wfn.org | CWS in Pakistan begins delivering aid to thousands displaced by conflict

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

CWS in Pakistan begins delivering aid to thousands displaced by conflict

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN-Fri May 8, 2009- With hundreds of thousands of 
people in northwest Pakistan fleeing fierce  fighting in the region, 
international humanitarian agency Church World Service has personnel 
from its Pakistan/Afghanistan offices working to provide basic 
shelter, food, water and sanitation to those displaced in the region.

Initial assessments by CWS aid workers on the ground indicate as many 
as 800,000 are now displaced by the most recent violence, on top of 
conflicts that pushed out a half-million people in the last year. 
Ongoing combat between Pakistan government armed forces and Taliban 
militants, has forced governmental and non-governmental agencies to 
create camps for the displaced. However, thousands more are seeking 
shelter wherever they can: with families, with strangers, in caves 
and in fields, Church World Service workers report.

CWS staff on the ground are now moving response teams and relief 
items into the area to meet the needs of those who are in makeshift 
camps--thousands in small refuges where no sustainable food, shelter, 
water or hygiene is available.

Together with the Action by Churches Together-International Network, 
CWS is providing humanitarian aid to meet basic needs.

Church World Service has been active in Pakistan for more than 50 
years, with programs in disaster management, capacity building, 
development and assistance for displaced people. The agency's 
Pakistan offices served as a lead agency in recovery following the 
country's massive 2005 earthquake.

Media Contacts

Lesley Crosson, (212) 870-2676, media@churchworldservice.org
Jan Dragin - 24/7 - (781) 925-1526, jdragin@gis.net