Over 140 people came together on St David's day, in the Senedd, in Cardiff Bay to celebrate the work of Welsh and African communities working together to make poverty history. The celebration was focused on three Welsh and three African communities who were awarded a United Nations Gold Star for their contribution towards making poverty history, building friendships and broadening horizons between Wales and Africa.

The volunteer-run community partnerships - between Hay-on-Wye in Powys and Timbuktu in Mali, Llanfyllin in Montgomeryshire and Kamuli in Northern Uganda, and Pontypridd in Rhondda Cynon Taff and Mbale in Eastern Uganda – are supported by the Wales Africa Community Links project of the Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA).

While their projects may sound like achievements of great international agencies, these links are rooted in friendship between ordinary people in Welsh and African communities who are exchanging skills, knowledge and understanding. The Hay Timbuktu link, for example, has set up projects which have seen antenatal clinic attendance triple in the last 12 months, hungry children fed through a market garden scheme, and a trade agreement between Welsh and African artisans bringing sustainable income to Tuareg people hit by impacts of a tourism slump, security and climate change.

The UN Gold Star Awards event celebrated the achievements of volunteers and community groups who are building Wales’ relations with the world, in pursuit of sustainable development and overcoming poverty and injustice. 

The awards were presented by First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones AM and guest UNDP representative, Ms Berta Pesti. The awards themselves were assessed by an independent panel of international development experts with the endorsement of the UN. Five awards were presented to three communities for their impact on youth, health, livelihoods and the environment:

• Llanfyllin and Kamuli, Uganda – UN Youth Gold Star
• Hay-on-Wye and Timbuktu, Mali – UN Health Gold Star
• Hay-on-Wye and Timbuktu, Mali – UN Livelihoods Gold Star
• Pontypridd and Mbale - UN Livelihoods Gold Star
• Pontypridd and Mbale - UN Environment Gold Star 

Carwyn Jones, First Minister of Wales told the guests from across Wales and Sub-Saharan Africa that he was humbled by the work that was being carried out and the achievements they were making. He went on to commend the work of the Wales Africa Community Links project and he wanted to reflect the commitment and support through strengthening the Wales-Africa programme over the year ahead, towards a ‘new decade’ of Welsh internationalism.

The United Nations Development Programme representative, Berta Pesti gave an inspiring speech about the role of grassroots communities in supporting the UN in tackling challenging issues such as poverty and climate change. She highlighted the importance of projects such as the Wales Africa Community Links project in supporting the global challenge of meeting the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Ms Pesti finished by saying that Wales was seen as a role model for this type of work and gave the UNDP’s full endorsement of the work being done between Welsh and African communities.

The awards ceremony was honoured to have guests from across Sub-Saharan Africa. One of the winning African partners was Apollo Mwenyi from Uganda. He has been working with the Pontypridd-Mbale Link for many years and he summed up what it has meant for his community to be involved in such an innovative programme. “The link with Wales means a great deal, and the UN award is a great honour to the people of Mbale. It shows that through extending the hands of friendship, we can change the world for the better – and importantly that as Africans we can be not just recipients of aid or charity, but friends and equal partners in building a future for all of our children.”

For further information visit Wales Africa Community Links