News Briefs: May 4, 2006
Humanitarian crisis continues in Darfur
While peace negotiations between the Government of Sudan and the Darfur rebel groups draw to a conclusion, millions of Darfurians are still living with chronic insecurity. Much of Darfur remains in a state of near anarchy with banditry and fighting restricting humanitarian access to communities in need. At least 30,000 people dependent upon assistance are currently not receiving any aid due to restricted access. Meanwhile Sudanese and international relief organizations continue to face harassment and restrictions from the government of Sudan.
Already the United Nations World Food Program has halved rations in Darfur due to lack of funds and money is also running short for many of the aid agencies working in the region. Without the support of the humanitarian community, many lives in the region could be at risk. Lutheran World Relief has been working with partners in Darfur to provide humanitarian aid such as shelter, water, sanitation, bedding, supplementary food and trauma counseling.
It is essential that the international community and donor governments fulfill promises of relief assistance to provide for the desperate need of vulnerable communities in Darfur.
Also, a peacekeeping mission must be provided with a sufficient mandate to provide protection and security to the vulnerable and with sufficient capacity to facilitate safe and voluntary return of internally displaced persons, when the security situation allows.
—with reports from Lutheran World Relief-USA
Assistance to refugees in Guinea
In a region that has been characterized by political turmoil and civil war for the past decade, Guinea has proven to be a country of relative stability. It has, at some point or another, welcomed and sheltered refugees from Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Ivory Coast is the only neighbouring country that is currently facing internal unrest and strife.
The Kola, Laine, Kouankan I, and Kouankan II camps in Guinea are sheltering approximately 43,000 individuals at present. With the facilitated repatriation initiated in October 2004, 22,000 Liberian refugees have returned to their country of origin. And with the successful presidential and legislative elections held in October and November 2005, the repatriation of Liberian refugees from Guinea is expected to gain momentum in 2006 owing to the seeming restoration of peace in the country. On the other hand, the political conditions in the Ivory Coast remain extremely fragile and unpredictable.
Action by Churches Together (ACT) member, the Lutheran World Federation-World Service, is undertaking refugee assistance in these camps as a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees partner. They have requested support from the ACT Alliance to continue providing support to the Liberian and Ivorian refugees in these camps in the areas of mental health care, child protection, education and agriculture.
ACT is a global alliance of churches and related agencies working to save lives and support communities in emergencies worldwide. The ACT Coordinating Office is based with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and The Lutheran World Federation in Switzerland.
—with reports from ACT International
ACT members respond to floods in Eastern Europe
Parts of Hungary, Serbia and Romania are trying to control flood waters from the swollen Danube River, while residents of many threatened communities are being evacuated as a precaution. Members of the global alliance Action by Churches Together (ACT) International have mobilized to assist evacuated residents and people working on dams and dikes to control the flooding.
In Hungary, where the Tisza River has risen to dangerous levels, Hungarian Interchurch Aid (HIA) reports that 4,500 people have been evacuated. after a dike weakened under the flood waters. The dike is being reconstructed, with materials being transported to the area by helicopters, as it cannot be accessed by road. In another area, HIA distributed food, drinking water and hygiene items to almost 2,000 evacuated individuals, and supplied food and water to volunteers working on the dikes. Another ACT member in Hungary, Hungarian Baptist Aid (HBA), has been active in providing assistance in the flooding as well. HBA boat crews transported people with medical conditions that needed attention.
Despite the extreme flooding in Hungary, HIA reports that it is also assisting in the even more critical situation in Serbia, Hungary’s neighbour to the south. Working with the Ecumenical Humanitarian Organization (EHO), an ACT member in Serbia, HIA has sent two staff members to an endangered region at the crossing of two of the biggest rivers, which are at flood stage. The HIA staff will carry out assessments and relief with EHO staff. Where farming is the main source of income, high levels of underground water have already flooded fields, bringing work to a halt. In some areas, farmers have had to leave their farms and more than 11,000 animals have had to be moved out of the area.
Norwegian Church Aid’s (NCA) local partner in Serbia, Philanthropy—an arm of the Serbian Orthodox Church, plans to assist in draining flood waters from houses to prevent outbreaks of water-borne diseases, and to provide clean drinking water and at least 500 packages of hygiene and disinfecting products to affected residents.
AIDRom, the ACT member in Romania, reported that the greatest needs in this area were non-perishable food items and drinking water for people who were evacuated and those who chose to stay in their homes. AIDRom Emergency Unit began packing 500 family relief food parcels, each with 35 to 40 kg of non-perishable food and 20 litres of mineral water, for distribution to the communities where most needed.
—With reports from ACT International
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