Moe Stiles and Nathan Brown discuss Martin Luther King Jr, the 2021 Adventist Peace Fellowship Summit, refugees, ADRA, the war in Ukraine, and Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Read MoreSILVER SPRING, MD, June, 19 2018 – Thousands of refugees in Uganda will receive food assistance, thanks to a recent cooperation established between the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), the World Food Program (WFP) and the Government of Uganda, through the Office of the Prime Minister.
The partnership, agreed upon in June 2018, will allow ADRA to provide food for more than 85,000 refugees currently settled in the district of Kamwenge, western Uganda. An influx of refugees is reported to increase as long-standing conflicts have forced many citizens from the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan to cross over the Uganda border. An estimated total of 1.3 million refugees have remained in the neighboring country, according to a UNHCR 2017 report.
“As a strong supporter of partnerships, this collaborative effort between ADRA and WFP is good news for the refugees in Uganda faced with the shortage of food, and is a strong testament that ADRA Uganda’s intervention efforts are being recognized,” says Imad Madanat, vice president of programs for ADRA International.
Since 1987, ADRA has forged a positive presence in Uganda creating long-standing relationships with up to 15 districts in Uganda. As a result of its deep-rooted network, ADRA collaborated with the WFP in food distribution between 1998, 2000, 2010, 2011, and again this year. ADRA has also been promoting school gardening initiatives in several refugee settlements, including Rwamwanja, Adjumani and Bidibidi to help boost school feeding initiatives in select refugee hosting schools.
“ADRA is committed to supporting the Government’s work to achieve sustainable development goals. This newly signed partnership with WFP will enable ADRA to address the causes of food insecurity and malnutrition and also help improve the social-protection system of refugees and host communities,” says Charles Ed II Aguilar, country director of ADRA in Uganda. “One of the strategic outcomes that WFP has focused on is to see smallholder farmers, especially women, in targeted areas have enhanced and resilient livelihoods by 2030. ADRA is committed to meeting this strategic outcome,” he explained.
With additional food needs that will be met through WFP’s assistance, ADRA Uganda will help provide nutritious meals daily for a year, and cash support aimed at helping the refugees generate income.
“ADRA Uganda has committed to a long-term presence in Kamwenge,” Aguilar says, “and plans to implement a range of livelihoods development interventions such as capacity building of refugees to operate kitchen/backyard gardens to grow crops and sustain food to support their families and also support in protecting the environment by planting 10,000 fruit trees.”
Online release: http://bit.ly/2M1m2yS
For World Refugee Sabbath, view ADRA’s events via live stream.
Read More
Bruce Manners has written an article about terrorism and nonviolence for the Hope Channel—"The Terrorism Solution" (1 Aug 2015). Within the context of violence perpetrated by ISIS, Manners give a brief summary of nonviolence approaches to building peace and justice. He notes three benefits to nonviolent action: it follows Jesus' lead; fewer people are killed; and there is greater success. Manners concludes the article by telling the story of Leymah Gbowee and the other women who worked for peace in Liberia. This story is told in the powerful documentary Pray the Devil Back to Hell.
Gbowee, who later won the Nobel Peace Prize for her courageous leadership, has reported drawing inspiration from ADRA. The killing of three ADRA workers in Liberia in 2003 gave her "direct inspiration that culminated her work as a social worker and caused her to sincerely devoted all her strength to work for peace and women's rights" (Tor Tjeransen, "Nobel Peace Prize Winners Inspired by ADRA," tedNEWS, 13 Dec 2011).