wfn.org | UMCOR, CWS continue response to Afghans

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Nov. 6, 2001  News media contact: Linda Bloom7(212) 870-38037New York
10-21-71B{514}

By United Methodist News Service

Both the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) and Church World
Service (CWS) continue to be involved in the faith-based response to the
plight of the Afghan people.

As members of Action By Churches Together (ACT), the agencies are working to
assist Afghan refugees in Pakistan and Tajikistan and to get food aid and
winterized shelter supplies to vulnerable populations inside Afghanistan.

The United Nations World Food Program estimates that 7.5 million Afghan
people are at risk for starvation because of civil war and years of drought.
Even before the events of Sept. 11, more than 3 million people in
Afghanistan depended on food aid for survival, a survey by nongovernmental
organizations has shown.

 From its office in Tajikistan, UMCOR is working with Mercy Corps, an
survive the winter in northeastern Afghanistan, according to Kristin Sachen,
American nongovernmental organization, to help internally displaced families
families. 
border, where Mercy Corps will pick them up for distribution to some 4,000
an UMCOR executive. The agency will buy winterized tents, blankets, plastic
sheeting and other items and transport them through customs to the Afghan

Sachen said funding for the project would come through UMCOR's "Love in the
Midst of Tragedy" response. Money also has been requested from ACT.

In Pakistan, UMCOR's connection is through the CWS, whose offices there and
partner programs in Afghanistan remain open with more than 300 staff and
volunteers. The relief agency of the U.S. National Council of Churches, CWS
has a goal of raising $6.28 million to provide emergency shelter and food to
15,000 families in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Particular attention will be
given to female-headed households. 

Family shelter kits for new arrivals in the border cities of Quetta and
Peshawar, Pakistan, and the rural areas of Hazarajat and Panjsher Valley,
Afghanistan, include a family tent, tarp, plastic ground sheet and four
blankets. The cost is $90 each. Food packages, at $256 each, include a
six-month supply of wheat, cooking oil, rice, beans, sugar and tea. 

CWS also has provided health services for 60,000 in the refugee camps in
Pakistan. UMCOR is supporting an emergency quilt project among refugee women
in Quetta. The women will earn money by producing quilts, which will be
purchased by relief groups and distributed to the displaced.

Other ACT partners based in the region are Christian Aid, the Middle East
Council of Churches and Norwegian Church Aid. Christian Aid works with local
partners throughout Central Asia. It is focusing on aid to Afghan refugees
and vulnerable local members of host communities in Tajikistan and Iran, as
well as farmers and villagers who have stayed at home.

The goal of the Middle East Council of Churches is to assist 12,000 Afghan
refugees in Iran who make their way to the eastern border between Iran and
Afghanistan. Norwegian Church Aid is assisting the U.N. high commissioner on
refugees in setting up adequate facilities to receive the refugees, along
with identifying the needs of people inside Afghanistan.

Donations through UMCOR should be designated to Advance No. 901125-3, "Love
in the Midst of Tragedy," and can be specified for Afghanistan if desired.
Checks can be dropped in church collection plates or mailed to 475 Riverside
Dr., Room 330, New York, NY 10115. Credit card gifts can be made by calling
(800) 554-8583.

Contributions directly to CWS can be made to Pakistan/Afghanistan Emergency,
Account No. 6930, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515. Donations also can be
made by credit card at (800) 297-1516 or online at
www.churchworldservice.org, the agency's Web site.

# # #

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