administers a fund specifically for Peace and Social Justice projects. The committee invites and assesses applications to promote this Quaker Testimony.
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Peace & Social Justice Fund Committee
Purpose
The Peace and Social Justice Fund provides financial support to Quaker peace committees and individual Friends and Attenders to implement the peace and social justice concerns of the Australian Religious Society of Friends. These include
reconciliation
disarmament
nonviolent conflict resolution
improving race relations
and other related aspects of the Society's work and witness
The Fund encourages individual Friends, Regional Meetings or Australia Yearly Meeting Committees to undertake these activities by paying their costs, such as administrative, equipment, travel and conference expenses. The Fund may also support similar projects by non-Quaker individuals or groups, if sponsored by a Regional Meeting or a Yearly Meeting Committee. Normally it is not used for ongoing projects that require extended management.
To encourage patient discernment and measured action in Quaker witness, the Peace & Social Justice Fund Committee normally does not respond to urgent requests for money. If a rapid decision has to be made, a Local or Regional Meeting may decide to provide the requested support and then apply for possible reimbursement from the Fund.
See the Quaker Handbook of Practice and Procedure, sections 5.6.7 and 5.6.8 for the complete guidelines, and download the application form from this page.
Some examples of past projects
The following are examples of recent projects the Fund has supported.
- The Quaker organisation Friends Peace Teams - Asia West Pacific conducts international, residential non violence training courses at the Peace Place in Pati, Central Java. The Fund has supported both facilitators and participants.
- The Fund supported the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) to fund a South Pacific indigenous nuclear test survivor’s participation in the UN nuclear-weapons-ban treaty negotiations.
- A project titled Discovering (and sharing) more about Japan’s attitudes to regional peace, military alliances with the US & Australia, and the role of the nuclear umbrella has allowed two Quakers to investigate this issue.
- The World Council of Churches conducts an Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel. The Fund supported a young Quaker woman to participate in this program and provided support for three others to attend the training prior to engaging in the program.
- The Fund has supported various Quakers to participate in important conferences such as the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN) National Conference in Alice Springs.