wfn.org | LWF Council Underscores Urgent Need for Food in Southern Africa

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>]

Poor Contributions toward Relief Efforts in the Region

LWF Council Meeting, Wittenberg, Germany, 10-17 September 2002

Press Release No. 23

WITTENBERG, Germany/GENEVA, 17 September 2002 (LWI) - The Lutheran
World Federation (LWF) Council called attention to food shortages
in southern Africa, especially in Zimbabwe and surrounding
countries. The action came in response to recommendations from the
LWF Program Committee for World Service on the final day of the
Council's September 10-17 meeting in Luther's city of Wittenberg.

Robert Granke, Director of the LWF Department for World Service,
told the Council that 12 million people are affected by the food
shortage in southern Africa. About half of those people are in
Zimbabwe. Granke said there is an urgent need to get seeds and
tools to the region, and a concerted effort must be made to bring
this need to the attention of LWF member churches because
contributions toward relief efforts in southern Africa are
lagging.

The Council agreed "to urgently draw public attention to the
serious humanitarian crisis in southern Africa" and expressed
"alarm at the unacceptable delay in international humanitarian
response." It also denounced "any use of humanitarian assistance
as a political tool."

LWF General Secretary, Rev. Dr. Ishmael Noko, a pastor of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe (ELCZ), told the Council
there have been political problems with the distribution of food.
Now, he said, the government of Zimbabwe had returned control of
distribution to the non-governmental organizations providing the
food relief.

The LWF Council also asked the General Secretary to convey its
concern for and solidarity with churches affected by recent
flooding in Europe.

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now
has 136 member churches in 75 countries representing over 61.7
million of the 65.4 million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on
behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as
ecumenical 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 information service of
the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). 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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