The Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, Dara Calleary TD, Minister of State for Community Development and Charities, Jerry Buttimer TD, and Minister of State with special responsibility for Further Education, Apprenticeship, Construction and Climate Skills, Marian Harkin TD, have recently launched the new five-year strategy - ‘Ar Scáth a Chéile: Promoting Sustainable, Inclusive and Empowered Communities’ to support the community and voluntary sector.
The new strategy sets out a clear vision for the continued development of the community and voluntary sector and includes 43 commitments across five strategic pillars:
- Enhanced participation and partnership
- Training Standards and Capacity Building
- Supportive Policy and Funding environment
- Strengthened structure for engagement
- Community and Voluntary Sectors at the centre of the response to Climate Change
Speaking at the launch, Minister Calleary stated:
“The community and voluntary sector is the backbone of Irish society and this strategy represents the Government’s continued commitment to building sustainable, inclusive and empowered communities. The strategy provides an ambitious framework to support the continued development of the community and voluntary sector.
I look forward to seeing the fruits of this new strategy in a strengthened relationship between government and the community and voluntary sector, in a thriving and resilient sector and in a more inclusive, cohesive and fairer society for all.”
Minister Buttimer stated:
“The community and voluntary sector fosters civic engagement, promoting social and climate justice across this country. I wish to acknowledge the critical services and supports that are being provided every day, especially to vulnerable members of our communities.
This strategy reinforces our commitment to giving a voice to communities and ensuring that they have the capacity and opportunities to influence the decisions that affect them, through strengthening participatory structures such as the Public Participation Networks at local and stakeholder for a national level.”
Minister Harkin stated:
Across Ireland, the community and voluntary sector plays a vital role in supporting people, strengthening social inclusion and building resilient communities. This new strategy reaffirms the Government’s commitment to working in partnership with the sector to ensure that communities are empowered and equipped to meet the opportunities and challenges of the years ahead.
As Minister of State with responsibility for Further Education, I particularly welcome the strategy’s focus on skills, learning and capacity building. Investing in people is one of the most effective ways we can strengthen communities. Supporting individuals and organisations to develop their knowledge and capabilities will help them respond to new challenges, seize new opportunities and continue making a positive difference in people’s lives.”
The strategy recognises the role of the sector in Gaeltacht areas and contains new commitments in relation to supporting greater engagement on an all-island basis, supported by the Government’s Shared Island Initiative thorough the Shared Island Civic Society Fund. The strategy also supports the sector to digitalise and provides support for creative communities and a strengthened role for the sector in response to climate change.
‘Ar Scáth a Chéile: Promoting Sustainable, Inclusive and Empowered Communities’ was co-designed with representatives of the community and voluntary sector, building on the Government’s previous strategy to support the sector and ensure the continuation of collaborative approaches to local and community development, over the next five years.
The strategy aims to provide communities with both the means and opportunity to be involved in decisions that affect them through strengthening of existing structures for engagement at local and national level and to create a supportive policy, funding and institutional environment within which the sector operates, locally and nationally.
It will guide and shape Government’s support for communities and the community and voluntary sector in the coming years and help realise the shared vision for communities by the end of the decade.
It was also informed by the EU Civil Society Strategy, committing the EU institutions and member states to recognise and support the sector, to strengthen engagement arrangements and to put measures in place to protect the sector.
Copies of the strategy are available here
