Episcopal Relief and Development has contributed $100,000 to Church World Service, a member of Action of Churches Together (ACT), an international alliance of churches and relief agencies for Afghan refugees.

These funds will provide emergency food and shelter to some of the most vulnerable 15,000 families (approximately 105,000 people) fleeing Afghanistan.

Food packages will include a six-month supply of wheat, cooking oil, rice, beans, sugar, and tea. Family shelter kits contain a tent, tarp, plastic ground sheet, and four blankets.

A consortium of ACT members is proposing further projects to assist Afghan refugees, including additional emergency shelter, food, non-food commodities, emergency medical assistance, winter provisions, food security, and water sanitation. The extent of the assistance will depend on how long the crisis lasts.

Afghanistan has long been a country in turmoil. From 1979-89, the country was devastated by the Afghanistan War with the Soviets, which took an enormous human and economic toll. Beginning in 1994, a militia of Pashtun Islamic fundamentalist students, the Taliban, emerged as a powerful force, now controlling 90 percent of the country.

Continued warfare since 1998 has caused over a million deaths, and 3 million Afghans have become refugees, the largest single refugee group in the world. While part of the local population remains displaced in concentrated groups in the western and northern areas of the country, tens of thousands are seeking refuge in the neighboring countries of Pakistan, Iran, and Tajikistan.

Episcopal Relief and Development, the relief arm of the Episcopal Church, is committed to worldwide emergency relief, rehabilitation, and long-term community development. ERD helps people put their lives back together after a natural or manmade disaster, providing immediate food and shelter, economic assistance, access to health care, and educational opportunities.