January 7, 2010

Baroness Caroline Cox has agreed to serve as the Honorary Chair of the Anglican Relief and Development Fund (ARDF). Cox is a member of the British House of Lords, Founder of the Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust, and tireless campaigner for human rights around the world.

Announcing her appointment, Archbishop Robert Duncan, president of the Anglican Relief and Development Fund, stated that Baroness Cox is a leader on issues of human rights and development who the Fund hopes others will be drawn to emulate.

“Caroline has been an inspiration to us. Her work and advocacy for suffering people around the world, including those in Sudan, Armenia, and other regions of conflict is a shining example of Christian commitment and care for the suffering and oppressed,” said Archbishop Duncan.

“I am glad to take this role with the Anglican Relief and Development Fund. There is so much we can do together to empower Anglicans and others around the world to build a better physical and spiritual life,” said Baroness Cox.

Since its founding in 2004, the Anglican Relief and Development Fund has partnered with Anglicans around the world in 96 relief and development projects in 32 countries, and it has made nearly $4 million dollars in grants. The aim of the Anglican Relief and Development Fund is to invest in high-impact projects that can show measurable results by partnering with local Anglican leaders and churches. Currently, the Anglican Relief and Development Fund is working to support a multipurpose community center in Gambella, Ethiopia, a malaria prevention project in Kenya, a farming project in the Dioceses of Yambio, Sudan, and a microfinance project in partnership with Five Talents in Bolivia.

The Anglican Relief and Development Fund’s unique personal connection with many dioceses and their leaders in the Global South allows it to discover, evaluate and fund projects which can target specific people and problems, not broad segments and ideas. The result is that the Anglican Relief and Development Fund changes lives, both physically and spiritually, for the long term.

More information and Christmas Giving opportunities for The Anglican Relief and Development Fund is available at the new ARDF website: http://www.anglicanaid.net.