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Background
Africa as a continent has seen and experienced a fair share of disasters and calamities. These extend from natural disasters – such as floods and drought, leading to depressed economic conditions and extensive famine- to civil strife as a result of civil wars, (as recently witnessed in Liberia, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo); inter-ethnic rivalries, coup d’etat; dictatorships and most recently cross-border wars currently being waged between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Even in those countries which have been characterized by relative peace and political stability, disasters have been brought about due to deteriorating economic conditions and the scourge of diseases such as the aids pandemic, cholera, malaria, etc. These harsh realities have led to extensive loss of life, increased number of displaced people, broken families, homelessness and a general trail of human misery and despondency.

In most instances, the biggest casualties have been defenseless women, children and the elderly. Indeed, these population groups which are mostly rural-based, are the least able to fend for themselves and are usually the last to benefit from any improvement in conditions of livelihood.

In an effort to alleviate the degree of human suffering and arising out of these cruel and gruesome conditions, the Church has played a leading role in developing intervention strategies and mobilizing the necessary resources for their implementation. Other organizations (NGO’s) and Community Based Organizations (CBO’s) and indeed, some national government agencies have also mounted emergency programmes designed to assist specific population groups cope with the disasters they face.

Unfortunately, in most instances, the efforts have generally been designed as discrete, stand-alone activities. They have lacked coordination and tend to be devoid of a long-term perspectives. This weakness has been compounded by the widespread absence of trained and skilled personnel to design and manage the programmes effectively.

It is against this background that Africa University and the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) initiated discussions on how best to contribute to the development of the relevant skills and capacities needed to design and manage mechanisms for disaster preparedness and prevention. As consultations progressed, Action by Churches together (ACT) was invited to join the discussions. The result was the agreement to mount a programme on Emergency Disaster Response at Africa University.