Disaster Updates
ELCA Disaster Response is a ministry of the ELCA that responds to natural and human-caused disasters both in the United States and throughout the world. Below are updates on current responses that the ELCA is involved in, some through organizations like Action by Churches Together.
Darfur
Over a dozen aid organizations have been expelled from Sudan in recent months, but ELCA Disaster Response partners remain in place and are stepping up activities to assist people uprooted by genocidal violence in Darfur. The ecumenical ACT-Caritas network helps provide over a quarter of a million people with water, sanitation systems, health, nutrition, education, and trauma counseling.
Pakistan
ELCA World Hunger partner Church World Service is working to improve access to food, shelter, health care, and sanitation facilities for women and girls who have been displaced by conflicts between the Pakistani military and Taliban forces. Cultural barriers have hindered women’s access to basic necessities.
>Photo (right): A girl finishes her chores outside her family's tent. [Credit: Ghulam Rasool/CWS-ACT International]
Sri Lanka
Lutheran World Relief (LWR), a key ELCA World Hunger partner, is one of the organizations providing disaster aid to people displaced by fighting in Sri Lanka. Malnutrition is rampant in conflict areas, and LWR is responding with food, hygiene supplies, mosquito nets, and care for children whose schooling has been disrupted.
UNITED STATES–Gulf Coast
Lutheran Social Services (LSS) of the South, a Lutheran Disaster Response affiliate, has been recognized for its skill in case-management services with a federal grant to perform long-term recovery work with 13,000 disaster survivors in communities affected by Hurricane Ike. LSS worked with over 10,000 families after Hurricane Katrina. At the ELCA Youth Gathering this July, over 30,000 young people volunteered with continuing recovery work in New Orleans.
The ELCA is a member of Action by Churches Together, a global alliance working to save lives and support communities affected by disaster worldwide. ACT members—including all of the partners noted above—have particular expertise in the following areas:
- shelter for displaced people
- distributing food and supplies
- health care and trauma counseling
- clean water and sanitation systems
- disaster preparedness
- land-mine removal
- protection of vulnerable populations
- transition from relief to development
- conflict resolution
A number of ACT members are also ELCA World Hunger partners in long-term sustainable development efforts to reduce hunger and poverty.