NICVA's AGM 2002

Minister in the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister, Denis Haughey, highlighted the link between the vital work done on the ground by voluntary and community organisations and the formation of government policy in his keynote address.

Mr Haughey was representing Deputy First Minister, Mark Durkan, who was unable to attend the event at the last minute.

The AGM was an opportunity to debate and develop the draft Policy Manifesto for the sector. The Manifesto, A Call for Change , was endorsed and published later that month.

Mr Haughey told the audience, "the publication of your draft policy manifesto, ‘A Call for Change’, highlighting the key issues affecting the voluntary and community sector, is an important contribution to the ongoing debate of how we create a fairer society. From carers to children, from health to homelessness and from charities to communities, you represent the views of a vibrant and broad sector. And yet despite its diversity, there are common threads binding it together - the self same threads that bind you together. A vision of a fairer society. A commitment to social justice. A determination to help those in greatest need ."

The Manifesto aims to influence political parties as they develop their own manifestos and the Programme for Government