Christian Aid Global

A series of projects to help repair relationships between soldiers and civilians in troubled eastern DRC has brought the two groups together in unexpected ways. I spent several days with Congolese soldiers and villagers in North Kivu province to find out how Christian Aid partner CBCA has been rebuilding trust in an area blighted by violence towards civilians by armed groups. In this reflection a few weeks ahead of elections in DRC, I look at how CBCA has been supporting reform from within the Congolese army and how a church choir in the tiny village of Kibati provides a small glimpse of a more peaceful future for the region. Useful links: http://www.christianaid.org.uk & http://www.congonow.org/

It’s been a week of debate over the Indian governments newly drawn poverty line, with activists calling it an attempt to cut costs and hide India’s poor. More of the world’s poor live in India than in sub-Saharan Africa.

So it’s fitting that last Sunday 2 October, the anniversary of Gandhi’s birthday and the UN international day of non-violence, representatives of Christian Aid partner Ekta Parishad began a 13-month long journey across India to transform the lives of hundreds of millions of Indians living in poverty. Its climax will see 100,000 landless people, some barefoot, march for a month from Gwalior to Delhi in October and November 2012, in one of the biggest non-violent campaigns the world has ever witnessed.

Returning from a weekend of lobbying the UK government in Manchester at Christian Aid’s Bearing Witness event, communications officer Sarah Filbey reflects on the synergy between the weekend’s events here in the UK and those taking place in India and elsewhere.

Ekta Parishad’s director Rajaghopal is amongst the group undertaking the more than year-long journey across 25 Indian states to mobilize and prepare people in advance of next year’s pinnacle March for Justice. Earlier this year we met Rajagopal ahead of his epic journey and in this podcast he helps us understand the motivation behind this ambitious and potentially historic venture.

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Registered as the greatest humanitarian crisis today; drought, displacement and conflict continues to affect millions of people in the East and Horn of Africa. In this interview, Genevieve Lomax speaks with Natalie Dale, a member of the Christian Aid Humanitarian Team, who has recently returned from Dadaab refugee camp in North Eastern Kenya. Natalie considers the situation in the camps, the overcrowding people are experiencing, and the measures Christian Aid and ACT Alliance partner the Lutheran World Federation are taking to ensure the people’s immediate needs are met.

In 2010, around 20 million people were affected by the horrific floods of the July/August monsoon season. At the time, 11 million people were made homeless, and an area the size of England was submerged under water. Through its partner Church World Service-Pakistan/Afghanistan (CWS-P/A), Christian Aid responded to the needs of 140,000 people in the twelve months after the floods. In this podcast Marvin Parvez - the director of CWS-P/A - speaks to Communications Officer Susan Barry about the challenges of working in this complex country, dealing with issues including increased levels of poverty and security threats. Find out more at:

Ally Carnwarth introduces this new podcast channel from the communications team here at Christian Aid. He invites you to join the team as we travel around the world hearing from the people who matter most – the people living in poverty and those working with Christian Aid to improve their lives. On this channel, you'll hear inspiring tales of hope and resilience and shocking accounts of hardship and injustice. Follow Ally and the rest of us in the team - @ca_global on Twitter.