June 20, 2008

GENEVA – Although the work of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Department for World Service (DWS) includes specific challenges in "post-conflict areas" such as Liberia and Haiti, providing a framework within which people can secure their future after the scars of war or instability remains crucial.

It is important for people not to lose sight of one thing: "There is a tomorrow!" said Ms Sylvia Raulo, LWF/DWS representative in the Caribbean and Haiti. She noted that Haiti is described as "a failed state" as it has experienced several decades of dictatorships and chronic instability. It is considered as a "post-conflict area" since 2004, the same year the United Nations established the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) as the situation continued to constitute a threat to international peace and security in the region. The Latin American country is located on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, which it shares with the Dominican Republic, where the LWF program is also working.

Reconstruction of infrastructure and political structures in Haiti is being carried out with the help of United Nations troops and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Raulo explained in a presentation titled "Peace Building and Reconciliation in a Post-Conflict Context" at the April 2008 DWS annual forum in Montreux, Switzerland.

She defined the conditions in Haiti as "post-post-conflict" where old tensions were again coming to the fore. In recent years, the country had experienced a wave of violence triggered by food shortages for a population already suffering the impact of a dysfunctional government, and the inevitable negative consequences of the international market and trade on the national economy. Initiatives aimed at stabilizing the situation, such as intervention by UN troops' assistance and aid projects soon found themselves up against organized crime. The LWF program provides both practical and psychological assistance through the building up of infrastructure and the education system, trying to create some degree of stability and support trauma management projects for war victims and development workers.

Since 2003, the DWS Caribbean/Haiti program has concentrated on organizing rural community structures, strengthening participation in municipal decision-making processes and the creation of jobs especially in rural areas as an essential element in the fight against poverty. Its strategic priorities target the strengthening of institutions at community level through professional associations and women's groups; integrating a participatory approach in community development; promoting coordinated networking with its partner organizations; and human rights advocacy aimed at promoting core values such as justice, equal treatment and human dignity.

Liberia: Civil War

Liberia in West Africa is confronted with similar challenges, according to Ms Elke Leidel, coordinator of the LWF/DWS regional program there. It had been classified as a "post-conflict country" since the end of the 1999-2003 civil war, and was receiving UN support to safeguard peace. Liberians are struggling to survive against high rates of infant mortality, unemployment, unhygienic conditions and an inadequate transport system, which largely resulted from the five-year conflict. However, there are positive developments with the growing number of investors and job creation.

After more than a decade of hostilities and civil conflicts in West Africa, the main emphasis of DWS work is on peace building and reconciliation. In Liberia and Sierra Leone, the LWF program collaborates closely with other partners in psychosocial care and trauma healing. In past years, when DWS was also present in Guinea, the emphasis was on emergency aid, reconstruction and the return of refugees and internally displaced persons.

DWS is LWF's relief and development agency working with marginalized and disadvantaged populations. It works globally in networks and partnerships involving ecumenical, governmental and non-governmental organizations in 37 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin and Central America and in Europe. DWS response targets all people in need irrespective of their ethnicity, gender, religion, nationality or political conviction. Emergency aid response is coordinated through Action by Churches Together (ACT) International, the Geneva-based alliance of churches and their related agencies, of which the LWF is a founding member.

More information about DWS work at: http://www.lutheranworld.org/.

You can support the work of LWF/DWS by donating online at: http://donations.lutheranworld.org/.

Lutheran World Information
A contribution by Ms Judith Straub, trainee in the LWF Office for Communication Services.