Pakistan: The Lost Meaning of Hope
Thursday, September 9, 2010
"What hope do you have for the future?" I asked. Fifty-three year-old Khaista Khan of Badalai near Madyan in Swat, who had conducted himself with remarkable fortitude until then, broke down. Holding his face in his hands with great courage he fought back the tears. "I don't even know what hope means anymore," he said finally.

Pakistan: A family tries its best to recover
Thursday, September 9, 2010
How does a family regain its footing after it loses everything? As flood waters recede, that is a question being asked millions of times over as Pakistanis begin the painful steps of reclaiming their lives following a month of grim disruption, loss, and trauma.

World Water Week experts: Clean water, good sanitation deliver ROI
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
At this week's World Water Week Symposium, in Stockholm, delegates representing humanitarian agency Church World Service say they're encouraged to hear global water experts reporting that clean water and good sanitation is a socially profitable and economically smart investment.

Pakistan: Suddenly, they had no roof
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
It was sometime after nine in the evening and young Rizvanullah was at home in Badalai Village near Madyan with his parents and siblings. It was the second day of incessant rain the likes of which, so the elders said, they had never witnessed before. The word around his village was that this was the second deluge.

CWS providing basics for Pakistan's flood survivors
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
With its steep valleys and isolated villages, the northern Pakistani district of Kohistan is a tough, hardscrabble place, and already residents coping with Pakistan's recent devastating floods are worried about the coming winter.

Rural Haiti: The issue is food
Friday, August 27, 2010
It was nearing the end of another hot, sunny day near Petite Riviere in the northern department, or province, of Artibonite, and Arnold Alcimé stood on his two-acre plot of land and shook his head in frustration.

On the fifth anniversary of Katrina, survivors and advocates praise work of humanitarian agencies
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Five years after hurricanes Katrina and Rita, survivors and those working on their behalf say work is far from finished in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. But they are emphatic that what progress has been made is in great part due to the support, funding and labor of the U.S. faith community and of humanitarian agencies like Church World Service.

Five years after Hurricane Katrina
Thursday, August 19, 2010
As New Orleans and the Gulf Coast prepare to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, those who have worked tirelessly on behalf of the most vulnerable assert that much of the progress made so far could not have been accomplished without the support of the U.S. faith community and of humanitarian agencies like Church World Service.

Pakistan: Providing assistance to 100,000 people
Thursday, August 19, 2010
How much more can Pakistan take? That is one of the questions farmer Sawan Khan and other disaster survivors are asking in the wake of the worst flooding in Pakistan's history - a disaster that has prompted a large-scale response of food, shelter materials and medical assistance from Church World Service.

Haiti: New opportunities for a resilient people
Thursday, August 19, 2010
SERVICE asked several in the CWS and ecumenical family either working in Haiti or having visited Haiti since the Jan. 12 earthquake to respond to a question about next steps: What needs to happen next in Haiti for the country to recover from both the immediate disaster and the earlier, deeper structural problems that hobbled the country for years?

Physician creates a gift annuity because CWS reaches the 'neediest of the needy'
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Sitting on her porch, her faithful companion Bonzo by her side, Dr. Lola Reed reflects, "God has been good to me. I have been blessed all my life." Now 93, she credits her happy and fulfilling life to parents who gave her what she says are the four most important gifts a parent can give a child: love, discipline, education and faith. Armed with those gifts, Dr. Reed, who prefers the name "Skip," graduated from medical school and pursued a career in pediatrics.

"Nine Thousand Nights" brings to life experiences of refugees from Burma
Thursday, August 19, 2010
In remote "bamboo cities" ringed by deep forests and high mountains on the western edge of Thailand, refugees from Burma have lived a life apart for more than 25 years, or "Nine Thousand Nights." Now they and "outsiders" who have known them share their personal memories of harsh, inspiring, and extraordinary times on the Thailand-Burma border in "Nine Thousand Nights: Refugees from Burma, A Peoples' Scrapbook."

Former jeweler enjoys being a farmer
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Less than five years ago, Seyad Ahmad, 43, was a prominent jeweler in Batticaloa District, his hometown in eastern Sri Lanka. He and his family lived in a big house. "We went to Europe every year, to Germany, to France. I went to Hong Kong for a year to learn how to make good jewelry," Seyad said. In short, he and his family lived a first class life.

Slow world donor response threatens a generation in Pakistan, says CWS
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Church World Service officials urged a more robust response from the international donor community to Pakistan's devastating flooding disaster. The global relief and development agency voiced even deeper worries over whether or not pledges will be fulfilled.

In Gran Chaco, indigenous youth tracking their peoples' futures
Friday, August 13, 2010
In the remote Bolivian Gran Chaco countryside, a Guaraní teenager and an old man walk side by side through the dry brush, looking at the ground and the horizon, the boy taking notes to reconcile with a global positioning system (GPS) mapping project he has in progress.

A cycle of loss and destruction is testing Pakistan's resilience
Friday, August 6, 2010
Of the current situation in Pakistan, Pakistan-based staff members of Church World Service offer the following reflection: In the five years since the 2005 earthquake devastated parts of Pakistan, not one year has gone by in which the people of Pakistan have not suffered from disaster. The years 2006 and 2007 brought floods; although not even close to the destruction brought by this year's floods, people still lost their lives, homes, crops and livestock.

Pakistan floods: Church World Service delivers aid amid massive obstacles
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
With more than 3.2 million displaced or affected by monsoon rains and the worst flooding in north Pakistan in nearly a century, global humanitarian agency Church World Service reports that its aid workers in the region are continuing their initial response, providing food packages, shelter materials and non-food supplies. In addition, one mobile health unit has been dispatched so far, delivering emergency health services in Balakot.

CWS response in Pakistan during deadly monsoon season includes food distribution
Saturday, July 31, 2010
For millions of Pakistanis, floods during monsoon season are nothing new. But the scale and magnitude of this year's floods are far greater, resulting in tragic and deadly results, reports Pakistan-based staff of global humanitarian organization Church World Service.

CWS praises UN resolution on water access as human right
Friday, July 30, 2010
Church World Service is praising a UN General Assembly resolution on Wednesday (July 28) that recognizes the human right to access to water and sanitation.

Shelter, local procurement, civil society involvement head list for Haiti
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Massive shelter issues, the need for local procurement, improved engagement with civil society, and additional funding head the list of requirements for successful reconstruction in Haiti, a group of Haitian and U.S. advocates told members of Congress and interfaith leaders in two Washington events yesterday.

Statement of humanitarian agency Church World Service on the temporary injunction against parts of Arizona's new immigration law
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Church World Service welcomed U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton's temporary injunction against the implementation of parts of Arizona's controversial new immigration law SB 1070, scheduled to take effect Thursday (July 29), and reiterated its call for a federal fix of America's broken immigration system.

The long road to recovery in Haiti: Some close-ups
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
In northern Haiti, members of a community-based group began a feeding program for those displaced by the January 12 earthquake. In the southern coastal city of Jacmel, a group of disaster survivors banded together and moved onto the grounds of a local church. And in Port-au-Prince, a woman who gave birth to her infant son twelve days after the quake wondered what she would do next.

MEDIA ALERT: Haitian civil society leaders discuss post-earthquake reconstruction on Capitol Hill and at interfaith breakfast
Monday, July 26, 2010
In advance of tomorrow's (July 27) Congressional Black Caucus hearing on Haiti with USAID and Haitian leaders, hearing panelists representing Haitian civil society and the Haitian diaspora will gather in Washington for an interfaith breakfast from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., and to speak with media about their concerns. Phone-in will be available for those not able to attend in person.

Haiti: To praise the government or pass judgment?
Thursday, July 22, 2010
When should humanitarian groups publicly criticize governments and when should they stay quiet? It is a question that has bedeviled humanitarian groups in recent years (think of Darfur, for example) and it is now being asked in Haiti, and among ACT Alliance members, in the recent commemoration of the six-month anniversary of the January 12 earthquake.

CWS welcomes extension of Temporary Protected Status application deadline for Haitians
Thursday, July 15, 2010
CWS welcomed the U.S. government's decision to give Haitians an additional six months to apply for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and affirmed it would continue to reach out to Haitians in the United States with immigration legal information and assistance.

Haiti: "The first to be forgotten" have a chance to reclaim dignity
Monday, July 12, 2010
In Port-au-Prince, Haiti--where mobility is difficult even for able-bodied persons - a monthly celebration at a church has come to represent a triumph for Haitians like Marlene Derley. An amputee who lost her right arm after a building collapsed during the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake, Derley notes the ostracism people with disabilities in Haiti often face. A CWS program that began in March is benefiting hundreds of these individuals and their families.

World Refugee Day celebrated across the U.S.
Monday, July 12, 2010
A Burmese refugee family who resettled in the United States just three years ago chose World Refugee Day 2010 as an occasion to say thank you with a $200 donation to Church World Service for helping them during their first months in their new country.

Haiti: Many small successes six months into recovery
Friday, July 9, 2010
Humanitarian groups such as Church World Service are the first to acknowledge that, six months after the devastating Jan. 12 Haiti earthquake, the road to recovery will be long and difficult. Yet on a smaller scale, successes are evident.

Six months later in Haiti, 'there is still so much to do'
Friday, July 9, 2010
No one said responding to the aftermath of Haiti's devastating 12 January earthquake would be easy. They were right. As humanitarian workers of Church World Service and ACT Alliance--of which CWS is a member--freely acknowledge, the continuing work of repairing, rebuilding and rehabilitating Haiti in the first six months since the earthquake has been marked by numerous obstacles, significant problems and huge challenges.

CWS applauds Obama's commitment to immigration reform
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Following President Obama's speech on immigration this morning, humanitarian agency Church World Service applauded the President's persistent commitment to enacting immigration reform and called on him to grant administrative relief by halting raids and deportations of undocumented immigrants in the meantime, until such reforms are made.

Singer-songwriter K.C. Clifford's 'Raise Your Voice' named new CROP Hunger Walk song
Friday, June 25, 2010
Church World Service announced today it has named the song "Raise Your Voice," by Oklahoma folk singer-songwriter K.C. Clifford, as the theme song for its nationwide CROP Hunger Walks beginning this fall. Clifford's recording of "Raise Your Voice" is featured on a new CROP Hunger Walk video, which will be used by volunteer CROP Hunger Walk organizers across the country.

Communities across the U.S. to mark World Refugee Day
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
World Refugee Day events across the United States this weekend (June 18-20) will be rich in sounds, colors, tastes and testimonies by people from around the world who have escaped persecution and armed conflict and found welcome and new life in U.S. communities

CWS examines oil spill response through Katrina lens
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Amid the frenzy of volunteers, attention, criticism and frustration along the U.S. Gulf Coast, efforts to help those impacted by the largest environmental disaster in American history can't be parted from another calamity, nearly five years old.

Entrepreneur "driven" to support Church World Service
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Awardwinning software entrepreneur Razi Imam has announced his intention to donate a portion of the royalties from his new book, "Driven: A How-to Strategy to Unlock Your Greatest Potential," to Church World Service.

U.S. church officials defend CWS against charges of proselytizing
Saturday, June 5, 2010
U.S. church officials with long ties to Church World Service have defended the humanitarian agency against charges of religious proselytizing in Afghanistan. "When I saw and read the allegations I was dumbfounded," said Stanley Noffsinger, general secretary of the Church of the Brethren General Board, Elgin, Ill. "For more than sixty years, Church World Service has grounded its role in serving people regardless of faith tradition. Church World Service is held in the highest regard and is seen as honoring those whom it serves," he said. "I believe CWS functions with the highest of integrity."

'Protect EPA authority, reject Murkowski bill,' says Church World Service
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Facing International Environment Day (June 5) and stalled progress on definitive climate and energy legislation, humanitarian agency Church World Service is calling on the U.S. Senate to reject proposed legislation by Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) that would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating climate-changing greenhouse gases.

Aid agency Church World Service denies allegations of proselytizing in Afghanistan
Monday, May 31, 2010
Church World Service announced today that its long-time work in Afghanistan has been temporarily suspended by the Afghan Ministry of Economy, pending investigation of allegations related to an Afghan television news story claiming that CWS and another humanitarian agency, Norwegian Church Aid, had engaged in religious proselytizing. CWS has formally denied the allegations and expects the suspension will last only a few days, while the issue is investigated.

Church World Service presses Obama, Congress for bipartisan immigration summit
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Church World Service Executive Director and CEO John L. McCullough today pressed President Obama to convene a bipartisan summit with one goal enactment of comprehensive immigration reform this year.

New "framework for immigration reform" offers hope, says CWS CEO
Thursday, May 20, 2010
The framework for immigration reform released by a group of U.S. Senators in April gives hope to the millions of non-citizens and their U.S. citizen family members who are suffering under a broken immigration system, according to Church World Service Executive Director and CEO Rev. John L. McCullough.

From memories of hunger, a steadfast commitment to CWS
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Pearl Veronis walks because she knows something of hunger first hand. "We did survive," Veronis recalled recently as she prepared for her 38th CROP Hunger Walk in Lancaster, Penn., and spoke of her experiences as a child during World War II in Greece, where she and her family knew the realities of hunger, starvation and deprivation.

In Cedar Rapids, homes and hope bloom anew
Thursday, May 20, 2010
It's been two years since a flood forced him and his wife to move away, but Tuesday, surrounded by family and volunteers, Donald McSpadden saw the rebirth of his home. "He's been so excited he can't sleep at night," says Donald's daughter, Sandy Dighton.

Resettled refugee honored by President
Thursday, May 20, 2010
A naturalized citizen honored by President Barack Obama with the Outstanding American of Choice award in April came to the United States as a refugee from Nigeria and was resettled under the auspices of Church World Service.

CWS programs sprout new initiatives
Thursday, May 20, 2010
As recently as four years ago, people living in the village of Kotulpogh, in the arid rural North Pokot district of Kenya, couldn't access water without walking for up to seven hours each way. They couldn't grow crops, couldn't bathe their children properly, and couldn't send their girls the traditional fetchers of water to school. In fact, they could barely eke out a living from the dry soil of a region where rainfall is both meager and unpredictable.

Two years after flood, families celebrate return to repaired home
Friday, May 14, 2010
After coping with flood damage for more than two years, Don and Sandy McSpadden will return to a fully repaired home following a ceremony in Cedar Rapids next Tuesday (5/18). The ceremony, a celebration event, caps the work of nearly 400 volunteers from across the U.S. and Canada who worked to repair 14 homes in and around Cedar Rapids over the past six weeks.

Humanitarian agency commends Senate climate bill action, but calls for higher bar
Thursday, May 13, 2010
In reaction to yesterday's release of "The American Power Act" by Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), Rev. John L. McCullough, Executive Director and CEO of Church World Service, an international humanitarian organization, commended the senators for their hard work and a bill that "provides an initial step," but the agency called for "higher expectations" related to greenhouse gas emissions targets in earlier years and earlier commitment to adaptation funding for vulnerable nations.

Gaining firmer footing in a vulnerable place
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Meet Idis, a 4-year-old who knows what it's like to run for her life. Idis (pronounced ee-dees) lives beside a lake on the outskirts of Asuncion, Paraguay. Yet life here is nowhere near as idyllic as it might seem.

Kinnamon, McCullough ask President Obama to end restrictions on religious travel to Cuba
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
The staff heads of the National Council of Churches and humanitarian agency Church World Service have written to President Obama to ask for an end to restrictions on religious travel to Cuba.

Haiti stage 2: CWS helping expand rural food co-ops, reunite child domestic workers with their families
Friday, April 30, 2010
Initial Haitian government plans to relocate huge numbers of families to cities outside Port-au-Prince are being thwarted by land ownership issues and costs, adding to the frustrations of those made homeless by the quake. But humanitarian agency Church World Service is dealing within those realities and says it now is expanding its work to help families recover where they are and to support host communities stretched to accommodate migrating survivors.

New "framework for immigration reform" offers hope, CWS CEO says
Thursday, April 29, 2010
The framework for immigration reform released by a group of U.S. Senators today gives hope to the millions of non-citizens and their U.S. citizen family members who are suffering under a broken immigration system, Church World Service Executive Director and CEO John L. McCullough said.

Statement in response to Arizona immigration legislation
Friday, April 23, 2010
Upon hearing of the decision of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer to sign into law the "Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act" (SB 1070), Church World Service Executive Director and CEO John L. McCullough issued this statement: "We are deeply concerned about the enactment of SB 1070 as it goes beyond anti-immigrant sentiments and supports racial profiling....

Earth Day: We're taking action!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day--and its 2010 theme, "Take action!"--Church World Service continues its long tradition of taking action in partnership around the world, assisting communities in managing their environmental resources to better provide for their families now and into the future.

Thanks for the Kits!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
"The congregations and groups that have made, or are making, CWS Kits are extending a personal hand of caring to neighbors in need in Haiti and around the world. Thank you so much," says Donna Derr, Director of Humanitarian Assistance and Development for Church World Service.

Back to basics: The quest for food security in Haiti
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Food security is not an abstraction. Ask teacher Marie Therese Mayard. Having survived the initial Jan. 12 earthquake, Mayard, 65, spent her first days in a tent next to a nunnery run by the Daughters of Wisdom, a Roman Catholic religious order, in the city of Petit Goave, southwest of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince.

Relationships key in disaster response
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
The volunteers, officials and community leaders gathered in a semi-circle, around the small, newly-built house in Alaska, with their focus solely on one person: the owner, a survivor of flooding, moving into her new home.

Immigration reform is moral and practical, Church World Service head tells Congress
Monday, April 19, 2010
Immigration reform isn't just the moral thing to do, it's the practical thing to do and what's best for the United States including for the U.S. economy, Church World Service Executive Director and CEO John L. McCullough wrote to all members of Congress today.

Faith-based organizations call for robust U.S. humanitarian and development funding
Friday, April 16, 2010
International humanitarian agency Church World Service and an interfaith coalition of organizations have called on Congress to appropriate "robust funding" for the world's most vulnerable, with a focus on nutrition and food security, agriculture, water resources, and related climate adaptation, as well as increased funding for primary education, HIV/AIDS relief, overseas refugee assistance, and refugee resettlement programs within the U.S.

Food security, agriculture must head Haiti priorities, NGOs tell donor conference
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
On the eve of a major donors' conference March 31 at the United Nations that will help decide the future of earthquake-devastated Haiti, humanitarian agencies Church World Service and Christian Aid are calling for greater focus on food security and agriculture and the creation of a core commission of respected Haitian citizens to help oversee work and ensure that any proposed reconstruction plan "stay the course" and show impartiality in efforts to rebuild Haiti.

Haiti: With help and solidarity, a thaw at the border assists humanitarian response
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
A visitor crossing the Haitian-Dominican border into the Dominican city of Jimaní can be easily struck by the natural surroundings. The stark, chalky rock that borders Étang Saumâtre, a strikingly blue, salt water lake that happens to be Haiti's largest body of water, soon melds into the lush green slopes of the Dominican Republic mountainside startling in contrast to the deforested hills and valley of its neighbor.

'Need for immigration reform is now,' U.S. faith leaders tell White House and Congress
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Building on the momentum of Sunday's massive comprehensive immigration reform rally in Washington, the head of humanitarian agency Church World Service, CWS advocacy staff, and a diverse group of U.S. faith leaders met Monday with representatives at the White House, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), and staff of other lawmakers on Capitol Hill, to press for major immigration reform legislation this year.

Church World Service becomes member of ACT Alliance launching today
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
New York-headquartered Church World Service celebrates its membership as a founding member in the newly-formed ACT Alliance, one of the world's largest humanitarian bodies, which officially launches today.

'Water a human right, not a for-pay commodity' says NGO head
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
In a high-level World Water Day conference in Washington, D.C., yesterday, where top U.S. public and private sector leaders gathered to announce new commitments to combat the world's growing water crisis, humanitarian agency head Rev. John L. McCullough told the gathering, "Access to water is a human right and a responsibility of public service, not a commodity for the few who can afford to pay."

In the ongoing humanitarian response in Haiti, 'dignity' is no mere watchword
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
In the immediate weeks following the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake, a number of Haitians said that recovering from the disaster signaled a new start for Haiti, a chance to rebuild the country as if from scratch.

Mass rally at Capitol boosts momentum for immigration reform
Monday, March 22, 2010
"The momentum is in favor of immigration reform now and not the other way around," said humanitarian agency head John McCullough, following Sunday's massive immigration reform rally on the National Mall, which drew tens of thousands of people from across the country to call on lawmakers to forge comprehensive immigration reform legislation this year.

Advocacy Days conference rallies with March for America on immigration reform
Sunday, March 21, 2010
As a lead-up to the afternoon's massive "March for America" immigration reform rally on the National Mall, an international conference this weekend on global migration issues also raised the volume on the immigration reform issue.

Spring CROP Hunger Walks aim high
Friday, March 19, 2010
Many communities across the country celebrate the arrival of spring by participating in their local CROP Hunger Walk. Each Walk has a common purpose to help end hunger one step at a time. But each Walk is unique, too, shaped by the concerns of that particular community.

The power of partnership in Haiti
Friday, March 19, 2010
In the rush to respond to a major disaster like the Haiti earthquake, the importance of partnerships between local Haitian organizations and humanitarian groups based in the United States like Church World Service may be overlooked.

Broadway stars fill the night with music for Haiti relief
Friday, March 19, 2010
A veritable galaxy of stars of the Broadway stage, the Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall came together for a benefit concert, "Sending our Love to Haiti," at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, New Jersey. The real stars of the evening, though, were the churches, synagogues and mosque from northern New Jersey that organized and supported the February 21 concert to support relief efforts for survivors of the January earthquake in Haiti.

Speak Out to say, "Immigration reform can't wait!"
Friday, March 19, 2010
Decisions are being made now on whether immigration reform will be taken up in the House and Senate this year. Our nation needs immigration reform that reunites families, protects all workers and provides a way for undocumented immigrants to earn their legal status.

Women play a key role in the CWS mission
Friday, March 19, 2010
Church World Service joined people around the world in commemorating International Women's Day on March 8 by celebrating lives transformed through the work of CWS programs and partnerships.

Cultural Orientation: Preparing refugees for the trip of a lifetime
Friday, March 19, 2010
Imagine you are preparing to visit a country for the first time. Most likely you are "reading up" on your destination's food and customs, where to stay, how to get around and what to pack.

World Water Day: Church World Service urges $500m U.S. funding for global water crisis
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Thursday March 18, 2010 -- As a lead-up to World Water Day (March 22), international relief and development agency Church World Service is urging the United States to accelerate its efforts to help meet current and future water needs for all and is urging Congress to approve $500 million in global funding for safe drinking water and sanitation for FY2011.

Clean water: Essential in Haiti and around the world
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Monday, March 22, is World Water Day a day to commemorate the importance of water throughout the world. The theme for World Water Day 2010 is "Clean Water for a Healthy World," a reminder that 1.1 billion people in the world still rely on unsafe sources of drinking water.

Church World Service calls for reform of 30-year-old U.S. refugee program
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Church World Service is marking today's 30th anniversary of the U.S. Refugee Act both with words of appreciation and a call for legislative reform of the U.S. Refugee Program to meet the needs of modern-day refugees and the communities that welcome them. Accordingly, it is urging support for The Refugee Protection Act of 2010, introduced in the U.S. Senate on March 15.

CWS Board says Haitians must lead reconstruction effort
Friday, March 12, 2010
The board of directors of Church World Service has strongly affirmed the need for Haitians to lead development and reconstruction efforts in the wake of the country's devastating Jan. 12 earthquake.

CWS's Herlinger wins 2010 DeRose-Hinkhouse Awards
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Two books with humanitarian themes by Church World Service staffer Chris Herlinger have been honored with DeRose-Hinkhouse Memorial Awards by the Religion Communicators Council.

A sense of family: The quiet, localized efforts of Haitians assisting fellow Haitians
Monday, March 8, 2010
As Fontil Louiner sees it, faced with the reality of damaged homes and lost income, he and more than two dozen family members and friends had no alternative but to pull up stakes and leave the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince.

Reform immigration before summer recess, CWS asks D.C. lawmakers
Friday, March 5, 2010
The global ecumenical humanitarian agency Church World Service is pressing lawmakers in Washington to move forward on immigration reform before their summer recess in August.

International Women's Day: Investing in women strengthens society
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Church World Service joins people of the world in celebrating International Women's Day, March 8, by renewing the call for increased efforts to achieve gender equality and empowerment of women.

International Women's Day: Skills, support will determine long-term security of Haiti quake survivors
Thursday, March 4, 2010
As the global community, including Church World Service, honors the work, struggles and achievements of women on International Women's Day, March 8, one way to spotlight the status of women is to look at recovery efforts underway in earthquake-stricken Haiti.

Church World Service Ramps Up Immigration Reform Efforts
Monday, March 1, 2010
Drawing on nearly 65 years of direct service to and advocacy work for refugees, immigrants and other marginalized communities, Church World Service is ramping up its efforts for immigration reform, with components including direct service work, advocacy and grassroots mobilization.

CWS helps establish national Afghan effort to reduce disaster risks
Monday, March 1, 2010
More than 50 Afghan government ministries, United Nations agencies, non-governmental organizations and donor governments gathered in Kabul on February 28 to launch the first Afghan national platform to reduce the risks of disasters in the country.

A Place to Call Home: Immigrants, Refugees, and Displaced Peoples
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
The 2010 Ecumenical Advocacy Days gathering will be held in Washington, D.C. March 19-22. If you are interested in attending, please register and book your hotel to get the best rates.

CWS provides material, social support to Haitian medical evacuees
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Severely injured Haitians airlifted to U.S. hospitals need not only urgent medical care, but also material, logistical and social support. The global humanitarian agency Church World Service has stepped forward to organize that support.

News feature: Haitian medical evacuees want to heal, return home
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
For Estamene Lamour, 58, and her daughter Stania Jean, 26, and for Alice Michaud, 58, and her daughter Guilene Honore, the earthquake that nearly destroyed the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince on January 12 is a scar that won't ever fade away from their minds. They see it as something that will haunt them and many other survivors of that disaster for years to come.

News feature: Atlanta's Haitian Medical Emergency Hospitality Program
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Church World Service's affiliate Refugee Resettlement and Immigration Services (RRISA) is the Atlanta agency charged with organizing community support for the 45 emergency medical evacuees and accompaniers who've been brought to Atlanta to date and any others who might still come. RRISA's staff has extensive experience resettling refugees, Katrina evacuees and Cuban/Haitian entrants.

Embarking on a 'shared Lenten journey,' Christian leaders press immigration reform
Friday, February 19, 2010
Responding to a "divine mandate" and as a "patriotic act," the chief executives of Church World Service and the National Council of Churches are pressing "comprehensive immigration reform" in the United States.

Broadway stars perform in North Jersey to benefit Haiti
Friday, February 19, 2010
An array of Broadway stars will perform Sunday, February 21, at the Bergen Performing Arts Center (PAC) in Englewood, New Jersey, in a benefit concert for the children of Haiti and their families. The 8 P.M. performance will be preceded by a silent auction at 7:00 P.M. The event--underwritten and organized by The Presbyterian Church at Tenafly and Temple Sinai of Bergen County--is sponsored by more than 20 churches and synagogues throughout Bergen County. All proceeds will go to benefit relief work in Haiti following the devastating earthquake there.

Heavy rains underscore shelter needs in Haiti
Friday, February 19, 2010
And then came the rain... Wednesday night, Haiti's capital experienced its heaviest rainfall since the earthquake, a soaking downpour that lasted for several hours. The storm, the second this week, foreshadowed things to come when the rainy season sets in next month.

CWS helps Haitians apply for Temporary Protected Status, says earthquake's impact demonstrates need for U.S. immigration reform
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Feelings of hope and relief were palpable among Haitians applying for Temporary Protected Status at "TPS Days" in New York, N.Y.; Lancaster, Pa., and Miami, Fla., today, three of five special immigration legal clinics being held this week at local offices and affiliates of the global humanitarian agency Church World Service.

After one month in Haiti: CWS-supported ACT Alliance helps 150,000 people
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Since the earthquake hit parts of Haiti January 12, the ACT Alliance has assisted more than 150,000 people. The majority of people are assisted with ongoing support such as water, sanitation, shelter or regular food supplies/meals. Others have received relief items such as cash, family kits or hygiene sets. Others have benefitted from medical assistance and supplies to health clinics.

Haiti: Amid obstacles and frustrations "things are getting better"
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Just outside of Port-au-Prince, community leader Altenor Ronald expressed a mixture of frustration, anger and disorientation as he tried to coordinate the relocation of survivors from the Jan. 12 earthquake into a roadside displacement site.

Response in Haiti continues full throttle despite challenges
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Church World Service continues to provide emergency assistance to earthquake survivors--some $1 million thus far, beginning within 24 hours of the quake. Thousands of CWS Hygiene Kits, CWS Baby Care Kits, CWS Blankets, tents, food and medicines have been distributed. Another shipment of 16,700 CWS Hygiene Kits, food, tents and CWS Blankets is on the way to people still in need.

Don't forget Darfur, says CWS
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Is Darfur in danger of becoming a forgotten emergency? That is the fear some humanitarian workers have as the crisis-ridden region in western Sudan marks nearly seven years of conflict and humanitarian and political problems.

Haiti's many challenges reveal the difficulties of humanitarian work
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
In a perfect world, distributions of humanitarian aid after a major disaster would occur without a hitch. Everything would be orderly, and proceed with due precision.

CWS has a 'very large role to play' in the fight against hunger
Monday, February 8, 2010
As a humanitarian agency founded six decades ago to help feed a Europe recovering from World War II, Church World Service has long been a leader in the battle against hunger. Now CWS is re-emphasizing hunger and nutrition in its programmatic work -- a commitment to fight malnutrition around the world.

Jesus had 'nowhere to lay his head.' Today, neither do tens of millions of migrants, refugees and displaced persons
Monday, February 8, 2010
Be part of an action weekend March 19-22 in Washington, D.C., to address this global injustice just as Congress is expected to take up immigration reform. Join more than 700 grassroots advocates, church leaders, policy makers and representatives from global regions for the eighth annual Ecumenical Advocacy Days.

Art helps break bondage in Pakistan
Monday, February 8, 2010
Stars shine even brighter here on the edge of the desert, in a place where Raja dreams of flying through the night sky as a pilot. The 17-year-old couldn't have imagined the dream until recently, as Raja is among the first generation in Biel to enjoy freedom from bonded labor.

Background: 35 years of Vietnamese refugee resettlement
Monday, February 8, 2010
According to the Migration Policy Institute, more than a million Vietnamese refugees and immigrants live in the United States. The first refugees were mainly ex-military and government officials and Vietnamese who worked for the United States during the war

Historic Vietnamese refugee program ending
Monday, February 8, 2010
A recent dinner party at the home of Porter and Marty Halyburton in Greensboro, North Carolina, included a notable moment: one American and four Vietnamese veterans of the Vietnam War, all former prisoners of war, raising a toast together to freedom.