Global reach
Rev. Bill Crews has spent his life advocating and working to support vulnerable communities in Australia and across the globe.
To name but a few of these global efforts, Bill has met with countless populations affected by displacement including those residing in Calais camp and other camp-like settings; he has worked to ensure access to specialist healthcare for war-affected children; and he has consistently used his voice and far-reaching network to ensure the most vulnerable people globally can be heard in the highest political forums worldwide.
About Bill Crews International
Now, Bill Crews and his foundation will formally establish themselves in the international development and humanitarian sphere via the Bill Crews International Non-Governmental Organisation (BCI).
BCI will focus on supporting local communities, national non-governmental organisations and community-based organisations in their endeavour to alleviate the complexities and ill-effects of natural and man-made disasters.
Harnessing the power of localisation
BCI recognises that at the heart of development and humanitarian relief lies local strength, local capacity and local resilience. For us, this means we will intently focus on localisation approaches and locally-led responses.
In practice, that means BCI will work via a partnership-based model with national non-governmental (NNGOs) and community-based organisations (CBOs). Partnerships will be built on foundations of mutual accountability, equitability, transparency and sustainability.
For more about Bill Crews International call: 61 2 8752 4600
Localisation in practice
In line with commitments like the Grand Bargain and global movements for the decolonisation of aid, as well as community-driven responses, BCI strives to build its work around localisation approaches and locally driven problem solving to meet population needs. BCI will deliver its programs using two methods:
- Grants to NNGOs and CBOs, supported by Intensive skill sharing, skill scale-ups and capacity strengthening
- Rapid response funding
Grants to NNGOs & CBOs
BCI will focus the majority of its resources and budget on providing grants to national NGOs for either ongoing, or new and innovative programs in the way of education, health and/or protection.
We will strive to identify NNGOs or CBOs that prioritise their local communities and ensure practices of empowerment and sustainability. Using a partnership-based approach, BCI aims to support agencies that are growing and illustrate a desire to meaningfully scale-up their skills in order to better support local population’s priorities for response.
Complementary to the grant of up to 65K USD, intensive skill scale-ups will also be central to how BCI will support NNGOs and CBOs. Skills and capacity strengthening priorities will be set by the partner agency and mutually agreed by both agencies following assessment and discussion. Capacity strengthening approaches will utilise existing expertise within Bill’s team and where required, call upon specialised technical assistance to ensure holistic and comprehensive support.
Rapid response funding
The second approach for BCI is in recognition of the global incline in both climate-related disasters and man-made devastation such as war.
A small percentage of funding will be dedicated to supporting national NGOs or CBOs to rapidly scale-up their response to affected populations in the face of a sudden disaster, or to address a forgotten crisis. These funds are flexible both in terms of thematic sectors and geographically.
Learn more
Further information and enquiries on the work of BCI is available from olwyng@billcrews.org
