAR(cont) • It also taught us: • The importance of fine-tuning our procurement policy to offset savings against expected reduction in funder income; • That re-assessing our marketing and fund development strategies was essential, aligning them with global trends and directions (entering into strategic dialogues with funders and government to this end); • Despite tight economic conditions, we honoured all our programme commitments, continued to build internal capacity, started innovative pilot projects and challenged ourselves to become a cutting-edge organisation – always willing and ready to adapt to change. C A T H O L I C W E L F A R E & D E V E L O P M E N T

6. OUTCOME • One significant outcome is the establishment of six commissions: • On lobbying and advocacy; • One dealing with the Department of Social Development • An environmental commission; • A commission dealing with integration; • One dealing with CWD’s objectives; and • A commission for the 2010 Soccer World Cup. • These commissions are to be driven by CWD managers and staff, each volunteering to serve on a specific commission. A leading, dynamic organisation, professionally enhancing self-reliant communities

7. THE PRESENT: A CASE IN HAND Our experience has shown that: • Understanding sustainability in financial terms misses the point; it is about believing in the organisation’s vision, working with passion and commitment, and a strong sense of empowerment. • Programmatically, there is still a huge demand for youth-related projects, particularly the 9-12 age group. • Family education programmes are key to the design of our programmes, and that only a holistic approach can address the underlying issues of family breakdowns.

8. THE PRESENT: A CASE IN HAND(cont) • Cohesive and strategic leadership is about team building, working towards collective, integrated leadership, requiring integrated thinking as part of our defined development practice. • Increased community participation and control of local-level development processes, to ensure proper mobilisation and management of resources, leads to real improvements in quality of life. • It is important for CWD to broaden its horizons, connect more closely with the rest of the country, exchange learnings, work to scale, share models, extend services and engage in inter-organisational partnerships.

9. THE PRESENT: A CASE IN HAND (cont) • As a development arm of the Church, CWD needs to build stronger links with the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) and other Catholic agencies. • The relationship with government needs to be built into a much stronger partnership, particularly since our deepened strategies and interventions are in line with government’s thinking. • It is important to carry on our organisational development (OD) practices, enabling people at CWD to make relevant shifts in their own lives; capacity building and training are part of the organisation’s streamlining process. • Development of emerging leaders, more sustainable strategies and approaches, and more streamlined systems are indispensable to the future of our organisation. I would like to take this opportunity to express CWD’s deepest, most heartfelt gratitude to our management board, donors, champions, supporters and volunteers, for believing in our vision and practice in making a difference to the lives of others.

10. Amplifying the voice of the voiceless and serving humanity through the greater good!