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UN Gold Star Awards to mark St. David's Day in Senedd
26 Chwef 2010Welsh and African communities recognised by UN for making poverty history
download press release here and awards information booklet here
link to event information here
Three Welsh and three African communities will be honoured this St. David’s Day with the award of a United Nations Gold Star for their contribution towards making poverty history, building friendships and broadening horizons between Wales and Africa.
The volunteer-run community partnerships - between Hay-on-Wye in Powys and Timbuktu in Mali, Llanfyllin in Montgomeryshire and Kamuli in Northern Uganda, and Pontypridd in Rhondda Cynon Taff and Mbale in Eastern Uganda – are supported by the Wales Africa Community Links project of the Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA), with funding from the Welsh Assembly Government’s Wales for Africa scheme.
While their projects may sound like achievements of great international agencies, these links are rooted in friendship between ordinary people in Welsh and African communities who are exchanging skills, knowledge and understanding. The Hay Timbuktu link, for example, has set up projects which have seen antenatal clinic attendance triple in the last 12 months, hungry children fed through a market garden scheme, and a trade agreement between Welsh and African artisans bringing sustainable income to Tuareg people hit by impacts of a tourism slump, security and climate change.
The UN Gold Star Awards event at the Senedd celebrates the achievements of volunteers and community groups who are building Wales’ relations with the world, in pursuit of sustainable development and overcoming poverty and injustice.
The awards, which will be presented by First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones AM and guest UN Representative, Ms Berta Pesti, were assessed by an independent panel of international development experts with the endorsement of the UN. Five awards will be presented to three communities for their impact on youth, health, livelihoods and the environment in the communities involved:
- Llanfyllin and Kamuli, Uganda – UN Youth Gold Star
- Hay-on-Wye and Timbuktu, Mali – UN Health Gold Star
- Hay-on-Wye and Timbuktu, Mali – UN Livelihoods Gold Star
- Pontypridd and Mbale - UN Livelihoods Gold Star
- Pontypridd and Mbale - UN Environment Gold Star
Carwyn Jones, First Minister of Wales, said: "It is fitting that on this our tenth St. David’s Day since devolution, we’re celebrating Wales’ achievements as an outward looking, confident nation; a nation of strong communities, learning from others - and making a difference in the world that would make St. David proud. It is humbling to see the innovation of these Wales-Africa community links, and the support they have from the Welsh people, and I hope to reflect this support through strengthening our Wales-Africa programme over the year ahead, towards a ‘new decade’ of Welsh internationalism."
Apollo Mwenyi, visiting the Senedd from Uganda as a guest of PONT, the Pontypridd-Mbale Link, said:"Our link with Wales means a great deal, and this award means a great deal, to our people in Mbale. It shows that through extending the hands of friendship, we can change the world for the better – and importantly that as Africans we can be not just recipients of aid or charity, but friends and equal partners in building a future for all of our children."
Julie Grigg, GP from Hay-on-Wye, said: "Getting involved with Timbuktu has been a life changing experience. This award is a huge inspiration for people in both Hay and Timbuktu, as recognition of everyone’s efforts, what we’ve been able to learn from Africa, and also the difference we’ve been able to make. Our link belongs to the whole community, so I hope we’ll be able to display the award proudly in Hay. I also hope many people, such as Hay Festival goers, will see it and be inspired to set up more links with Africa!"
The event will feature musical performances from ‘Operation Zulu’ African Jazz and Bettws Ethiopian Choir, from the community links between Rhondda and South Africa, and Bridgend and Ethiopia respectively.
For information about the event please contact Ed Howarth and 029 2043 1722 or 07545 514107.
Journalists and broadcast crew are welcome to attend the event for the purposes of news coverage. Please contact Ed Howarth on 029 2043 1722 or 07545 514107 or Non Jones, Welsh Assembly Government on 029 2082 1823.
Notes to editors:
WCVA represents, supports and campaigns for voluntary organisations, volunteers and communities in Wales. It has more than 2,500 members including a wide range of organisations working on issues such as housing, economic regeneration, childcare, community development, transport, the environment and health.
What is community linking – and why Wales and Africa?
Traditionally associated with town twinning, many European links emerged in the 1950s as a means of rebuilding peace, prosperity and understanding between countries in Europe. This has been echoed by many communities seeking to work with African partners to ‘Make Poverty History’ since 2005. The Welsh Assembly Government launched the Wales for Africa scheme in 2006, with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa - of which WCVA’s Wales Africa Community Links programme is a flagship scheme.
What is the Gold Star Communities Project?
Gold Star Communities Project is an innovative scheme launched in 2007 and developed in partnership between the Wales Civil Society MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) Task Force and BUILD UK (Building Understanding through International Links for Development), managed by WCVA with funding from the Assembly Government’s Wales for Africa scheme. The project supports community groups in Wales with funding, advice and expertise, information and events. All activities are underpinned by the Gold Star Award good practice framework, piloted and developed in Wales for the UN.
What does the Gold Star Community Award mean?
The award aims to ‘recognise the best to inspire the rest’ – a beacon of inspiration for quality community links. Both in Wales and Africa, the awarded linking groups have shown they are involving people from across the community, building partnerships and sustainability for long-term change, and running projects that are making a real difference to local development.
