Church agencies team up for disaster relief

Australian Lutheran World Service is part of a network of eight church agencies which has been accredited to deliver aid in the event of humanitarian disasters in the Pacific region.

The Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade recently announced that Church Agencies Network – Disaster Operation (CAN DO) was one of the successful tenders for the Australian Humanitarian Partnership.

As well as delivering aid and relief and working to strengthen communities facing humanitarian crises, CAN DO will take part in a program of disaster risk reduction in the most vulnerable areas of the Pacific.

The CAN DO network also includes UnitingWorld, Caritas Australia, Anglican Board of Mission, Anglican Overseas Aid, Transform Aid International (formerly Baptist World Aid Australia), the Adventist Development and Relief Agency Australia, and Act for Peace, the international aid agency of the National Council of Churches in Australia.

All members of CAN DO are signatories committed and bound by the principles of conduct within the peak body, the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID). CAN DO Chair Anthony Sell said the alliance was aimed at making the most of the extensive reach of church agencies, particularly in remote communities. ‘As individual agencies we already play an important role in responding to natural disasters, and helping vulnerable people get back on their feet in the Pacific. By joining together … we can make an even greater difference to marginalised communities’, Mr Sell said.