wfn.org | Church World Service becomes member of ACT Alliance launching today

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

Church World Service becomes member of ACT Alliance launching today

NEW YORK, March 24, 2010--New York-headquartered Church World Service
celebrates its membership as a founding member in the newly-formed ACT
Alliance, one of the world's largest humanitarian bodies, which
officially launches today.

The ACT Alliance is comprised of more than 100 member churches and
church-based humanitarian groups working in 125 countries with a
combined operating budget of $1.5 billion.  In addition to Church World
Service, the current United States members of the ACT Alliance are the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, International Orthodox Christian
Charities, Lutheran World Relief and Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.

The new alliance combines the former ACT International (est. 1995),
which focused on longtime disaster relief and rehabilitation with the
former ACT Development, which focused on sustainable development, and
further expands its work to include advocacy.

The creation of an alliance of church-based agencies means that the
Alliance's humanitarian and development work will reach every corner of
the globe, said ACT Alliance General Secretary John Nduna, because
churches and church-based agencies â??impact the lives of the poorest  in
societies around the world."

"We find ACT Alliance members in every part of the world -- members are
grounded in local civil society.  Almost everywhere we find churches, we
have ACT."

Church World Service Executive Director and CEO John L. McCullough
believes that CWS membership in the ACT Alliance "immeasurably enhances"
his agency's effectiveness and reach.

"As part of the alliance we work as a strong, coordinated global
network sharing specialized knowledge, improving access to funding, and
raising a strong advocacy voice," McCullough said.

ACT Alliance members retain individual identities while working
collaboratively. For example, nine individual agencies who are ACT
members--already working in Haiti at the time of the devastating Jan. 12
earthquake--immediately began collaborating with each other to respond
to various aspects of the emergency. Six weeks later, ACT members were
able to respond in the same collaborative way to the earthquake in
Chile.

Such responses build on ACT work in previous emergencies, such as the
ongoing humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan, and the collaborative
efforts during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

Donna Derr, who coordinates international disaster response and
development for Church World Service, underscored the significance of
the alliance, whose membersâ?? strong local roots enable the alliance  to
provide locally-based knowledge, analysis and understanding in
emergencies and disaster, and in development.

"The importance of the alliance is in working for and among the world's
poorest people, and ACT Alliance members like CWS are well-established
organizations with proven track records of working in these
communities," said Derr, who also is a member of the ACT Alliance
Interim Governing Board.

Today's launch is being marked with celebrations and commemorations on
every continent where ACT members work or are based.  In the United
States, ACT members are commemorating the day in separate events within
each agency.

ACT Alliance offices are in Geneva, Switzerland.  The website for ACT
Alliance is actalliance.org. View the video ACT Alliance - one rhythm,
one world.

How to help

Contributions to support the life-saving work of Church World Service
may be made online, by phone (800-297-1516), or sent to Church World
Service, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515.

Media Contact:

Lesley Crosson, 212-870-2676, lcrosson@churchworldservice.org
Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526, jdragin@gis.net

> Church World Service
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