Peacebuilding Archives - Page 39 of 39

Sri Lanka: Come together

2/09/2009 Asia, Conflicts and Disasters, Emergencies, Peacebuilding, Sri Lanka by Caritas Communications

Among the many things that people may lose in a war, such as their homes and clothes, there’s also the chance that family members will disappear into the chaos. Tens of thousands of people have been cornered into a rebel-held small strip of land by fighting in northern Sri Lanka. Even though almost 190,000 have ...

Zimbabwe: No country for old men

2/09/2009 Africa, Conflicts and Disasters, Emergencies, Food, Humanitarian Crisis in Zimbabwe, Malnutrition, Peacebuilding, Zimbabwe by Caritas Communications

Until recently, wheelbarrows in Zimbabwe were used to ferry about huge amounts of cash to buy basic food stuffs. The economy was crumbling and hyperinflation meant that even though people were suddenly millionaires, all they could afford was a loaf of bread. Then, as a cholera epidemic swept the country they were used to carry ...

Desperation in Zimbabwe

3/11/2008 Advocacy, Africa, Conflicts and Disasters, Emergencies, Humanitarian Crisis in Zimbabwe, Peacebuilding, Zimbabwe by Caritas Communications

The Catholic Church in Zimbabwe says that the country’s leaders are playing politics while the people suffer. They point to a failure to announce a new inclusive Cabinet as going against the will of the people for coordinated action. Zimbabwe’s Bishops say that a power sharing agreement signed in September could transform the country’s bleak ...

Mounting atrocities in northern Congo

3/11/2008 Africa, Conflicts and Disasters, Congo, Democratic Republic of, Emergencies, Emergencies in Congo, Peacebuilding by Caritas Communications

Their villages have been burnt, their friends and neighbours killed and their children kidnapped from schools. Tens of thousands of people are now on the move in northern Congo, trying to stay one step ahead of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels who are hacking their way across the countryside, going from village to village ...

Aid reaches Georgia

3/11/2008 Conflicts and Disasters, Emergencies, Europe, Georgia, Peacebuilding by Caritas Communications

“Then the bombs started falling from the planes,” said Lena, one of the 150,000 people made homeless by the conflict in Georgia. “We ran.” Most ran without food, clothing or shelter – just what they were wearing. Women and children, the sick and elderly were all forced from their homes as fighting broke out over ...

Caritas Vice President in solidarity visit to Georgia

3/11/2008 Advocacy, Conflicts and Disasters, Emergencies, Europe, Georgia, Peacebuilding by Caritas Communications

“People were not prepared for the Russians entering their homes. They just fled. They didn’t know where they were going. They didn’t know where they were going to stay.” Caritas Internationalis Vice President and President of Caritas Europe, Fr Erny Gillen, has just returned from a visit to Georgia where tens of thousands of people have fled their homes to escape recent conflict.

A Week in the Life of an Aid Worker in Georgia

3/11/2008 Conflicts and Disasters, Emergencies, Europe, Georgia, Peacebuilding by Caritas Communications

Laura Sheahen, an information officer for Catholic Relief Services (Caritas USA), was deployed to Georgia during the recent conflict. Here, she reflects on the first frantic week in the field.

Aid against the odds in Darfur

3/11/2008 Africa, Conflicts and Disasters, Disaster Preparedness, Emergencies, Emergencies in Darfur and South Sudan, Peacebuilding, South Sudan by Caritas Communications

This is some of what Caritas and its partners have done in Darfur from January to March 2008: Helped 250,000 people Given household items to 12,700 who’re without homes Drilled 18 boreholes and got 106 handpumps working Treated 50,000 illnesses Fed nearly 9000 pregnant women, new mothers, babies and toddlers Set up eight sports teams ...