August 11, 2011

GENEVA – The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) General Secretary Rev. Martin Junge has made an urgent appeal for prayer and financial support from the Lutheran communion to help deal with the impact of the current drought in the Horn of Africa.

In a letter to LWF member churches and national committees following an LWF delegation to the region last week, Junge said the world is facing a crisis in which more than 12 million lives in the region are at risk due to drought, said to be the worst in 60 years, and conflict.

He called on Lutherans worldwide to pray for refugees and displaced persons in the Horn of Africa, as well as those seeking to help them, including the staff of government, international and non-governmental organizations.

"They are providing a relevant response and saving many lives. I was particularly impressed by the 120 LWF staff at Dadaab (refugee camps), mainly young Kenyans, many of them women. They work long and hard with enormous dedication. Each person arriving at the camp was being met with dignity and treated as an equal," Junge noted.

He urged prayers for the LWF member churches in the region, including the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya, the Kenya Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania.

"The people and churches of host countries, such as Kenya and Ethiopia, need our solidarity and support not only so they can sustain their generous welcome to refugees, but also so they can sustain their own livelihoods. Churches are active in many respects already, for instance by drilling water holes, organizing schools for children and supporting farming projects."

He called for financial support for the LWF's work among refugees in the region and urged members to appeal to their governments to respond to the United Nations appeal for the Horn of Africa, which has a USD1.3 billion shortfall.

At Dadaab, the world's largest refugee camp which the LWF manages for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, around 1,000 people arrive daily in the "city" of some 400,000 displaced people. "We witnessed painful poverty and human misery there – a young woman, 21-years-old and with five children, told me that she walked for 23 days in order to reach the refugee camp!" Junge said.

The general secretary urged long-term solutions, cautioning that the Horn of Africa crisis will not end quickly and that the immediate disaster response will not be enough. The effects of the drought will be ongoing and will spread, Junge added. "After the drought is over we have to prepare for mid-term and longer-term solutions for rehabilitation, climate change adaptation, and disaster preparedness."

Lutheran World Federation