ACT Alliance has launched a $21.5 million USD appeal focused in five countries (Ukraine, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia) to support people displaced by the war in Ukraine.  Since the war began on Feb 24, 2022, over 4.4 million people have been displaced, with over 2.8 million becoming refugees in other countries and close to 2 million displaced within the borders of Ukraine itself.

Larysa is one such person displaced by the war.  Larysa, her husband, daughter and the cat Bella escaped from Kharkov on March 1, 2022. Before fleeing, they spent four nights in the basement of their home due to the bombing of Kharkov.

“Everyone wanted to travel out of Kharkov. There were a lot of people at the train station. The train ride was free of charge, but getting on the train was difficult due to the crowds,” Larysa says. The trip to Berehove took four days.

Larysa and her family stayed in the refugee shelter supported by ACT member Hungarian Interchurch Aid, set up at a school. “We are happy to have a place to sleep and where it is warm. We get food three times a day, we can wash and do our laundry, because there is also a washing machine here.”

Larysa has cancer. She received treatment in Kharkov, but the hospital was destroyed in the bombings. Larysa hopes she could get treatment in Hungary.

As the intensity of the conflict escalates, more and more people have fled, and ACT members are providing shelter, food, water, hygiene kits, psychosocial support, information on resettlement, child safe spaces, and more. 

The ACT appeal is the largest ever issued by the alliance, but ACT’s total response is significantly broader than the 2 year, 21.5 million dollar appeal.  ACT members are working to welcome refugees around the world, from Romania to Canada, from Germany to the UK.

HIA has set up operations in Lviv, with a warehouse there to support the distribution of food, hygiene kits, and other supplies.  HIA has shipped over 278 tons of supplies to Ukraine, as well as 7 million Euros worth of medical supplies.  HIA also operates a 24-hour refugee stop near the Hungarian border, as well as a child-safe space at the Budapest airport to support refugees transiting through Hungary to other destinations.

The Lutheran World Federation is mobilising churches in a number of countries, including in Poland, which has seen over 60% of the refugees crossing its borders, giving Poland one of the largest refugee populations in the world overnight.

Swiss Church Aid, the third member of the ACT appeal, is working with its long-term partners in Romania, Hungary and Ukraine to support displaced people through food, hygiene, cash vouchers, shelter, psychosocial support, and more.

Through the ACT appeal, cash transfers will be used where possible (when local markets are functioning) as one of the best ways to support people.  Cash is quickly transferred, allowing people to purchase what they need to support their families in their current needs. 

ACT members have already pledged over $7 million USD in support of the appeal.  Further support can be indicated through email to Nancy Etté, ACT’s director of operations, and Niall O’Rourke, ACT’s head of humanitarian affairs.

Larysa says she hopes for peace in the future. “We would like to live in Kharkov again, but right now we can’t live there because there are bombings and people are dying. It is safe here (in Berehove). I am glad our children are alive.”

By Mattias Soderberg

Over the last year, climate induced loss and damage has been the source of conflict in UN climate talks. Developing countries are united in their call for support in situations where adaptation measures are inadequate; where people, communities and even countries face loss and damage. Developed countries have been equally united in their reluctance to address loss and damage, fearing that doing so would lead to a rapidly growing bill they may have to pay.  

The new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) makes it clear that there are limits to adaptation, and that there are situations where loss and damage is the sad reality.  

IPCC differentiates between “hard” and “soft” limits to adaptation. Hard limits refer to situations where adaptation is no longer an option. When sea levels rise, or when farmland becomes desert, land is lost and affected communities must move to new locations.  

Soft limits to adaptation should be handled through scaled up investment. Adaptation solutions exist, and IPCC and many other organizations offer valuable guidance on how to implement them. Yet there is often a lack of finance, technology, or necessary adaptation measures to do so. The need for scaled up adaptation finance was one of the issues discussed last year at Glasgow’s COP26, the UN climate summit.  

Developed countries promised to double their support for adaptation to more than 40 bn USD a year. That sounds good, but UNEP has indicated that the actual need for adaptation finance is around 70 bn USD per year. Until developed countries mobilize far more funding than they have promised, we can expect more loss and damage due to the soft limitations of adaptation.  

Hard limits will be more difficult to handle. When coral reefs die, and when islands disappear under the ocean, we will talk about loss and damage. The final solution will be migration, or relocation due to loss. While many people will have moved before the hard limit of adaptation is reached, the challenges related to the loss remain. Where should people go? What kind of loss have they faced? Loss of property? Loss of cultural and historic locations?  
 
IPCC reports are signed and approved by all governments. This means that both developed and developing countries have now acknowledged scientific research on climate induced loss and damage. Will this be a game changer? Will it affect parties’ positions when they meet again for the annual UN climate negotiations? I hope the IPCC report will contribute to the dialogue, and that those talks can now focus on how to assist those who are most affected.  

We have run out of time for diplomatic fights. The next time the parties meet, we need constructive talks and progress. The IPCC report paints a gloomy picture of our future, but it also lists what we must do. It is time for climate action.  

 Mattias Soderberg is the co-chair of ACT’s Climate Justice Reference Group.

On February 27, 2022, ACT member Hungarian Interchurch Aid set up a 24 hour refugee support point on the Ukrainian side of the border at Beregsurány.

The line of refugees trying to cross into Hungary at this crossing is kilometres long- thousands of Ukrainians forced to flee the war which has enveloped the nation of 44 million people.

The support point was set up at Asztély, near the border crossing, in a heated pavilion, which will be supplemented with additional tents and mobile toilets in the coming days.

HIA is providing hot tea, sandwiches, refreshments, blankets and basic hygiene items for refugees, including many elderly and children, who wait long hours to cross the border. In addition to the tangible help at the support point, HIA also helps those arriving with information in Hungarian and Ukrainian, including how those in need can get temporary accommodation in Hungary.

Local volunteers will also be involved in the operation of the support point. A good example of local co-operation is the baking of fresh bread in a local Serbian bakery from flour donated from Hungary, which HIA will offer to refugees.

The ACT Alliance Asia-Pacific Regional Forum co-convened an Asia-Pacific Workshop on Vaccine Equity and Hesitancy on the 31st of January of 2022, with strategic partners including UNICEF, the WHO, World Vision International, the National Council of Churches in the Philippines, Pacific Conference of Churches, YAKKUM and CCDB. The workshop was inspired by fruitful exchanges and deep reflections that drew on the wealth of expertise of speakers, moderators and participants across the Asia-Pacific region and beyond such as those highlighted by the ACT Africa Vaccine Workshop. The Asia-Pacific Workshop participants finalized a Declaration drawing on the main messages and themes discussed at the webinar. The full report and recording of the workshop are available through this link.  A one-pager about ACT’s work on vaccine equity can be downloaded here.
 
Unfortunately, COVID-19 vaccine distribution globally has not been as rapid as the virus’  mutation and spread.  Most doses of the vaccines have been acquired by and administered in developed countries, meaning the most vulnerable people, especially in developing nations, are yet again being left behind. 

If the available vaccine doses had been allocated equitably, all health workers and vulnerable sections of the population could have been covered. And if this system of inequitable access and distribution of vaccines is not addressed now, efforts to control and address the pandemic will become futile.  

Global access and equitable distribution remain the best driver in addressing the pandemic, thereby saving lives, increasing immunity, reducing the possibility of new variants and securing economic recovery globally. We need to support the global cry to untangle COVID-19 treatments and technologies, including vaccines, from patents and monopolies that make these life-altering measures exclusive to only a few and result in the suffering of billions of people worldwide. 

Our Concerted Action 

ACT Alliance is faith-motivated, rights-based, impact focused, and committed to working ecumenically and inter-religiously, with the communities we seek to serve and accompany at the center of our work. This identification of who and what we are is appropriate in addressing the many emerging issues of this pandemic. As further indicated in our Global Strategy and with our current context, we will respond with a holistic and integrated programme guided by the local contexts of the communities we serve through our humanitarian, development and advocacy work.  

The COVAX Facility 

Now more than ever, it is important to use our prophetic voice in amplifying the calls for an accountable and compassionate response during this state of public health emergency. 

We know that COVAX is confronted with many difficulties, particularly the lack of investment, exports constraints, and governments making side deals with the giant pharmaceutical corporations to stake claims on large portions of vaccine supplies. 

The representation of our ACT General Secretary to the COVAX Facility, is commendable. He can bring our advocacy issues to that platform, but his is just one voice among many others. We can make that voice stronger by our collective support to the advancement of its purpose.With this pandemic, no one is truly safe and healthy unless all our communities are safe and healthy. This calls for a genuine global solidarity. 

Faith Actors’ Role in Ending the Pandemic 

Religious leaders and other faith-based actors have an important role to play in addressing the issues of vaccine equity and hesitancy.  As already noted by the Christian Conference of Asia consultation held last in July 2021: 

 “The churches in Asia are placed in better positions to play important roles in building trust towards a healthier world, particularly in crisis situations such as the surge of the pandemic. The myths and misconceptions surrounding the pandemic, especially concerning vaccinations, must be urgently and emphatically addressed with critical priority by Asian churches and other faith communities. The trust that communities have in faith leaders can be instrumental and leveraged to play an important role in restoring health, and ensuring healing and wholeness. Churches must also promote and share correct information with the help of medical professionals about the pandemic. Churches should also engage in facilitating theological reflections on social and moral obligations to each other which will help in eliminating fear, hesitancy, and misinformation regarding vaccines. Church-owned healthcare institutions and services also need to shine a light on, and reach out to, underprivileged populations—the poorest of the poor, the rural communities, the socially marginalised, and those in fragile or conflict-prone areas—striving for their inclusion in vaccination and immunisation campaigns.”  

Three major actions identified were culled from the report of that consultation: education; advocacy and direct service. 

Education – providing the right message and information to dispel fear, correct misconceptions, language appropriate to the specific population; in so doing the art of listening and conversation is important in order to effectively send the message across; it must be able to bring hope and stir collective action among community members through scientific information, critical analysis and collective reflections. Theological questions must be appropriately addressed. 

Advocacy – keeping our firm stand “that there is no lockdown on rights” even during the pandemic. To safeguard the right to health in this public health and economic crisis; emphasize the need for human rights-focused and evidence-based policies to truly solve the problem and that proactive and grounded pandemic response that highlights the respect for basic human rights; and the issue of accountability- that there is an even greater duty from the state to ensure the people’s right to health. 

Direct Service – providing appropriate and timely emergency response, especially to those greatly affected by the pandemic; mobilizing available resources and capacity to help alleviate the deplorable condition of the least and marginalized.  

We, members of the ACT Alliance must harness the gifts that we have. Our rootedness in the communities– especially the most vulnerable and marginalized communities– puts us in a position to make an impact. Building on the opportunities that we have as a faith-based organization, it is important to increase our understanding and visibility of our distinct role especially in countering inequalities and economic injustice.  

 Let us share the healing ministry of Christ who “…went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.” (Matthew 4: 23, NIV) that the “…healing ministry is the cornerstone of Jesus Christ’s public ministry. The strategy of Jesus Christ in his ministry provides priority to the people in the periphery of society… He provided sick people with his gift of power and presence that brought about the wholeness of life.” (NCCP Statement) 

Minnie Anne Mata-Calub is the ACT Alliance Vice-Moderator and the Deputy General Secretary of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines 

As the war in Ukraine began on February 24, tens of thousands of Ukrainians became displaced, fleeing for safety in neighbouring countries.  ACT member Hungarian Interchurch Aid, who have been working in Ukraine for more than 25 years in humanitarian and development projects, has already shipped 28 tons of food to support those fleeing to Hungary, and their staff have been working with refugees at the Ukraine/Hungary border.

Here are some stories from three of those seeking refuge from the war about their journeys to the Berehovo border crossing.

Nikolai and friends, Kharkiv

“We are medicine students at Kharkiv University. This month was already very tense, so we knew that we had to be ready to leave any time. Nevertheless, on the morning of the 23^rd when Russian troops crossed the border, we didn’t know what to do. With the sound of shelling coming from not too far, we quickly packed everything we could grab, shoved it in a suitcase and decided to try to leave by train. The train station in Kharkiv was utter chaos. We had to fight to get on the train, we didn’t even know where exactly are we going, all we knew is that we have to get out of the city. By the time we managed to get ourselves on the train we could hear the shelling and sporadic gunfights getting closer and closer. When we finally left the city in our severely overcrowded carriage we felt a moment of perhaps false sense of security. We changed trains in Poltava and again had to fight our way on another train to Lviv. It was the seven of us leaving from Kharkiv, but on the Lviv-bound train it was only 3 of us who made it. The Lviv train station has become a hub for new arrivals and people desperately trying to leave the country. People were waiting for a train to cross into Poland, but that train never came. We then decided to try via Uzhgorod to reach Hungary, but we saw that people are already turning back from the border crossing at Cop, that is why we are now trying to reach Hungary from the Berehovo border checkpoint. Many of our friends will never leave Ukraine, some of them have been arrested because they tried to leave, while some are fighting on the frontline. I wonder if we will ever see them again.”

Vitalij from Hmelnickij

Vitalij brought his wife and son from Hmelnickij to Berehovo. “We managed to arrive here relatively fast because on our way we didn’t take any main routes. The bigger cities are completely inaccessible and the queues can be longer than 10 kilometres.”

Vitalij must remain in Ukraine even though he is no longer able to serve in the military due to health reasons. Vitalij’s wife and son have made contact with friends in Budapest and will find refuge there.

“Leaving my family right now is the most difficult choice I have ever had to take. I can’t leave the country, but they can, and I have to give them the opportunity to live a safer life. At this point I can only hope that our family will be reunited, but we are facing difficult days ahead.”

Yelena, mother of 3

“My husband is on the frontlines. The women of my family have decided to take our children away from danger. We left Kherson, and decided to reunite with my sister in Dnipro. By the time we were leaving Kherson we heard that Dnipro was being bombed so we had to take a different way. We went where the car was taking us, I don’t remember most of the journey. My children were asking where are we going and I couldn’t come up with an answer. We heard that the Polish border is completely jammed, so we decided to cross the mountains and try to make it into Hungary. My sister is still on the way, I have no idea where she or my nieces are.

“We’ve been standing here at this border checkpoint for more than 5 hours, it is cold and my children are freezing. It is amazing to see that people are here to help, and even just talking to you gives us hope for a better future.”

ACT member Hungarian Interchurch Aid (HiA) sent two truckloads of relief supplies on February 26, 2022 to support those displaced by the war in Ukraine.  The shipment included 28 tons of canned food, flour, sugar, oil, rice, pasta, biscuits, long-life milk, tea and hygiene products.  They will be distributed to the Beregszász and Uzhhorod centers for families forced to flee their homes due to the war. 

The ACT Europe Forum is continuing to develop plans for ACT’s broader response to support those affected by the war.  ACT has issued a statement about the situation in Ukraine, which can be read here.

Photos: Daniel Fekete/HiA

ACT Alliance is deeply saddened and gravely concerned by the war in Ukraine.

We stand united as ACT members in different countries, and we call for an immediate end to the violence in Ukraine. Any and every use of deadly armed force to resolve disputes is unacceptable and must stop immediately. Peace, and respect for international law and established national borders, must be restored without delay.

We call on all parties to increase diplomatic efforts and de-escalate tensions in order to prevent a humanitarian disaster which could affect millions of innocent people. In particular, ACT Alliance is calling on all parties to abide by international humanitarian law and protect civilians and avoid the loss of life. Failure to do so will have disastrous consequences leading to massive displacement.

We call on all parties to respect humanitarian operations and their humanitarian obligations, to protect all human lives and communities threatened by this violence, and to keep borders open, create safe pathways and provide refuge for those expected to flee the conflict.

ACT Alliance members are monitoring the humanitarian situation closely, and are preparing to scale up their response inside Ukraine and in neighbouring countries to support those impacted by the current armed hostilities.

Together with the World Council of Churches, we urge all member churches and organisations, as well as all people of good will around the world to join us in prayer for peace for the people of Ukraine and the region.

Download the statement here.

In early 2020, just as COVID-19 began to spread around the world, Eastern Africa and the Horn of Africa experienced an additional outbreak, this time of locusts. It was one of the worst outbreaks of desert locusts in Kenya in 70 years, and in Ethiopia and Somalia in over 25 years.  

The outbreak has been linked to an increasing number of cyclones due to the changing climate. The locusts had an immediate impact on crops and food security in the region.  

ACT forums in Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan and Uganda launched a regional appeal (HEA 201) to respond to the crises. The appeal covered affected regions in Ethiopia (Konso, South Omo and Borane), Kenya (Marsbit, Turkana, Kitui, Baringo Counties) and South Sudan (Magwi County, Eastern Equatorial State). Affected communities benefited from enhanced food security, investments in Water and Sanitation (WASH), and from funding for early recovery and livelihoods. Some funds helped enhance community resilience to COVID-19.  

Enhanced food security  

In Ethiopia, Christian Aid distributed cash to 400 families at risk of food shortages caused by locusts.  “I was in a desperate situation when the committee selected me for the cash support,” said one of the community members to Christian Aid. She immediately used some cash to buy food for her family and more recently used the remainder to buy two young goats which will provide future income.  

In South Sudan, The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) set up a project to support the most vulnerable people affected by the locusts. They received conditional cash assistance for food items and chicken farming. One person in each of a hundred households was identified and supported with cash to help meet their households’ basic food needs. 

In Kenya the Anglican Development Service (ADS) prioritized the most vulnerable, and 330 households received cash assistance.  

Early recovery and livelihood support 

In Kenya, 800 households received early recovery seeds and learned to grow drought-tolerant crops thanks to a collaboration between Church World Service, the Anglican Church of Kenya in the Diocese of Kitui, and the Kitui County Ministry of Agriculture, Water & Livestock.  Three varieties of crop seeds suited to the agro-ecological zone were distributed to local communities.  

“When locusts invaded our farms, they ate everything, but now CWS has brought us seeds which will help us recover from the loss,” says one of the community members in this video by Church World Service. 

In South Sudan LWF helped a community to establish tree nurseries which raised over 5233 tree seedlings, including mango, lemon, eucalyptus, guava, teak and coffee. 

COVID-19 support  

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, ACT Alliance members also helped several communities with increased water supplies and hygiene training.