The year 2006, marks the tenth year of the operation of the Community Development Fund. Over the period of its existence, at least three consultancies have been implemented to assess the Fund’s performance. The results of these consultancies have had the effect of underscoring the relevance and usefulness of the Fund as a poverty alleviation Programme. They have also established a number of key achievements by the Programme.

The ten year landmark, coming two years after the formal funding agreement with the IADB ended, presents an opportunity to review the findings of both the Mid Term Review and the Final Review of the CDF and to incorporate a number of the recommendations and observations made in those reports. It also provides an opportunity for the sponsoring department, the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and Gender Affairs to inject new focus and direction to the programme. Consequently, discussions have been held at key levels within the Ministry, involving the Minister, the Permanent Secretary, the members of the CDF Steering Committee and other relevant members of staff. The main purpose of all these discussions was to achieve a refocusing of the objectives and the establishment of new priorities for the CDF.

Evidence of continually changing needs dictates that an agency like the CDF exercises a level of programming flexibility commensurate with the diverse and emerging needs. In the process, both the views of community organizations and important social sector practitioners have been taken into consideration. The proposals in this document are also mindful of the matrix of social programmes for dealing with poverty and its consequences implemented by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago. In the circumstances, the programme put forward by the CDF has taken consideration of the existence of gaps in provisions and have sought to compensate by introducing programmes which are likely to eliminate those gaps and present a holistic approach to poverty alleviation. The emphasis on training and capacity building, development of Mentoring Support programme and the renewed emphasis on working with already established groups who need technical assistance to take the next step cannot be misplaced. The recognition that a number of established agencies, particularly those involving the cultural practitioners find themselves having to deal with poverty before they can attempt to move their membership forward is reflected in our desire to provide technical assistance and training and also to use the CDF Basket of Funding programmes to assist with the implementation of activities and events which may in some areas be considered to contain more entertainment value than traditional poverty alleviation value.