Government is preparing to roll out a $5 million annual grant facility from next month aimed at helping faith-based organisations develop programmes for young people.
Minister of Labour, Social Security and the Third Sector Colin Jordan made the announcement during a post-Cabinet press briefing at Ilaro Court Thursday evening, revealing that Cabinet had formally approved the governance framework for the Faith-Based Organisation Special Grant Fund Facility.
Jordan said the initiative fulfilled a promise made during the recent General Election campaign and reflected Government’s commitment to youth development and social intervention.
“In our election manifesto, January, February of this year, we indicated to the country that we were setting up a $5 million fund annually that would allow faith-based organisations to be able to plan and execute programmes specifically targeted for young people. We saw that as a method of developing our young people, providing positive activity for them, providing guidance, providing an outlet, in some cases, for their creativity, for their skills and ultimately to allow our young people to contribute to the development of the country,” he said.
Jordan added that Government believed most young people wanted opportunities to contribute positively to society.
“We are of the view that the vast majority of our young people mean well and they want to be engaged and they need, in a lot of cases, the facilitation that will allow them to be engaged,” he said.
The minister explained that the fund would be open to all recognised faiths and faith-based charities operating in Barbados, including churches, mosques, synagogues, temples and the Rastafari community.
“We have fully engaged faith-based organisations, meaning the Christian faith, the Orisha faith, the Muslim faith, Hindu faith, Jewish faith. We’ve included the Rastafari community. We’ve included all of the faiths in the country and they have had their input in the governance framework that we’ve developed and that Cabinet has approved,” Jordan said.
He said organisations seeking funding must be registered charities, non-profit companies or recognised third-sector organisations and must have been operating for at least three years, although flexibility had been built into the programme.
“We are developing and designing this programme. We do not want to make it stiff and unresponsive and so there’s an Evaluation and Monitoring Committee that will have the power, the authority to make exceptions, but at its sole discretion,” he explained.
Jordan stressed that the initiative was not intended to fund entertainment events or one-time activities, but rather long-term developmental programmes focused on youth empowerment.
“This is not for shows. This is for serious developmental programmes intended to develop our young people and allow them to realise their skills, their talents, their gifts and to be able to contribute to their own development and to the development of their communities, ultimately the development of their country,” he said.
Among the areas eligible for funding are innovation and enterprise, health and wellness, crime prevention, youth engagement and life skills development.
The minister also made it clear that programmes funded by taxpayers could not discriminate against participants based on religion.
“These funds come from all of society, so that none of society can be barred in a situation like this. A person of one faith cannot be barred from taking part in a programme which is hosted or executed by another faith,” he said.
Jordan said the first call for proposals would be issued at the beginning of next month.
He said proposals would be evaluated based on operational capacity, relevance, feasibility, sustainability, scalability and realistic budgeting.
The minister revealed that the Evaluation and Monitoring Committee would consist of seven members, including youth representatives, a social worker, a community development expert and representatives from faith-based organisations.
He added that projects approved for funding would be closely monitored, with organisations required to submit progress and final reports outlining their achievements and expenditure.
“There’s the initial proposal, then at the inception of the project there will be some monitoring. During the life of the project there will be monitoring and at the midpoint there’s a requirement that the faithbased organisation submits a report of how things are going,” Jordan explained.
He said the $5 million allocation would be divided into four quarterly calls of approximately $1.25 million each to help Government manage cash flow while keeping the programme active throughout the year. (TRY)
