CACD Membership

Membership in the alliance is open to all organizations affiliated with the Catholic Church. This includes religious orders, NGOs, movements (working in Charity & Development) and some delegates of the local Catholic Church. Representation at CACD meetings/events will generally be the head of the agency or his/her designate.

Working Group Steering Committee

A steering committee of five comprised of at least four participating organizations appointed by the Bishop as well as his designate will serve for a period of two years. Each year, two new members will change on the Steering Committee to ensure continuity and broad-based participation. The Steering Committee will meet on a regular basis to discuss current issues raised, assist with preparing thrice-yearly alliance meetings, and help to facilitate relationships among alliance members or design joint Network events involving, as appropriate, other members of the Network for logistics or other support

Objectives of the Alliance

• Strengthen the Catholic/Group Identity: As Catholic organizations we are linked by a rich tradition of Catholic social teaching and thought. The Alliance will seek to increase our understanding of our Catholic roots as the basis for strengthening our overall identity.
  
  
• Increase sharing of experience/knowledge among members;]: There is much experience and expertise among Catholic organizations. The regular meetings provide the basis for sharing this experience and knowledge to other members for their information and learning.
  
  
• Maximizing the Charitable work of the Alliance: Through sharing and strengthening, it is anticipated that Catholic organizations will be able to maximize their work together. The meeting will serve as a platform to discuss ways to compliment and expand our collective work as appropriate.
  
  

Expected Outputs

Below is an illustrative list of expected outputs generated from the CNGO meeting of September 12, 2011 meeting. The list will be refined and discussed with the steering committee and a plan put proposed to the entire group for endorsement at the first meeting scheduled in 2012.

Alliance Timeline

The Steering Committee will be appointed at the November 28, 2011 meeting. The annual plan will be presented at the first meet of the calendar year.

Attachment:

Illustrative outputs by objective of the Catholic Alliance on Charity and Development that arose from the September 12, 2011 meeting:

1. Catholic/Group Identity
   • a. Maintaining a Christian/Catholic message in our programming (6)
   • b. Many requests for Catholic Social Teaching training/guidance/reflection (4)
   • c. Retreat (3)
2. Sharing Experience Knowledge
   • a. Media Training
   • b. Financial Management
   • c. Pedagogy on Youth activities (2)
   • d. Developing inter-agency communication platform (2)
   • e. Integrated Community Development
   • f. HIV/AIDS
   • g. Create and distribute CNGO directory/Contact list
   • h. General request to share information (8)
   • i. Exchange Visits
   • j. Statistical/ data sharing
3. Maximizing the collaborative possibilities of the members
   • a. Offer technical assistance in areas of expertise.
     • i. Early Childhood
     • ii. Human resources
     • iii. Accepting referrals
     • iv. Mental Health
     • v. Trauma Treatment
     • vi. Resources for the Hearing Impaired
     • vii. Gender mainstreaming
     • viii. Climate Change/ Ecology
     • ix. Disability
     • x. Agricultural
     • xi. M&E/ Reporting/ Assessments
   • b. Identify sectoral linkages and find ways to address them together (7)
   • c. Internships (Offering/Receiving) (2)
   • d. Joint fund-raising
   • e. Advocacy
   • f. Dialogue with the Bishop/ Local Church on specific sectors/activities

SOME POSSIBLE ACTIVITIES FOR THE CATHOLIC ALLIANCE FROM AD HOC COMMITTEE MEETING ON NOVMEBER 15, 2011

For the working group meetings three/four times per year:

• updates from the various diocesan commissions; respond to requests from them
• discuss issues/responses arising, e.g. the flooding
• raise up issues for advocacy from Catholic Church
• talk with parish priests/leaders about needs in their areas
• host an occasional speaker, e.g. Jenny Pearson, Bishop Kike on Caritas role, Ashley on Catholic Social Teaching, Chhit Sam Ath on advocacy in this culture…
• maybe one meeting have an expanded social time

For the steering committee:

• plan the meetings of the larger group—arrange speakers, set agenda, including calling for an urgent meeting for extraordinary occasions (emergency response, etc)
• expand the directory to include a description of various areas in which the NGOs are active
• facilitate discussions and exchange among the members
• Arrange a session on Catholic Social Teaching for a varied audience (in Khmer for local NGO staff) or for the participation of alliance members, or other topics as requested