Angola is experiencing the worst drought in 40 years resulting in poor harvests and rising food prices have resulted in an acute food insecurity in Angola’s southern region provinces of Namibe, Huila, Cunene and Cuando Cubango provinces. As food stocks are depleting, the situation has deteriorated and will likely worsen during the next lean season when traditionally food stocks run low. Humanitarian assistance is until the next harvest is needed to prevent further deterioration. Since January 2021, an estimated 3.81 million people have been reported to have insufficient food consumption in the six southern provinces of the country, namely Cunene, Huíla, Namibe, Huambo, Benguela and Cuanza Sul. Angola’s main IDP camp in Kaluheke, Cunene province received more than 7,800 people after months of hunger and water shortage in their respective areas. Another estimate of 16,000 people those that were repatriated from the Republic of Namibia.

“We are in the middle of hunger crisis. Drought impact and hunger is not a story but something visible to everybody” says the Provincial Vice Governor during the southern region conference opening speech in Lubango, Huila province southern Angola. This is the third regional conference after two others which were conducted in the south and at national level in Luanda  in March  and October 2021 respectively. All these conferences have been conducted by the Angolan civil society organizations (Plataforma Sul) a network/coalition composed of several CSOs supported by LWF Angola.

The Lutheran World Federation, (LWF), Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) and the Council of Christian Churches in Angola (Conselho de Igrejas Cristã em Angola – CICA) are members of the ACT Angola Forum. The two organizations (LWF and NCA) have well established programmes in Angola and share a vision of fighting poverty and exclusion by working with local  churches and rights-based approaches and to promote a life with dignity for all.

On 1st April 2022, the ACT Angola Forum  launched an appeal (ANG-221) for joint efforts towards responding to the drought impact crisis, strengthening of civil society organisations,  faith-based institutions and local leaderships including government institutions. The ACT Angola Forum Drought Appeal under ACT Alliance appeal mechanism is implemented by the Lutheran World Federation, Norwegian Church Aid and Conselho das Igrejas Cristã em Angola (CICA).

The main response sectors are food security, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Livelihoods, Preparedness and Prevention, Shelter and Households NFI, Gender and Advocacy.

Read more about the ACT Appeal for Angola Drought Response  and consider supporting. 
Article  by Mr. Abrao Mushivi ,National Country Director for LWF Angola and ACT Angola forum Appeal Lead

ACT’s general secretary, Rudelmar Bueno de Faria joined a delegation from the World Council of Churches (WCC) visited Syria for the first time since 2008, expressing solidarity with Christians and with all people facing the struggle for a presence and witness in their land.

The delegation, led by WCC acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, also included Dr Michel Abs, secretary general of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC)  and Michel Nseir, WCC senior advisor for peace building. 

They met with heads of WCC and ACT member MECC member churches, and visited restored churches and schools as well as development projects and community and health centres in Old Aleppo and in Damascus.

After the visit, Bueno de Faria said, “After 11 years of war, the Syria crisis is characterized by unparalleled suffering and humanitarian needs. Economic distress caused by the sanctions is affecting ordinary people, especially youth and the elderly.“

He added, “Churches and church-related organizations are providing humanitarian assistance, but urgent political decisions and actions are needed to revert the suffering of the Syrian people. Human dignity needs to be restored in Syria.”

Sauca said the WCC stood in solidarity with Christians in Syria and in the whole region as they struggle continuously to keep a living faith in the midst of unprecedented challenges that threaten their presence and witness. “There should be an ecumenical effort to support them in their steadfastness,” said Sauca. “One of the major challenges particularly felt by Christians in Syria is that being fewer in number makes them more vulnerable than other communities in facing common challenges in their societies.”

Young people are migrating to look for a better future abroad, said Sauca, a tide that churches and humanitarian groups could help turn around. “Christians in Syria have developed institutions that specialise in humanitarian and development fields that are serving all people without any discrimination,” he said. “In addition to the schools, medical, health and community centres, psycho-social services are provided, and small businesses are supported.”

The delegation also saw that many destroyed churches and schools have been rebuilt. “This contributes to encourage people to remain steadfast in their land,” said Sauca.

Dr Michel Abs, secretary general of the Middle East Council of Churches, stressed “the need for a meeting between spiritual leaders at the local, diocesan and pastoral levels, aiming at increasing the level of interaction between churches and coordinating their activities.“

This story is based on the WCC’s release here: https://www.oikoumene.org/news/wcc-delegation-visits-syria-expresses-solidarity-with-those-who-remain-steadfast-in-their-land.

In June 2022, ACT Alliance members in Lebanon convened for a two-day training course on the Core Humanitarian Standard. Rizwan Iqbal, Global Quality and Accountability Officer, led the workshop for 14 participants, and was supported by Interim MENA Regional Representative, George Majaj.

The energising course gave participants a deeper understanding of the Humanitarian Principles, Code of Conduct, Complaint Response Mechanisms and the Structure of the Core Humanitarian Standard. With a number of participatory elements, members were able to discuss and apply these principles and standards to their context.

Participants reflected on the contextual challenges of implementation in Lebanon. In a country where a number of complex and intersecting crises are being experienced, the workshop emphasised how CHS can provide a framework for ensuring key actions and organisational responsibilities are delivered.

The practical sessions provided the foundations for ACT members to further integrate and implement Humanitarian Principles and CHS into their project cycles. 

ACT Board Member, Dr. Rima Nasrallah, joined the workshop on the second day to further emphasise the importance of Quality and Accountability in the work of the ACT Alliance. As Rizwan Iqbal underscored, “we are working with humans” and thus quality and accountability cannot be reduced to a ‘tick box’ exercise. The Core Humanitarian Standard is a framework, which promotes a process that puts the communities that we serve at the heart of humanitarianism.

You can visit the Core Humanitarian Standard Fabo page for a short introduction and online training module: https://fabo.org/dca/Core_Humanitarian_Standard_Training_Course .

The ACT Palestine Forum has endorsed a joint statement by CIDSE and ACT Alliance EU on Demolitions in the Masafer Yatta communities.

A recent decision by the Israeli High Court of Justice “effectively gave a green light to forcibly transfer over a 1000 people from 8 villages in the area that the Israeli military has declared as a ‘’firing zone 918’’,” according to the statement.

The West Bank Protection Consortium reports “an increase in military pressure on the residents and has documented the destruction of at least 27 structures, including 16 donor-funded structures and 12 homes. As reported by the UN OCHA, the Israeli authorities did not allow alternative shelters to be installed in several communities after the demolitions.”

The statement goes on to call for the EU and member states to:

Each year, ACT Alliance members join other Christians around the world to pray, act and advocate for our common home, Earth, by celebrating the ecumenical Season of Creation. 

The Season of Creation begins on September 1, the Day of Prayer for Creation, and ends on October 4, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology.  This year’s theme is “Listen to the Voice of Creation,” and the urgency of doing so is symbolised by the Burning Bush.  

Advocacy 

The advocacy suggestions in this year’s Celebration Guide are to listen to, reflect upon and amplify the voices and ideas of those who have contributed least to climate change and the loss of biodiversity, but who are most affected by these crises.  

Women and girls in all their diversity, youth, and migrants are rarely heard in at the global level where important decisions are made on climate and biodiversity. They have voices and use them to say important things about climate and biodiversity, including local solutions. But they are not heard by those in power. This has meant they cannot access the resources they need to act upon local solutions.  

ACT Alliance is getting ready to amplify those voices and concerns about climate at COP27 in Egypt this November. The advocacy suggestions in the Season of Creation Celebration Guide include what people in the communities we serve have asked for, and ideas on how your groups can help amplify their voices and concerns. 

How to participate  

Please encourage your members to participate in this year’s Season of Creation and promote their activities. Visit the Season of Creation website for more information, resources and promotion tools.  You can download a copy of the Celebration Guide in English or Spanish, Arabic, French, Italian and Portuguese.  

Follow ACT Now for Climate Justice on Twitter for the latest news about the Season of Creation. 

After two weeks of negotiations, climate talks in Bonn hardly moved an inch. Not on emission reductions, and not on how to mobilise the financial support vulnerable countries need to address the impact of the climate crisis.  

It was good to see parties listen to each other, and to see that a greater understanding of the seriousness of these talks is emerging. Yet concrete results were scarce.  

Climate disasters were at the heart of the talks, as were the effects of loss and damage that people and communities face. Developed countries acknowledged that there is a gap both in the amount of existing funding and in concrete ways of addressing  these challenges.  

While concern about those who are affected increased, negotiators couldn’t agree on how to move to solutions. We remain where we started two weeks ago.  

An  agreement on process is needed to make progress in the actual talks. We need a formal agenda item on finance arrangements for loss and damage at COP27. Without it, communities facing the impact of loss and damage will find themselves in increasingly desperate situations. As we saw in Bonn, countries agreeing on the decision-making process is a prerequisite for enabling loss and damage finance.  

ACT Alliance is disappointed by the lack of substantive progress. The climate crisis is far too serious. Urgent action should not be delayed by discussions on process. On the road to November’s COP27, we urge parties to engage immediately to solve the agenda disagreement on the Glasgow Dialogue so that it will be possible to discuss and decide on loss and damage finance arrangements at COP27.  

To restore trust in climate negotiations and ensure further progress in the climate talks we also urge developed country parties to arrive at COP27 with the following: 

• Concrete finance pledges for loss and damage, so that the lack of these funds does not continue to block the negotiation process.   
• Concrete finance pledges for adaptation. This would show they are keeping their Glasgow promise to double adaptation support. 
• New and more ambitious positions for COP27 to ensure that negotiations can deliver a successful result. No one should be left behind when the world addresses the climate crisis.  
• A commitment to ensure meaningful and effective participation of observer organisations in the UNFCCC climate conferences.
  

 For more information or to arrange an interview , contact:

Fiona Connelly, Communications Coordinator, Climate Justice, ACT Alliance

fiona.connelly@actalliance.org; +1 (647) 210-1238

By Mattias Soderberg

The climate crisis is real. For me, and many others living in rich countries, the climate debate may seem like a theoretical challenge – something that may happen in the future. However, for most of the world’s population, the effects of climate change are already here and there is no time to waste. 

The solutions are known, and to a large extent they already exist. We just need to implement them.  

These solutions include renewable energy, tree planting, irrigation systems, cooling facilities, weather forecasts, insurance and a lot more. There are many good solutions which could help people, communities, and countries, if only the right investments were made.  

So why hasn’t it been done already? 

There are likely many good reasons, but a root challenge is the lack of funding. The lack of official climate finance, as well as financial flows of both private and public funds through trade, investments, and other transactions generates a big shortfall.  

If the scientific predictions about the future are true (and they usually are) we have no other option than finding and mobilising the necessary funds. This is the background to the ongoing UN climate negations in Bonn, where parties are currently discussing future climate finance.  

Three recommendations 

I have three recommendations to the negotiators. First, make sure that the talks about finance are based on need as concluded by science. The current goal for climate finance, that rich countries annually should mobilize 100 bn USD, is not based on science. It is a political goal which was easy to communicate. But the climate crisis cannot be solved through messages which are easy to communicate. Investments must be made, and the money must be found.  

My second recommendation is therefore to make sure adequate funds are mobilised. This is easy to say and more difficult to achieve. To begin with, investments in fossil fuels and solutions which contribute to global warming should end. The money should instead be invested in the solutions we need. Then, solutions which could be funded through markets should be promoted through trade and investment. In the UN climate talks these are referred to as financial flows, and they must contribute to the transition towards green and resilient development.  

However, not all solutions can be funded through markets. Actually, a big portion of the most important solutions, including adaptation and efforts to address climate-induced loss and damage, will only be realized if grants are available. Currently, this is included in the official climate finance that developed countries commit to delivering every year.  

Grants can be mobilized by rich countries through their annual national budgets. These funds must be drastically scaled up so that rich countries can increase their grant-based support to developing countries. However, considering the huge need for funds I am afraid these budget allocations, even if they are increased, will not be enough.  

Which is why my last recommendation is to explore new and innovative ways to mobilise additional support. This may sound like a fantasy, but when the UN called for submissions on climate finance earlier this year, several parties proposed considering innovative finance solutions. Some years back there was even a high-level process within the UN climate talks to identify innovative ways to mobilise climate finance. That process delivered a report but was not followed by concrete agreements. As several parties have started to talk about innovative finance again, I believe the time is right to try.  

I therefore hope that parties again will look for ways to scale up climate finance. We have the solutions, but we lack the money.  

Without climate finance there is no climate action. 

Mattias Soderberg is co-chair of the ACT Alliance climate justice group. 

A multifaceted project that spans three South Asian countries is the winner of the 2021 Resilience Award. 

“It was really a very difficult decision, there were so many innovative and interesting projects, but in the end, we chose this one because of its many dimensions and impact on a great number of people,” said Julius Mbatia, ACT Climate Justice manager. The selection was made from 14 worthy entries by ACT’s Climate Justice Reference Group and the ACT CoP on Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction.

The Transboundary Flood Resilience Project was awarded the $6,000 US Resilience prize at an ACT Climate Justice meeting in February 2022, where project representatives spoke about their project and its impact.    

Involving households, communities and local governments, the project has also built disaster response links between governments in Nepal, India and Bangladesh. Lutheran World Federation Nepal (LWF Nepal) and Lutheran World Service India Trust (LWSIT) joined forces with RDRS Bangladesh as partners on the community-based project.  

The project addresses climate-related flooding and soil erosion where the Gandak-Ganges/Brahmaputra and Padma River basins converge, upstream from the mouth of the Ganges at the northern tip of the Bay of Bengal. The two river basins and their tributaries traverse heavily populated areas. Floods regularly cause heavy loss and damage, including to human life. 

Technology and nature-based knowledge 

The project has helped the communities develop and enhance a disaster warning system that incorporates both technological and nature-based knowledge.  

Local communities manage gauge stations that measure water changes, part of a transboundary community-based early warning system. People living upstream share real time flood information with downstream communities in all three countries, using a cell phone messaging service. They are linked to government meteorological departments.  

The project incorporates local traditional knowledge and Indigenous practices, so that bird and animal early warning signals are tracked. “Nature-based solutions are some of the most influential activities the project has supported,” note the implementers.  

As a result of the project, communities now use indigenous and local seeds to help with disaster resilience, planting fruit and trees along the riverbanks to help manage flood impacts. They are engaged in environmental protection and biodiversity conservation. Organic integrated farming is on the rise. Locally available materials ranging from banana leaves to bottles have been adapted for use during floods, for example, as flotation devices. Outreach to local forest groups has led to a growing number of forest-based green enterprises and livelihoods.  

Community and local government partnerships 

The Transboundary Citizen Forum (TCF) was created to encourage collective advocacy on cross-border issues. It also builds local capacity and encourages knowledge sharing between communities in all three countries. TCF advocacy has resulted in greater commitment from national and regional governments to emergency preparedness training in the communities. The TCF has equal representation of women and men, due to involving women in all project activities. 

The partnership between communities and local governments has contributed to local ownership of the program and to local solutions for disaster preparedness. It has strengthened participatory policy and planning processes that address the needs and priorities of communities. This includes grain and seed banks and access to crop and livestock insurance. 

Local government has endorsed the initiative in their fiscal policy, a commitment that will continue after the project is phased out. 

Cross border links 

The governments of the three countries now share information on managing water-related disasters. Frequent meetings between their various government departments have led to improved communication, greater emergency preparedness and improved government responses to crises.  

Links between upstream and downstream communities at the national and transboundary level have contributed to their greater understanding of shared socio-economic and cultural values and this has eased existing tensions due to political boundaries. 

Amplifying lessons learned 

Information about the program is widely shared through collaboration with researchers and academics, and through newsletters, journals, and workshops with the stakeholders and in South Asian networks. 

A significant publication on ecumenical diakonia, providing a common platform for the churches and ecumenical partners worldwide for acting and reflecting together, has just been published by ACT Alliance and the World Council of Churches (WCC). 

The joint publication, “Called to Transformation – Ecumenical Diakonia,” provides the theological foundation for the humanitarian and development work carried out by ACT members around the world. “It not only helps churches to share ideas and lessons with each other, but also offers a prophetic perspective of being a church in challenging times”, said ACT General Secretary Rudelmar Bueno de Faria in a presentation of the document on June 9. “This is motivating the joint work of churches and church-related organizations to promote justice, inclusion, and solidarity.”  

The document provides a solid base for discernment for churches and specialized ministries to address the complexity of issues facing humanity today, he added. It features resources to strengthen the diaconal capacity of the churches and to advance cooperation with specialized ministries. 

“Writing of this document was a recommendation of the Malawi consultation in September 2014, when churches and specialized ministries’ representatives from all the continents gathered to reflect on the work they are supposed to do together,” said Prof. Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri, WCC deputy general secretary, in the presentation. 

Besides adding the geographic and confessional contexts of practicing diakonia, the study document also addresses the diaconal response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with examples of diaconal ministry from every continent. 

“With this publication, we now have a common understanding on diakonia – and that should take churches and their partners toward the next level of ecumenical cooperation in diakonia,” said Phiri. The WCC central committee has recommended that churches and specialized ministries all over the world use it. 

“In learning from each other, and in sharing, we can make a real difference to the lives of many people,” said Rev. Karin van den Broeke, chief programme officer of the Kerk in Actie (Netherlands), moderating a June 9 presentation of the ecumenical diakonia document. Inviting everyone to discover the publication now available online, van den Broeke encouraged them to “move and act together on our pilgrimage of justice and peace in the world.” 

The publication “Called to Transformation – Ecumenical Diakonia” is available here:

ACT and WCC joint publication “Called to Transformation – Ecumenical Diakonia”

This photo story is reprinted with permission from the World Council of Churches.

Following a mid-March visit to Ukraine and the bordering countries of Hungary and Romania, an ACT Alliance and World Council of Churches (WCC) and ACT Alliance delegation visited the Russian-Ukrainian border area around Rostov-on-Don on 22-26 May.

Both visits have taken place against the backdrop of a war causing millions of people to flee Ukraine. As the month of May drew to a close, UNHCR figures indicate nearly 7 million people have crossed the borders to neighbouring countries, close to a million to Russia.

Upon invitation from the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) – a member of the WCC and whose Department for External and Church Relations is a member of the ACT Alliance – the delegation visited aid centres and places of temporary accommodation for refugees from Ukraine in the Rostov-on-Don and Shakhty dioceses, both of which border the Donbas region of southeast Ukraine.

 In Rostov-on-Don and Shakhty, the Russian Orthodox Church accompanies refugees primarily from Donbas, and while some refugee families receive accommodation and food support from the Russian state, the church also accompanies them through spiritual and psychosocial support, as well as by collecting and distributing aid packages for self-housed refugee families.

The visit also included opportunities to meet and listen to local church leaders and how they work to respond to current realities in the region.

For the general secretary of the ACT Alliance Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, this visit evidenced the traumatic and stressful experience refugees face in conflict situations. “It is crucial that humanitarian actors, including churches, affirm the primacy of the humanitarian imperative, and take action to prevent and alleviate human suffering arising out of this war. Refugees must be assured that humanitarian principles are upheld, and nothing should override them,” Bueno de Faria said.

For WCC deputy general secretary Prof. Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri, the visit served as a reminder of the importance of churches engaging in ecumenical diakonia – a substantive publication on which is forthcoming from the WCC.

“Churches, specialized ministries, ecumenical organizations have shown deeply inspiring work to support those who are fleeing inside and outside Ukraine since the beginning of the war this past February. We see the importance of the role of ecumenical diakonia in the life of the church, and pray that this heartfelt response will continue,” Phiri reflected.

Recalling the experience of travelling along the border west of Ukraine, WCC director of international affairs Peter Prove reflected on the importance of witnessing humanitarian realities on all sides of the war, in order to support adequate measures for peace long-term.

“While it may be difficult to see a clear path to peace in this conflict, as a worldwide fellowship of churches we must continue to engage and to support efforts for genuine dialogue between all parties involved. And in the midst of all this, it is essential that humanitarian efforts – of which churches form a significant part – remain neutral and provide for people in need wherever they are and from wherever they come,” Prove said.