World Vision International was recently added to the growing network of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) as its 12th Global Partner.

According to Dr Geoff Tunnicliffe, the International Director of the WEA, the collaborative effort brings together two large Christian organisations whose common agendas include strong support of initiatives that enhance the holistic wellbeing of children, promote justice, and contribute to Christian unity and cooperation.

"World Vision International brings a long history of effective Christian engagement with the poor and oppressed," said Dr Tunnicliffe. "We are delighted that World Vision is joining our other global partners and members to bring great synergy and impact for Christian witness across the world."

Valdir Steuernagel, World Vision International's Vice President for Christian Commitments, called attention to World Vision's mission, which is to follow Jesus Christ by working with the poor and the oppressed in search of holistic human transformation. Mr Steuernagel said he hoped the partnership would help both organiz=sations fulfil their missions and strengthen their avenues of service to Jesus Christ in today's world.

"We believe our partnership with WEA will help us strengthen our grass roots relationship with churches worldwide to support our advocacy on behalf of children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice," said Mr. Steuernagel. "We look forward to building on our past history with WEA and creating a strong partnership for years to come."

Global Partner membership is given to international networks that specialise in a field that contributes to the WEA's mission and objectives. There are currently eleven other Global Partners serving the WEA constituency of 128 national evangelical alliances, representing around 420 million evangelical Christians worldwide.

Founded in 1950 by Rev Bob Pierce, World Vision today works in 98 countries, serving nearly 100 million people and their communities with 31,000 locally based staffed, striving to achieve its vision of "Life in all its fullness for every child".