Our Organisation

Strategic Plan

Foreword

Working for justice and the eradication of poverty is part and parcel of living the Gospel. For centuries, the belief that our world could be a better place for all has motivated Irish women and men who have gone abroad as missionaries. Their dream: to spread the Good News, to fight injustice, poverty and disease, and to empower and enable people to be agents of their own destinies.

In our twenty-first century world, still stricken by hunger, by illness, by inequality and by war and injustice, the work of the Irish missionary organisations goes on. Started by many dedicated and committed Irish women and men, the face of the Irish missionary organisations today is an international one and work is continuing through partnerships with local members and counterparts.

The launching of this Strategic Plan for The Irish Missionary Resource Service (IMRS) is a moment of opportunity. In this plan we look forward with confidence, with a strength that comes from our partnership with one another, to working more effectively for the eradication of poverty and a more just world. This is an important moment for the future of the work of Irish Missionaries. It is a moment for looking forward to possibilities and to opportunities and to developing further relationships with a variety of partners.

It is with gratitude that I acknowledge the role of the Irish government through Development Irish Aid in bringing us to this moment. Irish Aid has been a major influence in the setting up and development of the IMRS to date. It is through their support, their initiative and their encouragement that we have come to this moment and to the possibilities that it offers. We look forward to an ongoing partnership with Irish Aid, which will be underpinned in a more formal way in the formulation of a Memorandum of Understanding with them.

The development of our first Strategic Plan has been a process which has taken twelve months and has involved many people. It began with initial discussions and proceeded to Board meeting discussions, to small-group work, to draft documents, to further discussions before the final consultations with member organisations, with Irish Aid and other partners. John Grindle led us through the process in a very efficient and professional way and his work with us is greatly appreciated.

I would also like to acknowledge the work of the members of the Board of Directors and of the staff of the IMRS. Their collaboration, their dedication and their hard work have enabled us to complete this process. This process would not have been possible without the participation of the member organisations and our partners who contributed to the consultations. Many thanks to all.

However this final document is only another beginning. This strategic plan moves us on, it directs our activities into the future. We, the Irish Missionary Resource Service, can be confident that we are taking our place in the fight for the eradication of poverty and a more just world and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

We go forward in hope.

Noelle Corscadden IBVM