Because the South has plans. The ideas behind the slogan.

Broederlijk Delen has a typical way of working. We support the initiatives of groups of people in the South who work hard to build a future for themselves. They realise their own plans in their struggle against poverty and injustice. We refer to the organisations we support as ‘partner organisations’ because we work on a basis of equality. Worldwide, Broederlijk Delen supports 250 partners in twenty countries. They all grew from local inspiration, vision, expertise and possibilities. All of these projects are linked to sustainable rural development, human rights, democratisation and participative citizenship.
Broederlijk Delen supports its partner organisations in different ways

• With Financial support

Financial support remains necessary for many partner organisations. They need money to pay the socio-cultural workers, to maintain buildings, to purchase farming equipment. Every year they submit an application to Broederlijk Delen containing their plans and a budget. After a thorough analysis, Broederlijk Delen decides how much money is granted.
 

• With support concerning content

Broederlijk Delen is more than just a money transfer to one project. Broederlijk Delen organises and stimulates the exchange of ideas and experiences between partner organisations. We offer scholarships to their collaborators and organise training sessions in the South. This strengthens their capacities.
 

• With political actions

Development has a lot to do with politics as well as national and international legislation. Many of our partner organisations in the South undertake political actions in order to demand better laws for their target groups. The National Domestic Workers Movement in India for example, succeeded in obtaining a legal statute for the domestic workers. Broederlijk Delen supports the political actions of its partner organisations and regularly puts pressure on Belgian and European governments by setting up some political actions itself.
 

• With temporary development workers

Broederlijk Delen has some twenty development workers and some 25 volunteers in the South. They are people who work temporarily for a partner organisation. They are by no means know-it-alls who show the local people how it’s done. On the contrary, they are committed people who use their expertise to work together with partner organisations at the partner organisation’s request. They build bridges between continents and help fight prejudices.

The foundation of Broederlijk Delen

Broederlijk Delen was founded 50 years ago and we have achieved quite a lot in that time. Each year we mobilise numerous volunteers in Flanders. In Africa, Asia and Latin America local groups are able to carry out their own plans thanks to the support of Broederlijk Delen. Our actions influence the political agenda, even at an international level. Here you can read how it all started.

Foundation

The first Lenten campaign was set up in 1961 when the expelled Baluba tribes people were threatened with starvation in Kasaï, Congo. Cardinal Van Roey made an appeal to link Lent with a population in need, through financial support.

There was not only hunger in Kasaï; the Sixties were the decade of decolonisation. In several countries, the political emancipation involved social and economic difficulties. Immediately, it became clear that solidarity work could not be restricted to the former Belgian colony alone. As the years went by, Broederlijk Delen broadened its field of action from the Congo to other African countries and later also to Latin America and Asia.

From emergency aid to structural support

In the very beginning, Broederlijk Delen provided immediate, material aid. Gradually, we wanted to provide structural aid and it became increasingly more important to tackle the underlying causes of poverty in the South. Broederlijk Delen also gave priority to projects that offered communities the opportunity to manage their own situations.

Eradicate poverty: at home and overseas

Differences in mentality and structural reforms were also the order of the day in our own society. In 1970, our sister organisation Welzijnszorg was set up and a close cooperation between this sister organisation and Broederlijk emerged. Ever since its creation, Welzijnszorg – the Advent campaign of the Flemish church community – has been combating poverty in Belgium and questioning the unbridled enthusiasm for the affluence of Western society. Redistributing resources has become the major objective for Broederlijk Delen and Welzijnszorg.

Justice not charity

There was a further need for sensitisation of the North and a distribution of information about the South. Too often people spoke in terms of charity. Broederlijk Delen made an appeal to replace pity with international justice. Our annual campaigns play a central role in this.

Political pioneer

From the beginning, Broederlijk Delen attached great importance to the political dimension of solidarity. Injustice is primarily caused by distorted economic and political relations. As a result of our political action gaining public support, Broederlijk Delen has achieved satisfactory results at a political level. Broederlijk Delen was, for example, one of the first North-South organisations in Flanders to link development with the environment.

Cooperation with Entraide et Fraternité

Broederlijk Delen is responsible for the Lenten campaign of the Flemish church community. However, in the beginning, between 1961 and 1977, only one organisation was in charge of all solidarity work in the Flemish, French and German districts of the country. In November 1977, the Lenten campaign was federalised and two autonomous non-profit making organisations were set up: Broederlijk Delen for Flanders and Entraide et Fraternité for the French district. Nowadays Broederlijk Delen and Entraide et Fraternité cooperate mainly at a political level.

The meaning of the logo

It is human beings (as a whole) that are central to our vision, not just the material side of their existence’, adds De Greve. ‘In addition, development takes place within a community, in which people work and obtain results together. Moreover, we strongly believe in a structured and worldwide approach. The logo of the moving figures melting into one another summarises these 3 pillars of our mission perfectly. Driven by Christian inspiration, we invite people to stand up and take action for a fairer world’.

Broederlijk Delen believes in the following principles:

• Development has to initiate form the people in the South. They themselves determine their own futures.

• Development is a community issue. Not one individual but the whole community has to work together to fight poverty. Projects that are not supported by the community are not sustainable. If people work together they can achieve better results.

• Development has to be conceived from the point of view of the poorest. They themselves can prime change.

• Development involves all aspects of humanity. Development which only involves material things is not sustainable. It comprises all dimensions of life, spirituality included. We choose to focus on the individual in all its dimensions, starting from our Christian roots, with open windows and doors for all things that inspire and strengthen people. This also provides us with inspiration to work towards a lifestyle that gives the Earth room to breathe and the South room to grow.

• Development requires a structural and worldwide approach. Our partner organisations don’t live on an island. Globalisation continuously shakes up the results they have achieved. That’s why our partner organisations in the South are closely involved in political actions and international lobbying.