Christian Aid Agencies Respond to Pakistan, Taliban Fighting

By Ethan Cole, Christian Post Reporter Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Christian relief groups are helping to meet the urgent needs of some of the nearly 1.2 million Pakistani civilians who have been internally displaced within the last month by the fighting between the government and Taliban militants.

International groups Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC) and Baptist Global Response (BGR) reported on Monday that they are working with local partners to distribute emergency care items to displaced civilians.

CRWRC is helping to supply thousands of people in refugee camps in Mansoor town, Swabi province, in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province with mosquito nets, sleeping mats, and water containers.

Through Pakistani relief organization Interfaith League Against Poverty (ILAP), CRWRC is trying to reach the poorest of the poor and reach those that agencies like the World Food Program might not be able to.

Currently, the two longtime partner organizations – they most recently worked together to respond to the devastating earthquakes in northern Pakistan in 2005 and 2008 – are targeting single or widowed women and their families to receive aid.

CRWRC has already released initial funds to ILAP, and is planning, in cooperation with other partner groups, for $1.5 million in long-term relief. Long-term relief items will include hygiene kits, kitchen utensils, baby food, and cooking stoves.

Meanwhile, BGR field partners are in the process of assessing relief efforts and what has already been done or needs to be done in order to determine what the Southern Baptist relief arm should do to most strategically meet the needs.

"We will take the field partners' assessments and put together a response that will help people in the best way we can," said Francis Horton, director of BGR in South Asia. "Some of the initial needs will be food, water, toiletries, cooking utensils and livelihood."

Pakistan is currently carrying out a military offensive against the Taliban, a radical Islamic group the U.S. and most countries consider a terror organization. According to the Pakistan government, more than 1,000 militants have been killed since the assault began late April.

Fighting has also hurt civilians living in Swat Valley where the offensive is taking place. Nearly 1.2 million have been displaced in the past month, with most staying with relatives or renting temporary housing.

On Tuesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the United States will provide $100 million in emergency aid for Pakistani civilians displaced by the fighting. She said that while experts are assessing the needs in Pakistan, U.S. relief supplies such as emergency kits, tents, generators, and water trucks are already entering the country.

Since 2002, the U.S. has given more than $3.4 billion "to alleviate suffering and promote economic growth, education, health, and good governance in Pakistan," Clinton said, according to The Washington Post.