1st August 2006

A leading Hindu charity has scooped a substantial Government grant to help increase awareness of global poverty throughout England.

Hindu Aid will use the money from the Department for International Development (DfID) to teach schoolchildren, young people and community groups about the lives of people in Africa and Asia.

Under the new initiative pupils will learn about challenges to reduce poverty in the developing world and will be encouraged to see how their actions as consumers can reduce global poverty.

The £137,532 grant, from DfID's Development Awareness Fund, will allow charity staff to work with the Hindu community in temples, schools and Asian businesses and at Hindu festivals.

Ramesh Kallidai, vice chair of Hindu Aid, said: "The DfID grant to Hindu Aid will allow British Hindus, many of whom are already engaged in aid and poverty alleviation programmes, to organise their international development activities in a more structured manner.

"Hindu Aid will focus on information sharing, use of good practices and an increased awareness of development education, which will increase the effect and outreach of poverty alleviation and international development programmes originating in Britain."

The DfID has awarded similar grants focussing on ethnic minorities to the Muslim Council of Britain and Minorities in Europe.

Gareth Thomas, International Development Minister, congratulated the projects and welcomed their work. He added: "The elimination of extreme poverty is one of the greatest challenges the world faces - a challenge that the children of today will be taking forward in the future.

"In an increasingly interconnected world, it is essential that all young people are given the opportunity to learn about the global community of which they are a part.

"The problems of the developing world become ours, as our problems become theirs - people desperately seeking refuge because of conflict, farmers trapped in crippling poverty because of subsidies in the West, the global problems of climate change and terrorism."

Hindu Aid is a British organisation focusing on development education for the Hindu community in the UK. It also has a Disaster Task Force that coordinates 50 Hindu aid agencies in Britain and runs an Aid Coordination Programme to share information and good practice amongst Hindu organisations.

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