As a parent of an autistic child, it is important for me not only to embrace and accept that my child has autism but also to raise awareness on autism. We are all called upon to champion acceptance, embrace, appreciate, and accept autistic people as valued members of the community.
Technology has impacted our lives in a big way but this is just as well because it has given us a window into the future where we are told that technology and humans will continue to shape and influence each other in a symbiotic relationship. This therefore calls on us to create a more inclusive and equitable cyber environment for all, recognising the significant opportunities and risks that the digital space poses especially for persons with disabilities.
Gertrude Oforiwa Fefoame was elected to chair the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. She is also a commissioner for the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on World Mission and Evangelism, as well as an active member of the Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network.
At the St Andrew’s Presbyterian of Church East Africa in Nairobi, Judy Kihumba is the voice between the hearing and the deaf worlds in one of Kenya’s oldest churches.
Cuando se convoque la próxima reunión del Comité Ejecutivo del Consejo Mundial (CMI) entre sus miembros estará un clérigo presbiteriano de Kenya que es sordo.
“Afirmar la justicia y la dignidad humana” fue el tema de la cuarta sesión plenaria temática de la 11ª asamblea del Consejo Mundial de Iglesias (CMI), celebrada el 6 de septiembre. La presentación contó con un espectáculo de danza en silla de ruedas a cargo de Fadi El Halabi, un usuario de silla de ruedas, y de Karen Abi Nader, una artista internacional. En el baile de estilo libre, Halabi giró con facilidad con su silla de ruedas y, con movimientos lentos y coordinados junto con su compañera de baile, lanzó las manos al aire simbolizando la alegría que solo se puede sentir cuando se abordan todas las prácticas excluyentes y desempoderadoras en la iglesia y la sociedad.
“Affirming justice and human dignity” was the theme of the fourth thematic plenary of the World Council of Churches(WCC) 11th assembly on 6 September. The presentation featured a wheelchair dance performance by Fadi El Halabi, a wheelchair user and Ms. Karen Abi Nader, an international artist. In the freestyle dance, Halabi effortlessly spinned around his wheelchair and, with slow coordinated moves together with his dance partner, threw hands in the air symbolizing the joy that can only be felt when all exclusionary and disempowerment practices in church and society are addressed.
On 20 May 2022, a group of us, 14 pilgrims from different parts of the world (Kenya, Brussels, Germany, Hong Kong, Philippines, Poland, Rome, Korea, Canada, Fiji, Australia, London, Scotland, and Geneva—a very diverse group) gathered in Palermo, Italy for a Pilgrim Team Visit on the theme of migration.
From 31 May to 3 June, representatives from the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace Reference Group, Working Group on Climate Change, and the Young People in the Ecumenical Movement of the World Council of Churches formed a Pilgrim Team Visit to indigenous Sami communities in the south of Norway.
The Central Mediterranean route is the overseas crossing from North Africa to Italy. Those migrating on this route generally aim to reach Italian shores but leave from a variety of North African countries bordering the Mediterranean. Though in past years most migrants have departed from Libya, which is a destination for migrants as well as a transit country, there is also a proportionally small but growing number of departures from Tunisia, Egypt, and Algeria.
The Churches' Commission for Migrants in Europe - CCME released a statement that speaks about the response of Europe to refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine. The statement addresses the concerns of discriminatory treatment of non-Ukrainians and minority ethnic people in this context and the more general question that the generosity shown in recent weeks often has not been extended to those fleeing from elsewhere.
Below, Dr Torsten Moritz, general secretary at the Churches' Commission for Migrants in Europe, reflects on why church leaders requested such a statement, and what lies at the heart of some of their different inputs.
Para Samson Waweru, de Kenia, está claro lo que significa la justicia digital: él cree que debe darse igual acceso, tanto a la información impresa como a la información digital, a quienes tienen una discapacidad y a quienes no la tienen.
“Al usar una computadora..”, dice en una entrevista en video con la directora ejecutiva del programa, Joy Eva Bohol, del Consejo Mundial de Iglesias (CMI), “...esto aplica a las plataformas de redes sociales y su acceso”.
Digital justice for Kenyan Samson Waweru is clear, as he believes there should be equal access to both cyber and print information for those who have disabilities and those who do not.
When using a computer, he says in a video interview with World Council of Churches (WCC) programme executive Joy Eva Bohol that it applies to social media platforms and access to them.
476 million indigenous people live around the world, of which 11.5% live in our Latin American region. In these years that we are going from the COVID 19 pandemic in our territories (indigenous or tribal at the Latin American level), the presence of many extractive companies, mainly uranium and lithium, has increased, land traffickers and among other monoculture companies with fires for the cultivation of oil palm, logging, putting vulnerable peoples at greater risk than what is already experienced.
As we commemorate 22 May as the International Day for Biological Diversity (Biodiversity Day), we celebrate the beauty and diversity of creation. We acknowledge the glory of God manifested in the whole creation (Palm 104), and the entire creation praises God (Psalm 65).
