Following the signing of the Abidjan Peace Accord in November 1996 many displaced people in Sierra Leone returned to their homes after six years of war. ACT is a worldwide network of churches, including the Lutheran World Federation, meeting human need through coordinated emergency response. The most recent effort sought to serve people through distribution of seeds, tools and food aid to farm families. Two days later a coup forced the democratically-elected government into exile. According to ACT, the ruling military junta is not capable of governing or of controlling troops.
Banks remain closed.
Telephone lines are vandalized. ACT reports fuel shortages and concerns of equipment and vehicles being looted. In this atmosphere of insecurity, political uncertainty and growing economic hardship ACT found innovative ways of continuing the work. The current ACT proposal includes a combination of relief and rehabilitation activities. The ACT program has increasingly relied on the city of Conakry in Guinea as a source of supplies and for communication.