wfn.org | [UMNS-ALL-NEWS] UMNS# 235-UMCOR assists local partner for Zimbabwe aid

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

>UMCOR assists local partner for Zimbabwe aid

>Jun. 5, 2008

NOTE: Photographs are available at http://umns.umc.org.

NEW YORK (UMNS)-The United Methodist Committee on Relief is providing
humanitarian assistance in politically charged Zimbabwe.

UMCOR responded on June 4 to a request for aid and will assist a partner
organization working on the ground in distributing food and medicine to
communities and clinics serving the most vulnerable.

Because of the high cost of fuel, UMCOR will help pay to transport the
goods to areas most affected by food shortages and politically related
violence.

The agency also is working with Bishop Ivan Abraham and the Methodist
Church in Southern Africa to help provide shelter and food in the
Johannesburg area for refugees there, many of them from Zimbabwe. UMCOR
sent a $10,000 emergency grant and may provide a staff member there for
several months.

Methodist and other churches in the Johannesburg area are attempting to
care for as many as 30,000 people, some of whom were caught up by
violence in May aimed at refugees.

Both inside and outside the country, Zimbabweans are suffering from
economic hardship and political strife, particularly in the wake of
disputed results of a presidential election involving President Robert
Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition leader. A runoff election
is set for June 27.

On June 3, The New York Times reported that CARE--one of the largest
nonprofit aid groups working in Zimbabwe--was among groups ordered by
the government to suspend all operations in the country. The Times
quoted Mugabe's charge that money was being channeled through western
organizations to the opposition and that food was being used "as a
political weapon" against his government.

UMCOR is working with partners in Zimbabwe who "are coordinating with
their local network to provide humanitarian assistance," according to
the Rev. Sam Dixon, UMCOR's top executive.

"As in Myanmar, where politics intervened in a humanitarian crisis, we
are poised and ready to respond fully when the government releases its
restrictions," he said.

The agency continues to support three hospitals in the region that serve
mothers and vulnerable children. Because of their location, however,
many people are too frightened to visit the hospitals and healthcare
providers are discouraged from assisting those affected by the conflict,
according to UMCOR.

Donations to UMCOR Advance No. 199456, Zimbabwe Emergency, can be
dropped into church offering plates or mailed directly to UMCOR, P.O.
Box 9068, New York, N.Y. 10087-9068. Write the Advance number and name
on the memo line of the check. Credit card donations are accepted online
at www.givetomission.org or by phone at (800) 554-8583.

News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

>********************

United Methodist News Service Photos and stories also available at: http://umns.umc.org

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