1. The 2008 Report recorded expenditure of €580,790 – the highest ever level of donations from the IMPACT fund. There was a carryover of over €25,000 from the 2008 accounts and the budget for 2009 amounted to almost €490,000. By the end of the year it was estimated that this would be exceeded by over €40,000.
Donations amounting to €516500 were agreed in 2009 and are detailed below. Since the fund was established in 1981 a total of €5,213,500 has been donated to qualifying projects.
2. The PSI projects for 2009 amounted to €280,000.
Projects included; Gender campaigns in the Southern Cone of South America, Pay equity in Brazil, Equity and Equality in the Andean Region, Young Workers in the Southern Cone, Health Sector reforms in the Southern Cone, Quality Public Services in Paraguay, Organising in the Congo, Union Development in Cameroon, Workers Rights in the Middle East, Union Rights in Turkey, A global project on women and migration in the Health Sector.
3. We carried over commitments amounting to over €193,000 for 2009 as follows: (i) Playing for life – €65,000 (year 3 of 3-5) (ii) Concern Pakistan – €20,000 (year 3 of 3 ) (iii) Uganda Union – €35,000 (year 2 of 2 ) (iv) Aiding Resources, Kenya – €6,500 (year 2 of 4 ) (v) Hope Foundation – €24,808 (year 2 of 3 ) (vi) Belvedere Calcutta – €2,000 (ongoing) (vii) Bethlehem Maternity Hospital – $25,000 (year 2 of 4 ) (viii) International Aids/HIV Union initiative – €20,000 (year 2 of 2 )
4. We supported an application from a member of staff for support for an Indian NGO project for €1,500.
5. We had previously agreed to support a social housing project in Paraguay subject to the balance of the funding being secured elsewhere. This was confirmed and payment of €10,000 was made.
6. We agreed to support the Niall Mellon, South Africa project with a grant of €2,000 be made to a maximum of 5 members.
7. We supported a request from Concern for a donation of €10,000 towards a project they are running in Southern Chad. The project deals with livelihoods, water and sanitation in Southern Chad. It is helping refugees who have fled the fighting in the Central African Republic and also the host population from Chad. Concern aims to develop the capacity of the refugees to enable them to have livelihoods and provide for their own needs over time.
8. We received a request via Congress for support for the trade union movement in Burma. A donation of €10,000 was agreed.
9. We received a request from the Cork Branch for support for a SVP project in Sierra Leone. We have previously supported this and a donation of €1,000 was agreed.
10. We also agreed to support a request from the President for a donation of €1,000 towards a Malawi project
