ARGENTINA - New International Organisation for Development
BUENOS AIRES, 20 September (ALC) Sean Hawkey, director of communication for ACT (Action by Churches Together) Development was in Buenos Aires on September 19 meeting with the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI). He also took part of a meeting with Argentine church representatives and members of the Regional Ecumenical Council Network for Solidary Action (CREAS).
According to Hawkey, ACT Development is an organisation in which churches and related organisations form a joint alliance aimed at eradicating poverty, injustice and the abuse of human rights. The objective of the new international organisation is to unite all Protestant donor agencies in the world, as well as the churches of the World Council of Churches (WCC) committed to projects of diakonia and development.
?The trend in the European Union is to finance joint efforts (alliances of organisations). Those organisations outside alliances have no access to these funds," said Sean. "Even though the donor agencies represent more than 2 billion dollars a year, they have not been able to influence local governments for the projects they support."
The World Council of Churches called on the various donor agencies to address this topic in February 2005, in an attempt to set up a global platform centered on the development these agencies are promoting, by creating a joint alliance and increasing the visibility of the ecumenical family. "Joining development aid, emergency relief and advocacy into one common system, this would be a definition of ACT" said the director of communications.
Noemí Espinoza, vice president of CLAI and a member of the ACT Development steering committee informed that the Assembly to constitute ACT Development will be held in Nairobi, between 7-10 February 2007. "Churches that wish to participate in this assembly should join ACT until 12 November. If CLAI applies for membership, the small churches that could otherwise not participate individually would also be represented", she explained.
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