ReliefWeb

Geneva, February 23, 2000
Hundreds of thousands of people are in need of urgent assistance in several countries in Southern Africa. This follows after weeks of torrential rainfall, overflowing rivers and the additional destruction wrecked by Cyclone Eline.

ACT members in Mozambique started distributions of emergency assistance during the second week of February. ACT will continue this crisis assistance as well as assisting with permanent resettlement for families who have lost their homes, crops, animals and other means of income.

ACT member Lutheran World Federation (LWF) plans to assist 7,000 families in Maputo/Congolote, Gaza and Sofala. Some 1260 families will need support for a total resettlement including re-housing and survival kits. Families who can move back to their homes will only need specific assistance such as temporary food aid, agricultural seeds and/or a rehabilitation of their portable water sources. The ACT-LWF appeal for Mozambique will be issued shortly and be in the range of US$ 1,1 million.

An estimated 220,000 families in Mozambique have been affected by floods and Cyclone Eline.

ACT member South African Council of Churches (SACC) intends to assist some 17,000 flood and cyclone victims in Mpumalanga, Northern and Gauteng Provinces of South Africa. Families will receive food aid, blankets, temporary shelters and assistance for burial fees in a few specific cases. ACT-SACC is appealing for US$ 456,091 for this project. This appeal has just been issued but is likely to be revised as soon as ACT-LWF finalises plans for their emergency response in South Africa.

For further information please contact:
Nils Carstensen (mobile ++ 41 79 358 3171).
ACT Web Site address: http://www.act-intl.org

ACT is a worldwide network of churches and related agencies meeting human need through coordinated emergency response. The ACT Coordinating Office is based with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Switzerland.