August 18, 2010

GENEVA – Two Lutheran World Federation (LWF) disaster relief specialists have been deployed to Pakistan to assist the ACT Alliance in providing emergency assistance to the victims of the flooding that has devastated the country in recent weeks.

Bed Bahadur Thapa and Netra Prasad Subedi, currently working with the LWF Department for World Service (DWS) program in Nepal, will arrive in Pakistan soon, said Dr. Colette Bouka-Coula, DWS acting director.

Accordingly to ACT Alliance, floods across Pakistan triggered by monsoon rain have killed 1,600 people, forced 2 million from their homes and disrupted the lives of one in eight Pakistanis.

Thapa and Subedi are experienced in disaster relief, Bouka-Coula stated, and will be involved in efforts to provide clean water, food and emergency shelter to flood victims.

"We are glad that ACT Alliance is able to reinforce its extensive relief effort in the region by involving two highly skilled disaster relief specialists, thanks to the intervention of ACT member [the] LWF," said John Nduna, ACT Alliance general secretary.

The two LWF specialists will address logistical challenges posed by getting supplies and services to the proper places in the regions stricken by the high waters. Both men are conversant in the languages of the region, Bouka-Coula added.

"Their contribution over the next days and weeks will galvanize the vital work already being carried out in treacherous circumstances by ACT members from Pakistan, Germany, the United States and Norway, helping to provide shelter, safety and amenities to those most in need," Nduna commented.

The LWF/DWS Nepal staff will work in Pakistan together with ACT Alliance member Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe. The German agency, based in Stuttgart, is the social service arm of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) and one of the largest welfare institutions in the country.

The LWF is a member of the ACT Alliance, a global coalition of more than 100 churches and agencies engaged in development, humanitarian assistance and advocacy. The alliance works in 130 countries and mobilizes USD 1.5 billion annually in its work for a just world. (356 words)

Lutheran World Information