Skip to content
ELCA Blogs

Lutheran Disaster Response

Situation Report: Pakistan Flooding

Situation:A map of Asia with Pakistan highlighted in blue.

Since June 2022, Pakistan has experienced historic monsoon weather, with rainfall leading to torrential flooding. The flooding is causing a widespread humanitarian crisis, with people losing homes, crops and livestock. Millions of people are displaced and in need of humanitarian assistance, such as food, temporary shelter, health services and other supplies.

 

 

 

A makeshift shelter made of wooden poles and tarps.

A makeshift shelter in Pakistan. Photo: Community World Service Asia

 

 

 

Response:

Lutheran Disaster Response is contributing to an appeal from ACT Alliance to address the monsoon flooding in Pakistan. The implementing partner, Community World Service Asia (CWSA) will provide cash assistance so impacted families can buy food and other needs. CWSA is also setting up mobile health clinics to address health needs and will help communities build the capacity to construct flood-resilient homes. The homes are being built by local laborers involved as part of a cash for work program.


Be part of the response:

Pray
Please pray for people who have been affected by the flooding in Pakistan. May God’s healing presence give them peace and hope in their time of need.

Give
Thanks to generous donations, Lutheran Disaster Response is able to respond quickly and effectively to disasters around the globe. Your gifts to Lutheran Disaster Response (Lutheran Disaster Response-International) will be used to assist survivors of the flooding and other disasters around the world.

To learn more about the situation and the ELCA’s response:

  • Sign up to receive Lutheran Disaster Response alerts.
  • Check the Lutheran Disaster Response blog.
  • Like Lutheran Disaster Response on Facebook, follow @ELCALDR on Twitter, and follow @ELCA_LDR on Instagram.
  • Download the situation report and share as a PDF.

Situation Report: Ethiopia Humanitarian Crisis

A map of Ethiopia labelling the regions of Amhara, Tigray and Afar

Situation

Since November 2020, an ongoing conflict in Tigray, a region of Ethiopia, has caused a humanitarian crisis. People have been forced to leave their homes, becoming internally displaced people (IDPs) in the neighboring regions of Amhara and Afar. There are an estimated 1.2 million IDPs, who are faced with food insecurity, COVID-19 and possible flooding.

 

 

 

 

Response

Lutheran Disaster Response is contributing to an ACT Alliance appeal that is addressing the humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia. Implementing partners Lutheran World Federation and Ethiopia Evangelical Mekane Yesus Church are assisting IDPs in Amhara and Afar. IDPs will receive cash assistance to purchase essential nonfood and relief items. They will also be supplied with masks and hand soap to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This is the second contribution to the ACT Alliance appeal by Lutheran Disaster Response this year.

 

 

 

 

Be a part of the response:

Pray
Please pray for people who have been affected by the humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia. May God’s healing presence give them peace and hope in their time of need.

Give
Thanks to generous donations, Lutheran Disaster Response is able to respond quickly and effectively to disasters around the globe. Your gifts to Lutheran Disaster Response (Where needed most) will be used to assist survivors whenever and wherever disaster strikes.

Connect
To learn more about the situation and the ELCA’s response:

  • Sign up to receive Lutheran Disaster Response alerts.
  • Check the Lutheran Disaster Response blog.
  • Like Lutheran Disaster Response on Facebook, follow @ELCALDR on Twitter, and follow @ELCA_LDR on Instagram.
  • Download the situation report and share as a PDF.

Situation Report: Middle East Crisis

Be a part of the response:

Pray
Please pray for people who have been affected by the Middle East crisis. May God’s healing presence give them peace and hope in their time of need.

Give
Thanks to generous donations, Lutheran Disaster Response is able to respond quickly and effectively to disasters around the globe. Your gifts to Lutheran Disaster Response (Middle East Crisis) will be used to respond to the crises throughout the Middle East.

Connect
To learn more about the situation and the ELCA’s response:

  • Sign up to receive Lutheran Disaster Response alerts.
  • Check the Lutheran Disaster Response blog.
  • Like Lutheran Disaster Response on Facebook, follow @ELCALDR on Twitter, and follow @ELCA_LDR on Instagram.
  • Download the situation report and share as a PDF.

Philippines: LDR Commits $1 million to Lutheran World Relief to Respond to Super Typhoon Haiyan

Damage caused by Super Typhoon Haiyan. Photo credit: Jessica Dator Bercilla/ACT

Damage caused by Super Typhoon Haiyan. Photo credit: Jessica Dator Bercilla/ACT

Lutheran Disaster Response – International is committing $1 million to Lutheran World Relief to collaboratively address the needs of the people impacted by Super Typhoon Haiyan.  

Early Nov. 8, 2013, one of the world’s most powerful storms on record, Super Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Yolanda, swept through the Philippines’ Eastern Visayas Region. Some areas experienced 235 mile-per-hour wind gusts, 16 inches of rainfall and waves as tall as 45 feet. Several of the areas impacted by Haiyan include communities with high levels of poverty and regions still recovering from the Oct. 15 7.2-magnitude earthquake, both of which are areas more vulnerable to the impacts of the disaster.

Approximately 9.5 million people have been impacted by the storm, and local officials estimate that up to 10,000 people have died in the Leyte Province city of Tacloban alone.

Lutheran Disaster Response – International is working with ACT Alliance partners—Lutheran World Relief (LWR), Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and Philippines ACT Forum Coordinator, the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP)—to coordinate response plans.

Lutheran World Relief’s assessment team has traveled to Northern Cebu and Western Leyte identifying immediate needs. The LWR Philippines office in Mindanao is in communication with other ministry partners, non-governmental organizations, the United Nations and local government officials.

LWR’s prioritized response plans include

  • Distribution of water
  • Distribution of non-food items in evacuation centers, specifically cooking utensils
  • Revitalization of economic life through cash-for-work programs and restoration of affected fishing villages
  • Debris removal and road reconstruction

Lutheran World Relief’s skills, competencies and capacity with local organizations in the Philippines make them a trusted partner for Lutheran Disaster Response – International to coordinate with for long-term recovery and rebuilding in the wake of Super Typhoon Haiyan.

Lutheran World Federation has sent their Regional Emergency Response assessment team to the Philippines; our LDR – International Program Director, Vitaly Vorona, is in Geneva and has had conversations with LWF and ACT Alliance regarding assessment of the impacted areas.

Lutheran Disaster Response – International will also respond within the capacity of our companion church, the Lutheran Church in the Philippines, and in coordination with LWF.

We are committed to working through these partners. Their on-the-ground presence will best steward our resources so that our brothers and sisters in the Philippines can be assisted both now and through long-term recovery.

You can give now to help us work with our partners toward recovery and rebuilding in the Philippines.