News Briefs: July 27, 2006
CLWR issues Lebanon appeal
CLWR is supporting an appeal for humanitarian aid for Lebanon, issued by Action by Churches Together (ACT). CLWR is a member of ACT, a global alliance of churches and related agencies working to save lives and support communities in emergencies worldwide. On July 12 Israel launched an offensive against Lebanon following the capture of two of its soldiers by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Lebanon has now been declared a disaster area by its prime minister. An estimated 600,000 persons have so far been displaced, with 250 dead and 750 injured.
On Thursday, July 20, ACT released US$55,000 from its Rapid Response Fund to purchase emergency relief supplies. This first round of aid is targeted at about 12,000 persons in Saida, Mount Lebanon, Tripoli, Beirut and Beqaa, as well as those stranded in villages throughout southern Lebanon. Relief supplies include food, cleaning and disinfecting products, as well as diapers and supplementary food for infants.
ACT member Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), located in Lebanon, is spearheading the relief effort for ACT. Massive damage to transportation and communication networks has prevented relief workers from reaching affected villages and towns, and hindered attempts at recovering the dead and injured. On Wednesday, July 25, MECC reported that humanitarian corridors had still to be opened, and that delivery of supplies was unsafe. Displaced families have taken refuge in schools, public parks and on the streets.
CLWR will be participating in a meeting of the ACT Coordinating Office on August 10, 2006, to further organize a response in Lebanon. New information will be posted on clwr.org as it becomes available.
Donations are being accepted by phone at 1.800.661.2597 (CLWR), online at clwr.org, and in person or by mail at Canadian Lutheran World Relief, 1080 Kingsbury Avenue, Winnipeg MB R2P 1W5. Donations should be marked “Lebanon Appeal.”
CLWR News Service
Uniformity of kits is important, donors reminded
Adding extra items into care kits might seem like a generous thing to do, but it only causes headaches for volunteers at the CLWR warehouse says Dennis Coughlan, CLWR Warehouse Coordinator. Donors are reminded to closely follow the item list CLWR publishes for each type of kit.
Items like undergarments cannot be accepted for sanitary reasons. Other items, such as extra shirts, must be removed to maintain consistency between kits. “Recently, our volunteers have been forced to sort through each donated kit to ensure there are no unacceptable items,” says Coughlan. “Including non-approved items in a kit causes us to run the risk of having an entire shipment rejected or held up by customs agents.”
In addition to running into problems with customs, it is important for all the kits to be the same so that recipients are all treated equally. And, because kits are bundled together to make up a shipping package of standard size and weight, it is imperative that the kits themselves are standardized.
CLWR produces a concise, easy-to-follow brochure to help donors with packing kits. The brochure is available by calling 1.800.661.2597 (CLWR). Special cloth bags are also available from CLWR for bundling individual kits. These bright yellow We Care bags are a colourful and easy way to send your kits overseas via CLWR.
CLWR News Service
Upcoming elections in Democratic Republic of Congo
The international community is watching Sunday’s parliamentary elections in DR Congo with great anticipation, as the large central African country is viewed by some as the key to political stability on the continent. DR Congo borders nine other countries, some of whom have been drawn into conflict. Economic ties have also been difficult to establish between southern and eastern Africa, and the north and west.
DR Congo has a long history of corrupt and brutal regimes. During the height of conflict between 1998 and 2003, nearly four million people are estimated to have died through violence, hunger and disease. Children were caught in the middle. Up to 30,000 children fought or lived with armed forces. Today, about 600 children still die every day through conflict and disease. The UN says 1.7 million Congolese are displaced.
Sunday’s elections will mark the first time since independence in 1960 that Congolese will choose a leader. A UN peacekeeping force of about 17,000 soldiers is stationed the country. The European Union has sent an additional force of 1,200 soldiers. The elections are expected to cost the international community over $400 million. Militia are still active in the country’s east, but have not disrupted the election process.
BBC News, Reuters AlertNet
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