HAITI: THE DISASTER AND ITS IMPACT

The human impact is huge. About 1.5 million people, or 15% of the national population, have been directly affected. More than 220,000 people have lost their lives and more than 300,000 have been injured. About 1.3 million people are living in temporary shelters in the area of Port-au-Prince. More than 500,000 people have left the devastated area to find shelter in the rest of the country, resulting in an exacerbation of already existing problems in access to food and basic services.

How We Can All Help Women in the Congo

Eastern Congo is the world's deadliest conflict globally since WWII. Widespread rape is used as a strategy of war and an instrument of communal terror, making this region the world's most dangerous place to be a woman or a girl. Armed groups compete to control lucrative mines and smuggling routes. Rape becomes their principal means of terrorizing local populations into passive compliance, so they can steal the mineral wealth without opposition. These crimes destroy families, decimate communities, and lethally spread HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

There are few other conflicts in the world where the link between our consumer appetites and massive human suffering is so direct. Read Director Amy Gopp's post "1 Million Girls and Women is 1 Million Too Many" about the situation in the Congo.

Action By Churches Together

Action by Churches Together (ACT) International is a global alliance of churches and related agencies working to save lives and support communities in emergencies worldwide.

ACT members are Protestant and Orthodox churches and their related agencies, drawn from the membership of the World Council of Churches and Lutheran World Federation.

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