Global Development Group is an Australian charity organisation carrying out humanitarian projects with approved partners and providing aid to relieve poverty in a tangible way. We provide long term solutions through the provision of quality aid development projects in approved countries.

Global Development Groups' development project photos from around the world:

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Recent Activities

Office visits from project partners

Regular visits with our project partners - whether In-Country or Australian - are an important aspect of ongoing two-way communication with our project partners and keeping up to date.  We look forward to visits from many of our project partners throughout the year - although we don't always have time to post them on our website but most are mentioned in our regular Members Update emails.

Easterfest 2012

Estimated 40,000 in attendance and estimated AUD 10M will be spent in Toowoomba over the weekend.

This year we had quite a few Global Development Group projects well represented in the exhibit area. Watoto, She Rescue Home, Neighbour's Aid, Beyond Water and Destiny Rescue all had separate stands.

This was great to see!

GDG Rebuilds what Kony destroyed!

You can help rebuild what Kony has destroyed by giving to Global Development Group projects actively working in Northern Uganda to help empower the victims of Kony's devastation throughout this region. Click here to make a donation to projects working to help rebuild the people and communities of Northern Uganda.

Special Envoy of Prime Minister - Childcare Kitgum Servants - 6th March 2012

On Tuesday 6th March 2012 HE Bob McMullan (Special Envoy of Prime Minister Julia Gillard), HE Geoff Tooth (Australian High Commissioner) and Hon Henry Oryem Okello (Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs Uganda) drove from Pader, North Uganda with police escort to Kitgum Uganda to visit the Global Development Group Project Childcare Kitgum Servants founded by Irene Gleeson OA. GDG’s Senior Project Officer, Carey Westwood and Representatives for Africa, Martha Waithaka and Janet Ayo were also in attendance on this special occasion.

Thousands of children greeted the delegation with song and dance, as Australian and Ugandan flags flew high. It was an incredible morning, with Chief Administrator, John Paul Kiffasi  officially welcoming the guests, before the tour of the main school, vocational training institute, HIV/AIDS hospice and FM radio station.

GDG has been in partnership with Childcare Kitgum Servants, now know as Irene Gleeson Foundation for 7 years. Today, with over 400 staff,  10,000 war affected children are educated; 1,500 former child soldiers are receiving vocational training; many mothers and infants are provided with medical care and the community are benefiting from water, health and sanitation activities.

Thank you for your continued support.
 

Cambodia Partners Network Meeting - 23rd Feb 2012

The first GDG Cambodia Partners Network meeting was held on 23rd February in Phnom Penh. Six staff from the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia (CCC) attended along with forty eight delegates representing twenty three GDG partner organisations. Catering by the Open Arms team from GDG Project J676 was enjoyed as we reconnected and networked before the presentations.

We learned about the CCC Good Practice Project NGO voluntary accreditation which is similar to the ACFID Code of Conduct in Australia. The presentation on the Good Practice Project by Mr Sok Sovann was followed by testimony from Mr Thong Romanea of Asian Outreach on their experience which gave us a good picture of the accreditation process.

South East Asia GDG Project Officer Craig Tunney presented a workshop on project design which inspired a lot of good discussion about development best practice. Many of the delegates enjoyed lunch together afterwards and continued networking.

In-country meetings with our GDG Partners Network serve to strengthen the partnership between GDG and the in-country organisations as well as building relationships between partners. Encouraging the sharing of experiences and knowledge as well as connecting partners with local structures to enhance their ability to serve the poorest of Cambodia is the purpose of the GDG Partners Network. Feedback from delegates suggests that our Partners Network is providing just that for our Cambodian partners. We want to thank the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia for their support, Open Arms J676 for catering, and all of the delegates for your active participation.

GDG Perth Partners ACFID Code Seminar - 21st February 2012

The Perth Partners ACFID Code Seminar held on Tuesday 21 February 2012 was well attended by 29 delegates representing 24 projects in 12 countries  - Cambodia, Thailand, Kenya, Uganda, Philippines, Zambia, Tanzania, Indonesia, India, Timor Leste, Rwanda and Ukraine. The strength of the Global Development Group Partnership was overwhelmingly evident. With our core disciplines firmly rooted in sustainable grassroots community development and our shared desires to help facilitate solutions to alleviating poverty within urban and rural communities in developing nations, GDG and its Partners are certainly well positioned to help provide greater access to opportunities for women and men, boys and girls that will empower them towards sustainable livelihoods.

The focus of the Seminar was on the new ACFID Code of Conduct that came into effect on 1 January 2012. Global Development Group’s Executive Director Geoff Armstrong, Compliance Manager Greg Cadman and Senior Project Officer Carey Westwood shared on topics relating to development effectiveness that included ACFID’s Program Principles with specific emphasis on Human Rights, Advocacy, Emergency Management, Public Engagement, Fundraising, Complaints Handling, Compliance and Governance.

Global Development Group’s Partnership with Australian Partners and In Country Partners – our purpose and values, along with a deeper understanding of the importance of the roles we each undertake in development effectiveness was also unpacked, with discussions centred around Community Participation, Government Engagement, Sustainability and Capacity Building.

The feedback from Seminar delegates was positive and we wish to thank the Western Australian Partners for their partnership. We value and appreciate the contribution that you make with us in building better lives for the world’s poorest people.
 

GDG Monitoring Trip - Philippines February 2012

In early February Ofelia (Fe) Luscombe and Samantha Major ventured to the Philippines to monitor projects in Manila, Tacloban, Cebu, Cagayen De Oro and Bohol. In total we saw seven projects. As this was Sam’s first monitoring trip it was all new and very exciting for her. It was a great trip and a fantastic opportunity to see some of our partners in action. To see what each project is doing and how they are impacting their beneficiaries and in turn the community surrounding them.

The Philippines have been through some major natural disasters already this year – floods, earthquakes, even a false tsunami warning. Earlier in the year there was a massive flood in Cagayen De Oro which killed numerous people. In February the figures were 555 dead and 700 missing and as horrible as it sounds this meant there were 700 bodies still to be found. Several camps have been set up to house these displaced people, with more permanent housing currently being built. We have one project which is directly helping these survivors providing feeding programs, trauma counselling, water filtration, battery and torch charging.

Some other really good projects we saw were systematically educating the villages they were allowed/ invited into. Their focus is to educate not only the children but more specifically the parents; covering everything from basic healthcare, hygiene and nutrition through to livelihood endeavours and income generation.

Another great project we saw was directly helping street children. Not only were they rescuing them from their individual situations, but they were strategically providing them with futures. This is done through better nutrition, healthcare, and most importantly education and vocational training.

GDG Monitoring Trip - India 2011

At the end of last year, Samantha Robb (India Project Officer) and Peta Thomas (Cambodia project manager) travelled to India  and meet up with Leena Thomas (GDG representative in India) to monitor projects in Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Nagpur, Jodhpur, Jaipur and Kochi.

In Jodhpur we visited a fantastic project and the dedicated team who are making a significant impact in the lives of the benificaries as they work to empower both women and children through education and vocational training with a specific aim to build capacity, self-esteem and confidence. The empowerment centres provide a two year program for women in the community to learn maths, Hindi, English, arts and crafts and vocational training such as sewing and embroidery. They are also educated in various issues such as health, sanitation, hygiene and society issues. Sambhali has also established a sewing centre which provides a job for graduates of the empowerment centre and provides income for the project. Sambhali has also established an empowerment centre for children in a village near Jodhpur which facilitates an education program for children who don't go to school and provides tuition/supplementary education for children in the area who do go to school.

In Visakhapatnam we visited the an adult literacy programme which currently conducts a literacy program in 30 villages. The program provides basic literacy and numeracy education and runs for one year with the classes meeting 3 nights a week. The project is making a great difference in the everyday lives of these people who at the end of the program have gained basic skills in reading, writing and numeracy and are able to read signs and bus schedules ect. The beneficiaries were very proud of their achievement and eager and excited to demonstrate what they have been learning.
 

J342 Crossroads - Malcolm & Sally Begbie receive 'Order of Australia'

Global Development Group would like to extend our warm congratulations to Malcolm and Sally Begbie for being appointed Officers of the Order of Australia on Australia Day, January 26, 2012... See More

Break The Cycle - Cambodia March

(28 Oct - 4 Nov 2011)

In October, a team of 100 cyclists rode 144km from the historic 1300 year old Angkor Wat temples to Poipet... See More

Down to Canberra for ACFID Council October 2011

GDG Monitoring Trip - China October 2011 

From 13th - 18th October 2011, after the GDG Partners Conference held in Cambodia, Geoff Armstrong (Executive Director) and Hailey Wang (China Project Officer) headed to China to monitor projects. They visited J282 International China Concern, J587 Coat Eagels Wings, J640 ChinaHeart International and J701N Starfish's Development Project.

Global Development Group has many great projects in China - a lot of them focus on disability.

Please see photos above of this trip.

Cambodian Conference October 2011

The Second GDG Cambodian Projects Conference held at the Sunway Hotel, Phnom Penh on 10-11 October 2011, was by all accounts a roaring success.

With guest speakers including Megan Anderson (AusAID) and other invited guests, GDG staff and Cambodian project staff, with projects highlighted throughout the program, it was a thoroughly informative, enjoyable and empowering time. Many attendees commented on how it built on the success and momentum of the previous year's conference and reinforced and extended the partnership understanding, development process learning and capacity building that had been established previously.  The conference was also a great time of building closer partnership relationships and celebrating and experiencing both the diversity and unity of the various Cambodian projects and activities throughout the nation.

Meet the President: Baucau Peace House, Timor-Leste

President Ramos-Horta (Timor-Leste) was one of the esteemed invited guests present for the inauguration of the latest Peace House in Baucau, Timor-Leste on 14th September 2011. Joao Boavida & Mario Alves (Executive Director & Project Coordinator, respectively, of CEPAD - our In-Country Partner), and Renee Lariviere (Interpeace) were also present. Global Development Group and The Charitable Foundation were both represented by Greg (Compliance Manager, GDG) at the official opening ceremony. The Peace House Project has been a vital and much needed pilot project to trial the effectiveness of official neutral community meeting places for peaceful negotiation of disputes, in a country which has been plagued with a long history of political and social unrest.

Two great events at Global Development Group

On the 4th and 5th August we held our first Australian Partners Conference – held at Springwood Towers Brisbane, with 110 in attendance. Partners came from all over Australia and we thank them all (quite a number came all the way from Perth).

The purpose was to describe the new ACFID Code of Conduct, which will be mandatory
1st January 2012. The highlight speaker for Day 1 was Cath Blunt, Code of Conduct Manager for ACFID. Day 2 was our much respected Belinda Lucas on Development Effectiveness. Ten of the Global Development Group staff and consultants presented the work of Global Development Group, and twenty Representatives and Partners also spoke. A feature was the networking between partners resulting in some great plans to work together for the benefit of all.

Second Representatives Conference and Training

The Conference was a great opportunity for our overseas Representatives to gather the week before the Conference and spend three days training on the next Monday through Wednesday.