wfn.org | LWI 2009-042 LWF World Service Director Affirms Crucial Role of Unified Church Humanitarian Body

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LUTHERAN WORLD INFORMATION  LWI News online: http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/Welcome.EN.html

LWF World Service Director Affirms Crucial Role of Unified Church  Humanitarian Body
"ACT Alliance" to Be Launched in 2010

GENEVA, 30 July 2009 (LWI) - The head of the Department for World Service  (DWS) at the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) says the establishment of a  unified church-based emergency and development global network is an  important step toward closer cooperation between churches and their  related agencies.

"The ACT Alliance is a unique chance to enhance ecumenical cooperation,  and thereby the efficiency and visibility of the churches' development and  humanitarian work," said DWS director Rev. Eberhard Hitzler, commenting on  the forthcoming March 2010 launch of "ACT Alliance," one of the world's  biggest church networks. ACT stands for Action by Churches Together.

The ACT Development General Assembly decided at its May 2009 meeting in  Buenos Aires, Argentina, to unify with the ACT International emergency  network, whose governing board had approved the unification in April in  Geneva. The new ACT Alliance hopes to bring together nearly 150 churches,  agencies and other faith-based organizations from the North and South. It  will have a combined income of more than USD 2 billion and a staff of  40,000 including volunteers.

Hitzler expressed his satisfaction with the decision to unite the  Geneva-based networks. "We now have to make the unification real and use  the ACT Alliance actively," said the DWS director, who represents the LWF  on the ACT Development governing body. The LWF is a founding member of  both ACT International and ACT Development.

The LWF and ACT International cooperate closely in several countries  including Chad, Colombia and Myanmar. Through emergency appeals, ACT  International coordinates humanitarian operations all over the world, and  has been recently active also in Afghanistan, Gaza, India, Sri Lanka and  Zimbabwe.

ACT Development focuses on long-term development issues and coordinates  work in areas such as aid effectiveness, impact assessment and malaria  initiatives.

The director of ACT International, Mr John Nduna, says the new movement  will be a professional and Christian alliance working on emergency and  development. ACT saves thousands of lives every year, he added. (340  words)

More information about DWS work globally is available on the LWF Web site  at: http://www.lutheranworld.org/What_We_Do/DWS/DWS-Welcome.html

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(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran  tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF currently has 140  member churches in 79 countries all over the world, with a total membership  of 68.5 million. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas  of common interest such as ecumenical and interfaith relations, theology,  humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the various  aspects of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in  Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF's information service. Unless  specifically noted, material presented does not represent positions or  opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of an  article contains the notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced  with acknowledgment.]

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