The Members of Integral Alliance are launching a new awareness-raising campaign called ‘We’re still here’ to draw attention to Neglected Crises around the world. Neglected crises are often protracted, complex situations that lack profile with media, donors and the general public. This joint campaign by Integral Members sees them collaborate intentionally to have greater impact.
Children walking to primary school in Minembwe. Schools in the area do not have enough books or other equipment and there are few teachers.
The ‘We’re still here’ campaign will run alongside the work that Integral is already doing in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where Members have come together to start a project in Minembwe, South Kivu. The project will bring emergency agricultural assistance to a largely neglected area and highlight that the DRC is one of the most forgotten crises in the world. Integral Members are already working in many Neglected Crises, including Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Lebanon, Madagascar, Myanmar, Northern Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen.
Cressida Thompson, Integral’s Neglected Crises Coordinator, says, “Almost all Integral Members are planning to be involved in the ‘We’re still here’ campaign in some way between July and December 2022. It may be that Members use the campaign to highlight their work in a specific country or use it to raise awareness about the issue of Neglected Crises more generally.”
Cressida continues: “The vision for our work in Neglected Crises is that the DRC and other ‘forgotten’ places where Integral Members work get the attention and support that they so desperately need. There is a Christian imperative to respond to all human suffering and not just to crises highlighted in the media. In situations that are neglected the value of collaboration increases – we have seen over the years of working together that we can do more collectively, and relatively small funds can make a big difference. We very much want to support our Members’ work in neglected situations with the ‘We’re still here’ campaign and show that everyone’s concern, prayer and giving is important and makes a difference.”
David Verboom, the CEO of Medair and the Chair of the Neglected Crises Working Group says, “It is really inspiring how the Integral Alliance has united to seek how best to highlight the growing global challenge of neglected crises through the ‘We’re still here’ campaign, as well as through our joint work in the DRC. Integral Members remain committed to working in many ‘forgotten’ crises in the world and we very much hope and pray that the ‘We’re still here’ campaign will help them communicate to their supporters the tremendous need there is to be aware, pray and give although the eyes of the world’s media are focussed elsewhere.”
