Toms River, NJ – At the core of every CWS recovery training is a simple truism, spoken recently by one training participant here in central New Jersey, a region still trying to gain its footing after Hurricane Sandy. “A training like this helps people (disaster survivors) by empowering the people who can help them,” said Diane Riley, director of advocacy …
CWS situation report: Kenya flooding
January 14, 2013
Situation: Floods in the past two weeks following a long drought have left more than 20 people dead, houses destroyed and large stretches of agricultural land devastated due to flooding and resulting landslides. (The parched land cannot absorb the sudden water.) Hundreds of families have been displaced in the floods, which have occurred during post-New Year festival time. The capital …
CWS Coordinating Recovery Trainings in New Jersey, New York
January 11, 2013
New York, N.Y. — As part of its continuing recovery efforts following Hurricane Sandy, global humanitarian agency Church World Service announced today that it is coordinating a series of long term recovery trainings in New Jersey and New York, scheduled later this month. Presbyterian Disaster Response and local New York and New Jersey Presbyteries are helping facilitate and host several …
CWS urges action on issues from hunger to immigration
January 9, 2013
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a letter aimed at bringing attention to major issues of concern for humanitarian agency Church World Service, President and CEO John L. McCullough urged President Barack Obama to seek increased foreign assistance for hungry and impoverished people and to lead the way to “fair and generous” immigration reform. Church World Service made its recommendations, on issues …
Gaza humanitarian crisis
December 28, 2012
Situation: Recent cross-border violence in Palestinian-controlled Gaza and Israel has worsened the humanitarian situation in Gaza, where, following an Israel military offensive in early November, 163 Palestinians perished – 42 of them children and 22 of them women. The psychosocial and health conditions, especially those of children living in Gaza, is a major concern which needs to be addressed. CWS …
Despite Progress, Nutrition Challenges Remain in 2013
December 27, 2012
NEW YORK – A recent study funded by the Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation noted a remarkable global shift over the last few decades. Progress is being made in many areas of global health and in life expectancies overall while rates of HIV and malaria are falling. The Global Burden of Disease Study published in The Lancet also found far …
Advocacy Organizations Hopeful with Haiti Cholera Initiative
December 13, 2012
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Humanitarian agency Church World Service on Wednesday joined with American Jewish World Service (AJWS), Environmental Justice Initiative for Haiti, The Episcopal Church, Gender Action, Global Justice Clinic, Grassroots International, Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti, Other Worlds, Oxfam America, TransAfrica and Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, in releasing the following statement in response to the launch of …
Updated emergency appeal: Hurricane Sandy 2012 (Caribbean)
December 12, 2012
Situation: Recovery efforts from Hurricane Sandy continue in Haiti and Cuba, two countries severely hit by the late October hurricane. Dozens were killed in the Caribbean by the storm, which crippled a number of affected areas. In Cuba, for example, more than 188,000 homes were damaged and the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba was particularly devastated. In Haiti, Sandy …
Churches Donate 500 Emergency Cleanup Buckets in Wake of Sandy
December 11, 2012
New England area churches quickly answered the call for CWS Emergency Cleanup Buckets for Hurricane Sandy response, donating approximately 500 buckets in November. The buckets were collected at three points throughout the region and delivered to the CWS warehouse. “I’m deeply grateful for everyone’s work and generosity, and for the hours of effort and work and cost that were invested …
Faith leaders speak out against possible program cuts
November 30, 2012
WASHINGTON — Church World Service Board Chair the Rev. Dr. Earl D. Trent, Jr., joined senior religious officials from 16 states and the heads of some of the nation’s most prominent Christian, Jewish and Muslim organizations yesterday to tell the Obama Administration and Congress, “Don’t push the poor and most vulnerable off the ‘fiscal cliff.’” “Our concern,” said Rev. Trent, …