The two days Ethiopia Catholic Church (ECC) Partners Annual Coordination Meeting currently taking place from 5 to 6 November, in Addis Ababa, comes to an end today. The theme for the meeting is “Partners and ECC Diocesan Institutional Accompaniment for Development and Emergency Response.”
In his opening remarks Cardinal Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel, CM, the Archbishop of Addis Ababa and President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Ethiopia said that the annual meetings were an opportunity for the ECC and partners to share success stories of past endeavours and plan for better achievements in the future.
The Cardinal reminded the meeting that currently the Federal Government of Ethiopia had declared that almost 8.2 million people were facing food shortage and were in need of immediate humanitarian support. He said that the environmental impact for this crisis in Ethiopia is evident. He stressed further that humanity is suffering from catastrophes resulting from human behavior related to the misuse of the environment.
Cardinal Berhaneyesus said that the Church and its partners should collaborate in combating environment degradation and its impact on people.
“We must commit our efforts to protecting and preserving the earth and its resources for our own benefit and for the survival of humanity. In our cosmos everything is interconnected and interdependent. We are part and parcel of nature. We are called to combat climate change, preserve the natural environment and provide to those in need with respect and dignity what they need materially,” he said.
The current food security situation and emergency appeal intervention plan was also discussed during the meeting. The Ethiopian Catholic Church Social and Development Commission (ECC SDCO) is collaborating with partners in providing an emergency response to those who are affected by the drought. It was discussed that the emergency situation would require a coordinated effort and significant resources due to the fact that vast areas in 9 Dioceses were affected by the situation.
Partners of the Ethiopian Catholic Church from different parts of the world and in Ethiopia, Diocesan directors and Development coordination of the Diocesan offices attended the meeting.
(Makeda Yohannes, Ethiopian Catholic Bishops’ Conference)
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