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CWS to provide assistance to Iraqis in crisis

August 6, 2007

NEW YORK--In response to massive human suffering in Iraq, international humanitarian agency Church World Service (CWS) is mounting a two-pronged effort aimed at providing essential services for vulnerable children in orphanages and helping equip Iraqi organizations to operate social, economic and health service projects.

To support that effort, last week the New York-based rganization issued an appeal asking concerned people to send donations to help fund the humanitarian response to the suffering in Iraq.

Steve Weaver, Middle East regional coordinator for Church World Service, says, "Survival has become very difficult for Iraqis. In many parts of the country fear and violence are a daily reality. Many are now refugees in other countries where they have little money, few job options, and limited access to schools or hospitals."

Iraqi children living in orphanages are a main focus for CWS. As part of a program aimed at ultimately moving these vulnerable young people out of institutions and back into family settings, CWS and a partner agency in Iraq will provide food baskets and locally purchased school kits and hygiene kits to 582 youngsters in 21 institutions.

Donations to the U.S. appeal will also help Church World Service send three 40-foot containers of CWS hygiene and school kits, and blankets, as well as medicine boxes supplied by Interchurch Medical Assistance. A Church World Service local partner agency in Iraq will distribute CWS-provided emergency medical supplies to hospitals in conflict areas.

With the breakdown of government services, social welfare agencies are the main support system for people inside Iraq and for those who have fled the fighting. To help agencies inside Iraq increase their ability to provide services for needy families, Church World Service and its partner agency the Italian Consortium of Solidarity are training staff at six of the country's humanitarian agencies. When the agencies complete their training in project monitoring and project evaluation they will identify six other Iraqi agencies and help them increase their capacity to serve the population.

CWS is also supporting efforts by partner church rganizations through Action by Churches Together (ACT), a global alliance of churches and agencies working to support communities in emergencies.

Those efforts include International Orthodox Christian Charities work with displaced or needy Iraqi families inside and outside of the country; Norwegian Church Aid's food, water, shelter and counseling projects; and the Middle East Council of Churches' distribution of food and medical supplies in Iraq, Jordan, and Syria.

The humanitarian crisis has become more acute with the escalating sectarian conflict in the Middle Eastern country, now in the fourth year of a U.S.-led occupation. Fighting between rival militias, ongoing military operations, and targeted violence against civilians has forced more than four million Iraqis out of their homes and villages, with many of them crossing borders in search of haven in neighboring countries like Syria and Jordan.

Church World Service provided relief for the people and children of Iraq more than a decade before the current Iraq war and continued to support humanitarian projects in the country after the U.S. invasion, highlighted by the All our Children campaign that supplied more than $1 million in material aid and support for Iraqi youth projects aimed at improving the health and well-being of a population in turmoil.

Church World Service, a relief, sustainable development and refugee assistance and protection agency, is supported by public fundraising, grants, and by the contributions of 35 Protestant, Orthodox, and Anglican denominations in the United States.

Contribution information
Those wishing to contribute to this appeal may do so by calling CWS toll free at: 800-297-1516, ext. 222; by contributing online; or by mailing a check to Church World Service, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515.

Media Contact:
Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676;
Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526;

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