Relief
Emergency Relief Program
On every continent, there are communities in crisis where people’s lives have been severely or totally disrupted and where people have been forced to leave their homes and live as internally displaced communities or as refugees. The causes of these disruptions include natural or human made disasters and/or oppressive, unjust or ill-advised socio-economic, political and environmental policies and practices. The consequences of such disruptions are hardest on impoverished and marginalized peoples. PWRDF provides emergency relief to world-wide humanitarian disasters that severely disrupt peoples lives and negatively impact on their ability to cope.
Action By Churches Together (ACT) Alliance
PWRDF is a member of the ACT Alliance–a global, ecumenical alliance of 125 churches and agencies engaged in humanitarian relief, development, and advocacy. In almost any emergency, one or more ACT members were already working in the community before the international press came and will be there long after they have left. ACT members start the emergency response on the day of the disaster, providing life-saving food, shelter, water and sanitation.
PWRDF uses the ACT mechanism to channel almost all of its emergency response. PWRDF gives priority to emergency appeals for needs in countries of the south (Africa, Middle east, Asia/Pacific and Latin America/Caribbean). Within these countries, PWRDF gives priority to forgotten emergencies and appeals that are under subscribed.
The members of ACT are Protestant and Orthodox churches and their related agencies, drawn from the membership of the World Council of Churches and The Lutheran World Federation.
The Canadian Foodgrains Bank
PWRDF sometimes responds to food-specific emergencies (droughts, famines) through the Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB), an ecumenical agency dedicated to end global hunger. The projects we support:
- Provide food assistance to people with immediate food needs;
- Work with communities to improve food security (provide food for themselves in the longer-term) through improved agricultural techniques and income generations; and
- Help families and communities improve their nutrition.
CFGB supported projects receive CIDA matching funds, often at a ratio of 4:1.
