Today the world is more interconnected than ever before. What happens in one country has a direct impact on others. It’s time to step up Britain’s global leadership and contribution to fighting poverty and inequality.

Cord is supporting the Bond Manifesto - Vote Global - which calls on all political parties to ensure that Britain does all it can to bring about a world in which poverty is eradicated. Where people’s basic needs are met and their rights are realised.

• Key to our peace building agenda is that there is a strong voice on development within government through an independent Department for International Development (DfID).
  
  
• Key to preventing further conflict is the promotion of human rights of all people to food, decent work, income, health, shelter, water and sanitation, education, social protection and political freedom.
  
  
• Key to our work in addressing the root causes of conflict is respect for the will, energy and ability of people to drive their own development: empowering poorer countries and their citizens to determine their own paths out of poverty.
  
  
• Key to all our futures is climate change, which needs to be seen in the context of global justice, equity, and interdependence, and in the wider context of environmental sustainability.

As the election approaches we urge you join with Cord and Vote Global – visit www.voteglobal.org.uk, read the full manifesto and challenge your parliamentary candidates to give you some answers.

These are big issues that require commitment; to continue building the UK’s progressive role on the global stage. Nothing less will keep the promises Britain has made to the poorest people in the world.

Cord is a member of Bond, a UK network of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in international development.

A leading accountancy firm has named Cord as its Charity of the Year.

Chartered accountants and financial experts Harrison Beale and Owen already has close ties with Cord after acting as our auditors for more than 14 years and Mark Ashfield, a director at HB&O, said the firm was delighted to develop the links further.

“Thanks to our relationship with Cord we have witnessed at close quarters the effects of the important work the charity carries out in war-ravaged nations. With this in mind we wanted to do everything we could to support them, and this seemed like the next logical step,’ he added.

“We are delighted to have named Cord as our chosen charity and we are looking forward to working closely with them on a number of projects which should help to promote their work and raise valuable funds in the process.”

Harrison Beale and Owen, which has offices in Leamington and Coventry, will run a year of events including quiz nights, a charity golf day, a race night and an end of year dinner.

Brian Wakley, chief executive of Cord, said: “We are extremely pleased that Harrison Beale and Owen has decided to lend us their support.’

“It is a fantastic arrangement, because as well as providing extra funds for the charity, events organised by HB&O also allow us to reach their staff and clients,’ he added.

Cord Asia help our partners carry out their vital mission.

Local Cambodian organisations supported by Cord all face a common and pressing challenge: how to access the funds they desperately need to maintain their important work in empowering communities to protect their rights and their environment, to promote sustainable development and to find peaceful resolutions to conflict.

Cord advisors in Cambodia recently held a series of workshops for local partner leaders, helping them to develop fundraising strategies to generate reliable sources of income.

Entitled “The Secret Life of Donors” the workshops were aimed at enabling partner organisations to manage their relationships with donors more effectively, as well as identifying new donors whose funding priorities match their particular remit.

‘As well as a paucity of funding our partners also lack the knowledge and skills to find funding sources and to describe their project activities in ways which appeal to donors.’ said Noel Matthews, Cord Asia Regional Director. ‘Yet many international donors actually struggle to find quality local organisations with programmes that address their core concerns.’

In this sense, Cord is in a unique position to support the progress of development in Cambodia. By building and maintaining relationships with international donors and supporters on the one hand and with local organisations and grass-roots groups on the other, Cord can bridge the gap and connect the two.

Cord Cambodia Country Director Keng BunChhoeuth said that sometimes partners don’t immediately see how the work they are doing to enable communities to protect their human rights fits into a donor initiative for democratisation.

‘When we work with them to analyse this more closely they see that it’s a very good fit and has strong potential for successful funding,’ he explained.

Cheang Sokha from the Youth Resources Development Programme (YRDP) said he and his colleague had learnt a lot from the workshops and were starting to put some ideas in practice. ‘I really appreciate Cord’s way of working with us, with plenty of motivation, encouragement and openness. It’s led to good relationships and trust between us,’ he added.

Following the workshops, Cord Advisors are using coaching and mentoring sessions to help partners apply their new found knowledge. As BunChhoeuth noted there may be an equally strong need to educate donors about the realities faced by grassroot organisations in Cambodia.

‘Perhaps in the future we may run a workshop for donors that we call, “The Secret Life of Local Organisations”‘ he added.