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work is undertaken principally throughthe life-giving activities of humanitarianaid and long-term development. AtCaritas we realise that we alone cannoteffectively tackle the structures whichkeep communities, families and peopletrapped in the strictures of poverty.The only way to effectively andsustainably tackle poverty is to assistcommunities and people to do itthemselves.We are governed by the principlesof Catholic Social Teaching whichwork as the fundamental principles onwhich all our work is built, but we arenot missionaries. In fact, to insist onCatholicism as a condition of our supportwould contradict our principles. Putsimply, ‘development’ and ‘aid’ are whatwe do, ‘Catholic’ is why we do it.Caritas delivers humanitarianassistance and in many cases ouremergency response helps save many lives.Yet keeping people alive is no cure todegrading poverty.People here in Australia; the people whowork in developing countries as ourpartners; the people in the communitiesthat they in turn work with andthe many hundreds of thousands ofChurch and community organisationsand groups; people like you, are thepartnership that can really tackleinjustice and free the world from poverty.Crucially we also work throughpeople here in Australia. Caritasrecognises that without practisingsolidarity here in our own country,without us promoting justice bothinternationally and domestically, we cannever effectively change the structureswhich keep people trapped in the cycleof poverty.Caritas Australia doesn’t parachute aidinto the 35 countries in which we work.By working together, in partnershipwith communities on the ground; theones who are the most affected; whobest understand the local situation andculture; and who ultimately will be theguardians of change, we are best placedto deliver positive change that will beappropriate, life giving and sustainable.Poverty is political – there’s no wayaround that. When 1 billion people arehungry, yet the world produces morethan enough food to satisfy everyone,something is fundamentally wrong.When people struggle to get enoughfood to eat, struggle to send theirchildren to school, struggle to accesshealth care or are not treated withdignity in their society – this is political.Despite the wealth in the world neverhaving been so great, we have to askwhy, we have to ask who is responsible,and we have to get our political leadersto change the situation for the better.Caritas though is never party political.We are interested only in changingpolicies to benefit the poor. We fight forjustice. In this pursuit, we will talk toand challenge whomever can make thishappen.The vast majority of Caritas Australia’sfunding comes from people like you. Weget no direct funding from the CatholicChurch. Members of the public, oftenChurch goers, but not always, anyonewho cares about righting the imbalancethat exists between the rich and poorworlds, can and do give to CaritasAustralia.Ultimately, Caritas is yourorganisation, you allow us to existbecause you care; hence we areanswerable to you.The remainder of our supportcomes from governments, internationalinstitutions, trusts and foundations, plussome income from our investments andtrading activities. This year, less than15 percent came from governments andinstitutions. Our board has set a ceilingon how much money we can take fromgovernments of 30 percent to ensure wecan maintain our independence.Our money goes directly to our localpartners – the people working on theground, directly responsible to thecommunities they are working in. InIndia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, your