Title: ACT Expands Projects in Sudan
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

May 28, 1998

ACT EXPANDS PROJECTS IN SUDAN
98-19-121-AH

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Action by Churches Together (ACT) is expanding its
current relief projects in parts of southern Sudan following calls from
Sudanese church leaders to address the food needs of displaced people in
the northern part of the Barh al Ghazal Province.  Months of fighting has
displaced about 348,000 Sudanese there, ACT reports.
     A food program is already under way further south in Barh al Ghazal,
carried out in close cooperation with local churches, according to ACT.  In
some places displaced people from northern Barh al Ghazal are returning to
their ancestral villages, creating a short term need for food aid
intervention.
     ACT has channeled about $16,000 worth of relief goods to northern
Barh al Ghazal as well as 2,000 blankets, 340 mosquito nets and 100 cartons
of soap.  Food, oil and salt are being distributed to the same groups.
     ACT is a worldwide network of churches, including the Lutheran World
Federation, meeting human need through coordinated emergency response.  ACT
works through Church Ecumenical Action in Sudan.
     During 1997 there was catastrophic crop failure in most of southern
Sudan, according to the church leaders.  Early rains delayed planting, then
lack of rainfall resulted in poor crops.  Later grasshoppers and extremely
heavy rainfall damaged what little had grown.
     "The large majority of people in southern Sudan are now affected by
this food shortage," the church leaders said.  "Much of the food resources
which were available, including wild foods, have been exhausted. The next
harvest will not come before August and many people do not have seed to
plant even if the rains come normally."
     ACT and the churches in Sudan are operating relief programs in other
parts of Sudan.  Food, seed, tools and medical and educational help for
24,000 displaced people is planned in Blue Nile Province in the far east of
the country.  Another program targets nomadic populations to the northeast
along the border with Eritrea.
     "Years of civil war and decades of neglect by the central government
in Khartoum have combined to create dire needs for local populations" in
these areas, ACT reports.  The ongoing needs of thousands of displaced and
other vulnerable people in parts of Sudan controlled by the government are
targeted by the relief programs of the churches in Sudan.


For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html