Haris, bringing hope to fight against COVID-19

Haris resides in Rawalpindi, Pakistan and works as a Human Resource (HR) officer for the Community World Service Asia, based in Islamabad. His duties comprise organizational and project based recruitment, staff care, calculating and managing employee compensation & benefits, performance management and working on identifying staff capacity building training and development opportunities.
 
“As an HR staff, we ensure that our employees are safe and that is why we had allowed work from home policy during this pandemic. We also ensure that every employee is calm, doesn’t worry about the global economic crisis”, he states.
What is his experience during this difficult time?

“Since Corona became a pandemic, our lives have changed a lot. Everyone is staying at home to prevent the spread of the deadly disease. We have been directed to continue our official work from home.

 There are pros and cons of working at home. The two hours consumed in the travel time, to and from home to office, are being utilized in work. However, I miss spending time with my colleagues as they served as a source of motivation and energy during work. The lunch breaks at the office were a time to mingle and socialize with everyone in the office. The refreshed us physically and mentally. Asking colleagues how they are doing or how their day been so long or playing small games after lunch brings joy and relief to us. That is what I miss the most.

When I look out from the window of my room I see cars parked in the streets outside their homes. The streets are deserted streets which is stressful sight. But it is a relief to see that families are safe and sound at their homes.

 I had to go to the hospital to vaccinate my one month old daughter. The streets and markets in Islamabad were quiet, with no one out. The Government has ordered businessmen to close all shops other than pharmacies, hospitals, grocery stores and petrol pumps. My visit to the grocery store was not pleasing as well. A person or two were to be seen wearing protective masks and gloves. Even the shop keepers have gloves and masks on to protect them.

 The Pakistan Army and policemen our working together and are stopping people who they seem are in groups and giving them awareness regarding the steps that they can take in prevention of this disease. They are encouraging people to stay at home rather than going outside with no urgent purpose in mind.

 The fast pace life did not gave us much time to spend with our families. This critical situation, however, has forced every person to stay at home and spend time together at home. I am very hopeful that things will get back to normal soon, hopefully in a few months. We must be hopeful at this difficult time!”

 

News from ACT Japan Forum, April 2020

In April 2020, CWS Japan launched a new project called “Citizen Social Worker Development Programme” with two other FBOs in Japan. To start with, we have recently published a training guidebook for citizen social workers for emergency disaster response.
 
During the last operation for Typhoon Hagibis, we witnessed some cases of vulnerables left behind who were elderly with dementia and family with intellectual disabilities. These cases are only the tip of the iceberg. These people tend to be isolated from communities even in peace time. In this project, we focus on elderly, disabled people, migrants and minorities who could be vulnerable to disasters. When disasters occur, all the public services including welfare services become dysfunctional due to the overflow of information and requests from ordinary citizens.
 
We are currently establishing a framework for mutual help in communities through citizen social workers’ training as well as networking with churches and FBOs in Japan as a part of our DRR scheme for ACT Japan Forum. At the time of next disaster, ACT Japan Forum would like to play a role in dispatching caseworkers and volunteers to rescue those vulnerable people in the affected sites.
 
Additionally, we also developed a questionnaire sheet for evaluating the vulnerabilities of target groups as an annex to the booklet which will be used for household surveys. By utilizing these tools, We are hoping to make invisible vulnerable people to disasters to be more visible to serve.
 
For more information please contact Ms. Yukiko Maki, CWS Japan, E-Mail y.maki@cwsjapan.org.
 

Newsletter Asia-Pacific 1/2020: Forum Report Japan

ACT Japan Forum Update
Emergency Response to Typhoon Hagibis in Japan

After Typhoon Faxai that majorly struck the Kanto Region on September 9th 2019, Boso Peninsula have got devastating damage due to Typhoon Hagibis that made a landfall to Japan on October 12th. Typhoon Hagibis has torn off plastic sheets with which the Self-Defense Forces officers and firefighters attempted to repair roofs of the affected people’s houses as emergency response to Typhoon Faxai. Torrential rainfall that subsequently hit the area on October 25th 2019 caused rain leaking through the roofs.  Tateyama City in Chiba Prefecture, where ACT Japan Forum’s assistance was focused, had to face these series of disasters in such a short period.

However, Social Welfare Council in Tateyama City decided to close their volunteer center while many of the affected houses had been left unrestored. The temporary disaster waste dumping site was closed by the city government subsequently.  As a consequent, a number of the affected people, particularly the vulnerable people including the elderly, had been left behind before they rebuild their lives. The Japan Forum started to lead the response through the Social Welfare Council in Tateyama City in which the majority was heavily affected in order to provide the vulnerable people with supports since the end of October in cooperation with a faith-based international NGO, Operation Blessing Japan. Those targeted people whom Japan Forum has worked for are mostly the elderly who are not be able to remove fallen trees and clean mold spreading in their houses due to constant exposure to rain.

During the response, in total 107 affected households were supported by 179 volunteers who came to Tateyama City through the Japan Forum. One of the achievements in the response is that local CSOs and church took over the supports for the affected people after Japan Forum withdrew.

In order to prepare for another disaster in the future, ACT Japan Forum is building a network in Japan and a new program in collaboration with partners for the vulnerable people who are hard to be reached in disasters based on their lessons learnt from the response to the disaster in this time.

Newsletter Asia-Pacific 1/2020: Forum Report Philippines

  • By end of January, NCCP had completed its emergency response to the Mindanao earthquakes which happened in the months of October and December last year. Through the ACT Alliance Rapid Response Fund, NCCP provided food packs to 2,035 affected families in the provinces of Cotabato and Davao del Sur. Medical mission and psychosocial support activities were also undertaken by NCCP member churches belonging to the Cotabato Regional Ecumenical Council (COREC).
  • NCCP and World Renew raised an appeal in February to respond to the multiple disasters in the Philippines in the last quarter of 2019, affecting about 5.8 million people across eight out of the Philippines’ 17 administrative regions.
  • As part of their advocacy for COVID-19, NCCP strongly urged the Philippine government to enhance its (whole-of-society) coordination mechanisms to involve civil society groups and engage the communities in responding to this emergency rather than a whole-of-government and military approach. NCCP also pushed for more efforts in educating the public for community quarantine and increase the support for frontliners, particularly medical staff, and mass testing.

Find here the statement from the National Council of Churches in the Philippines: https://www.facebook.com/nationalcouncilofchurchesinthephilippines/posts/2213705968938177

ACT Alliance Membership Engagement Model

The Membership Engagement Model was approved at the 2018 General Assembly in Uppsala, Sweden. The rationale for the model is based both on a need to contribute to a future vision of an alliance membership that is inclusive and enables engagement of members according to their interest and capacity and adds more meaning to the ecumenical cooperation and work of national and regional forums, as well as to address some existing barriers to membership for smaller local members and to active engagement of members.

Please, find here:

ACT Alliance Membership Engagement Model EN
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ACT Alliance Annual Report 2018

ACT Alliance is the largest Protestant/Orthodox alliance in the world that engages in humanitarian, sustainable development and advocacy work, with over 155 members present and working in over 127 countries around the world.

Together, we strive for a world where all may live with dignity, justice, peace and full respect for human rights and the environment. The 2018 Annual Report is available for download below.

Annual Report 2018 English

Annual Report 2018 Spanish

Annual Report 2019 French

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  • A Forum fee that is paid by all members and observers into the forum where their headquarter is located.
  • An Income-Based Fee (IBF) that is paid by all organizations whose annual income is over USD 5 million. The income related fee is based on a percentage of the total income of the organization (see definition below) as set by the Governing Board.
  • An International Coordination Fee (ICF), which is levied on appeals issued by the ACT Secretariat.
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Procedure for Funding the ACT Alliance Forums and Secretariat

 

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