HOTLINE - week of May 22, 2006

Despite the May 5 peace agreement between the Sudanese government and the largest rebel group, widespread suffering and violence in Darfur continues.

Rebel factions fighting among themselves and fresh attacks against civilians reflect a continuing crisis for those displaced by the violence and atrocities. Food and other humanitarian needs in Darfur are at crisis levels. With the rainy season fast approaching, it is vital that supplies reach families in need quickly.

In a coalition effort, CWS continues to help provide much-needed food, medicines, water and sanitation, and other basic needs to the most vulnerable of the uprooted in Darfur.

Support ongoing emergency efforts in Darfur and use our Speak Out advocacy tools to urge actions for peace.

"We have a humanitarian catastrophe in the making on our hands… within Burma," says CWS Immigration and Refugee Program Associate Director Erol Kekic. "We want the UN to act now to prevent another Rwanda or Darfur from happening."

A recent escalation in violence by the Burmese (a.k.a. Myanmar) ruling military junta against thousands of ethnic minority Karen villagers is forcing families to flee to Thailand. Thousands are waiting to cross the border and, Kekic asks, "Do we have to witness genocide before any action is taken?"

CWS and partners presented a briefing at the UN on May 16 and asked that the UN Security Council pass a binding resolution requiring Burma's regime to stop attacking ethnic minorities and for the UN to publicly condemn the latest attacks.

Working with the Thailand Burma Border Consortium, CWS helps provide food and shelter for the 140,000 people currently in refugee camps in Thailand, and is preparing to resettle as many as 9,000 Karen refugees from Burma to the U.S.

You can join in the Demand that Burma's Military Regime Stop Attacks on Ethnic Minorities by contacting the White House and State Department today. Use the Speak Out advocacy tools.

With the help of CWS, some 315 returnee families in the village of Sevarlije, in northwestern Bosnia, are working to rebuild orchards and livelihoods destroyed in the war.

The economy of the region is stagnant, and families must live solely from the produce their gardens provide. Fruit seedlings, fertilizer, pesticides, and agricultural assistance for replanting orchards is helping vulnerable families become self-reliant once again. The plum orchards will be a source of income for the families once they are established and begin to bear fruit.

Heavy rains across New England have brought the worst flooding since the 1930s to the region. New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Maine have been especially hard hit. Floodwaters have forced thousands of people from their homes and inundated hundreds of homes and businesses.

CWS has Disaster Response and Recovery Liaison (DRRL) staff on site and expects to work with at least three or four communities in organizing to address long-term needs of the most vulnerable affected households.

Your prayers and support - and your participation in CROP WALKS and the TOOLS & BLANKETS Program - make possible these and other life sustaining programs. For information on how to get involved, please call your Church World Service/CROP Regional Office toll-free at 1-888-CWS-CROP, that's 1-888-297-2767.

For information about free loan videos, please call 1-800-297-1516, ext. 338, or e-mail us at: videos@churchworldservice.org.

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