Message from the Board
This year’s Annual Report is being written in the context of an unsettled atmosphere in international affairs. The US-led war on terrorism and continuing conflict in the Middle East have threatened to overshadow initiatives to bring fresh ideas and approaches to the challenge of reducing global poverty. However, as the year 2002 progresses, there appears to be a growing acceptance of the premise that global stability and sustainability depend to a great extent on overcoming the sense of powerlessness and hopelessness that is all too common in those parts of the world that seem to have been left aside by international economic forces. Efforts by the G-8, the UN and others to highlight the impacts of Africa’s continued marginalization are an encouraging sign of a new direction. We are cautiously optimistic that, if implemented, strategies to build a new partnership between Africa and the West will bring about innovative, appropriate and effective approaches to sustainable human development in that continent.

In this context, the role of bodies like FIT is of even greater importance. Sustainable poverty reduction requires strong organisations and institutions able to envision and create the conditions that build just societies from the grassroots to the national levels. The challenge of global poverty can only be met when all sectors of society—government, civil society organisations and the business community—join forces to develop democratic structures that enable all people to participate in building their communities and promote more equitable distribution of resources. Supporting the development of this framework lies at the heart of capacity building.

Over the course of this past year, FIT has continued to work in diverse cultural and political settings to build capacities with our local partners in an effort to support this vision of development. We have begun work on two new projects in the important sectors of child rights and disabilities, establishing a framework for building capacities to ensure inclusion of groups that are too often marginalized by the development process. These projects provide FIT with an opportunity to develop innovative approaches to capacity building that address issues in very challenging sectors. As we reflect on the events of the past year and the continued uncertainty as to how these events will shape the international development agenda in the year ahead, we realise that we need to persevere in our commitment to making a difference in the lives of people now more than ever.

back to table of content

 

Don Stevenson,

Chair,
FIT Board of Governors