International Development

Good Shepherd Ireland is committed to people experiencing poverty, particularly women and girls and to fighting to change systems that keep them locked into intergenerational poverty. We work with people of all cultures, faiths and genders to achieve transformation. We do this through robust development programmes based on a defined theory of change, policy work, collaboration, development education, with an emphasis on personal growth, social justice and our organisational values.

When girls, women and children have the power to claim their basic human rights, they can escape poverty – permanently. With our partners, allies and with local communities, we help women to claim rights for themselves.

We have one main goal: to bring about positive, lasting change in the lives of girls, women and children living in abject poverty.

To achieve this goal, we have established our central commitments and four operational goals that are outlined in our 2018-2020 International Development Strategic Plan:

Programme Quality

Good Shepherd Ireland is a learning organisation that facilitates and uses innovation and learning to increase the quality and impact of our work and that of our partners.

We do this through the development and implementation of robust monitoring, evaluation and learning systems and use this learning to improve our work into the future.

International Influencing Network

A unique strength of Good Shepherd Ireland is their capacity to challenge the vested interests that perpetuate the injustice of poverty across the globe. As part of a global network operating in 72 countries, Good Shepherd Ireland will use this collective voice to demand change from governments, multilateral institutions, the United Nations, and multinational companies.

Good Shepherd Ireland will use its status as an NGO in special consultation with ECOSOC at the United Nations to ensure the voices of the most vulnerable girls, women and children are heard to deliver real change to occur in people’s lives.

Accountability

Good Shepherd Ireland is a transparent and accountable organisation. Accountability, both to the communities living in poverty and to our supporters, partners, donors and other external stakeholders, is an ethical and effective basis for our relationships and will contribute significantly to greater programme impact.

We will ensure this by having good governance practices and robust operating policies and procedures in place.

Increase Growth

Good Shepherd Ireland’s work in tackling poverty requires increasing resources in order to truly make changes in the life of girls, women and children living in abject poverty. Our strategies for income growth are rooted in ethical practices and are in line with the Charities Regulator’s standards for income growth and fundraising. A step change in fundraising and diversifying our donor base will secure greater income and position us to match our future ambitions to significantly increase the scale and impact of Good Shepherd Ireland’s work.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are 17 new global goals that chart a pathway from 2015 to 2030 for every nation to:

• Address poverty, hunger and malnutrition
• Tackle inequality and build more inclusive, peaceful societies and economies for all
• Combat climate change and protect the planet
• Address gender inequality and stop all forms of violence against women and girls

Good Shepherd Ireland’s work, both nationally and internationally, is based on working to meet these goals.