ACT Alliance: Giant global aid body to be created
NEWS STORY | UPDATED: May 27, 2009
PHOTO: Sean Hawkey/ACT Development
BUENOS AIRES — The name of the new body will be the ACT Alliance with a common income of more than US$2 billion dollars and a staff of 40,000, including volunteers. The formal launch of the new alliance will take place in March of next year.
The General Assembly of ACT Development, holding its meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina decided today to unify with the emergency network, ACT International. Both alliances are based in Geneva, bringing together more than 150 agencies, churches and organisations. Through emergency appeals, ACT International coordinates humanitarian operations all over the world, and has been recently active in hot spots like Sri Lanka, Gaza, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Colombia and India. ACT Development works on long-term development issues and coordinates work in areas such as aid effectiveness, impact assessment and malaria. The members of the alliances come from both the global north and south.
The director of ACT International, John Nduna, says the new movement will be a professional and Christian alliance working on emergency and development. ACT saves thousands of lives every year, it is impossible to say how many.
“The magic of ACT is the cooperation with churches all over the world. When most infrastructure collapses, there is still a church that operates and that we are working with. That represents a unique network.”
Forty representatives at the ACT Development General Assembly voted for the unification with two votes against.
ACT-members delighted:
Jill Hawkey, director ACT Development:
The unification is a great moment for our member, since most of them work in both long-term development and emergency response. It make sense to them coming together like this. Together, the new ACT Alliance has a huge potential. The combined resources for the members are proximately two billion US dollar. Now we have the opportunity, and the tools, for a more strategic use of these funds.
Atle Sommerfelt, Norwegian Church Aid:
This new alliance will strengthen the ability for the civil societies to coordinate and deliver, together with local authorities, It is a genuine global network with members connected to the grass roots population. That make them a proper partner, not just a receiver of aid.
Jack van Hem, general director, ICCO, Netherlands
We have managed to create a faith based network for development and emergencies. Now we have to invest in it. ACT Alliance will put religion and development high on the global agenda. There have been positive and negative experiences with that mix in the past. I hope ACT can be a body for the positive.
Elizabeth Kaseke, Christian Care, Zimbabwe
I am excited, there is time to raise the flag for the ecumenical movement. In ACT Alliance the voices from the global south are heard, and we sit at the table. The new network will deliver quality work, global initiatives and gives us an opportunity to participate in discussions on key issues.
