| UMCOR responds in Europe and Middle East By Linda BloomUnited Methodist News Service  When violence between ethnic Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo flared up in March, the United Methodist Committee on Relief responded within hours of the outbreak.
It was able to do so because of the way the agencys nongovernmental organization is now organized, according to Guy Hovey, regional director for the Europe and Asia Division. During the two days of violence in Kosovo, 28 people were killed and more than 400 Serbian homes were destroyed, along with a number of churches, according to The New York Times. Because UMCOR which has longstanding work in Kosovo reacted so quickly, it is one of the lead agencies assisting displaced people whose homes were burned, Hovey said. He explained the operations of the Europe and Asia Division, which was formed last August, to UMCOR directors during the March 22-25 United Methodist Board of Global Ministries meeting in Stamford. Besides Kosovo, other countries covered by the division include Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia/Herzegovina, Georgia and Serbia/Montenegro. The project work ranges from providing clean drinking water in Afghanistan to fostering religious reconciliation in Bosnia to offering lifesaving drugs in Armenia. The recent grants include $2 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to revitalize the production of sunflower seeds in Albania and $65,000 from UNICEF to minister to Afghan boys and girls sent to Saudi Arabia to do forced labor. The Swedish International Development Agency is spending $328,000 from December 2003 to July 2004 to fund UMCORs safe house in Kosovo for women who have been forced into prostitution. UMCOR also was one of the main organizers of the Kosovo Conference to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings, held last October in Pristina. To increase access to funding from the European Union and European governments, UMCOR is looking at strategic alliances with other partners, such as Norwegian Church Aid, Diakonie Austria and Christian Aid, according to Hovey. UMCOR has a great track record in caring for people, he said. The agency is highly regarded by governments, religious groups and other nongovernmental organizations for its commitment, he added. In a report on other UMCOR activities, the Rev. Paul Dirdak, the agencys chief executive, told directors that carrying out any relief and rehabilitation projects through mission partners in Iraq has been extremely difficult. So far, United Methodists have contributed about half a million dollars to UMCOR for assistance to the Iraqi people. Although a $100,000 grant to Diakonia Austria was approved by UMCOR directors last fall, they have not been able to start because of security there, Dirdak said. Relief workers and missionaries have been among those targeted in recent killings in Iraq. The agency also has allocated $100,000 to International Orthodox Christian Charities, which has a network of churches in Iraq, for a delivery of food and non-food items. Kristin Sachen, UMCOR program executive, said she did not know whether they were able to make the delivery yet. The remaining funds (for Iraq) are secure, she said. We are watching and waiting. | 
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