FRANCAISEntraide et Fraternité / Broederlijk Delen - History
1980-1989
-From 1980, Cambodia: BD supports development programs in the socialist pro-Vietnam People’s Republic of Kampuchea after the fall of the genocidal regime of the Red Khmers and Pol Pot in 1979. Both BD and EF also contribute to the Asian Partnership for Human Development (APHD) and CIDSE’s programs for Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. This work is quite political in the context of the Cold War. With Oxfam, BD and EF thus commission a report, written by Eva Mysliwiec, to condemn the American embargo and interruption of development aid to communist Kampuchea.
-1981, El Salvador, Nicaragua: BD protests the delivery of weapons from the United States to the government in Salvador, which is heavily implicated in human rights violations. The NGO also opposes Washington’s decision to cancel humanitarian aid to Nicaragua after allegations that the socialist government in power in Managua funneled help to Marxist guerillas in El Salvador.
-1981, Vietnam: After ethical doubts about being involved in communist Vietnam, BD commissions a situation report and decides to support development program as long as its funding is closely monitored.
-1982, Zimbabwe: After the independence of former Southern Rhodesia, EF and BD decide to support local NGOs and join the anti-apartheid movement against the racist regime in power in South Africa. Responding to the appeals of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Catholic archbishop of Durban, Denis Hurley, EF also launches a campaign to boycott four Belgian banks with investments in South Africa.
-1983, Belgium: While shifting to a more integrated approach to development, EF starts to foster more and more projects linked to one another. An example is its partnership with FIMARC (Fédération Internationale des Mouvements d’Adultes Ruraux Catholiques) and JOCI (Jeunesse Ouvrière Chrétienne Internationale), two organizations that seek to promote global programs across borders.
-Since 1985, Peru: EF and SER (Servicios Educativos Rurales) establish a long-term partnership. In the province of Hualgayoc, both organizations thus support the creation of ad hoc municipal commissions to avoid environmental degradation and conflicts.
-1986, Madagascar: EF starts working with young Christian farmers through the Center Saint-Benoît.
