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Photo: Peter Kenny/WCC

Photo: Peter Kenny/WCC

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit extended a warm congratulations to Dr Azza Karam, who has been elected as new secretary general of the World Conference of Religions for Peace.

“Warm greetings and congratulations to Azza Karam as the new secretary general of the World Conference of Religions for Peace!” said Tveit. “A strong and well-prepared woman for a task and an agenda that needs to be pursued with confidence and in effective collaboration. Welcome!”

Karam comes to her new post after serving as the senior advisor on social and cultural development at the United Nations Population Fund, where she works closely with faith-based partners. Prior to that, she was the senior policy research advisor at the United Nations Development Program in the Regional Bureau for Arab States, where she coordinated the Arab Human Development Reports.

She is also a professor at Amsterdam’s Vrije Universiteit.

Karam is known for challenging some of the approaches of the intergovernmental and non-governmental sectors in dealing with faith-based organizations while, at the same time, cherishing interreligious dialogue.

Link:

“Attitude of United Nations has changed toward faith-based organizations in recent years, says UN adviser” (WCC news release, 13 June 2019)

Religions for Peace