|PIC1|The church is uniquely placed to meet the needs of the world’s poorest communities, according to a report by Christian aid agency Tearfund.

‘In the Thick of It’ argues that churches have a key role to play in international development because of their sustained presence in local communities.

“The local church is the poor – its members share in the suffering,” the report states. “As the hub of many communities, it endures even when other community structures collapse, outstaying even the most dogged NGO.

“And it has vast reserves of motivated volunteers keen to respond to the needs around them.

“Crucially, its root-and-branch approach to tackling poverty means it meets poor people’s physical needs and offers spiritual support to restore their self-esteem, their dignity, their hope.”

The report calls on governments to acknowledge the scale of the church’s involvement in international development and “translate debate about working more closely with faith groups into active partnerships”.

It goes on to say that governments should actively engage in partnership with the church if they are serious about achieving the Millennium Development Goals to halve global poverty by 2015.

“We passionately believe that local churches have something extremely valuable to offer, around the world,” says Matthew Frost, Chief Executive of Tearfund.

“In our experience, faith and development are inextricably linked in the developing world, and that makes the church an essential partner in delivering sustainable development at the heart of the world’s poorest communities.

“In fact, we would argue that there are some parts of the world where development simply would not happen without the local church.”

The report comes a fortnight after the Government published its White Paper, Building our Common Future, in which it promised to reinforce its partnerships with charities and faith groups.

“It’s very encouraging to see the UK Government take a huge step forward in recognising the role of churches in meeting local needs and in engaging with local communities to facilitate discussion and come up with local solutions,” said Mr Frost.

“We need to see governments and donors harness the unique position of church-based organisations to make sure that people in poor communities have a greater say about decisions that impact their livelihoods and wellbeing.”