Dateline ACT

Europe 01/02

Solidarity between South and North

Geneva, October 3, 2002

"Humanitarian aid has no borders," says Cornelia Füllkrug-Weitzel, director of Diakonie Emergency Aid (DEA), referring to the support and solidarity shown to the victims of the recent floods in parts of Europe by DEA's partners from across the world.

The floods - the worst in 100 years - devastated parts of Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Romania and Russia in August this year. Thousands of people fled their homes as floodwaters swept through urban centres and rural areas, claiming the lives of nearly 100 people.

German-based DEA, a member of Action by Churches Together (ACT) International, received letters of support from partner organisations from as far away as Honduras, Mozambique and Georgia, many of whom also offered their help.

In Mozambique, local artists performed at a concert called "Bridge over troubled water" in solidarity with the people affected by the floods. "We would like to show that there is no difference between the North and the South in sympathy in such difficult situations", the organisers of the concert in Mozambique said. Mozambique itself is still recovering from the effects of the floods that devastated the country in 2000 and 2001 - an emergency that many ACT members responded to.

"We share the pain this disaster has caused in Germany" read a letter from Georgia, a country that has experienced its own share of emergencies in the form of war, earthquakes and economic crises over the last years.

ACT has issued appeals for the support of flood victims in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and the North Caucasus.