Webinar - “People on the Move: Solidarity and Advocacy”

Event

Webinar - “People on the Move: Solidarity and Advocacy”

A 12 November webinar entitled “People on the Move: Solidarity and Advocacy” will highlight the experiences and often untold stories of refugees, stateless persons, seasonal and migrant workers, and undocumented persons, with a particular focus on ways they have been affected by COVID-19.

A volunteer embraces a sobbing refugee woman who just landed on a beach near Molyvos, on the Greek island of Lesbos, on October 31, 2015, after crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey. Local and international volunteers welcomed the arriving refugees with food and medical care and dry clothes before the newcomers proceeded on their way toward western Europe. Their boat to Greece was provided by Turkish traffickers to whom the refugees paid huge sums, Photo: Paul Jeffrey/Life on Earth

Considered by many to be the invisible faces of the coronavirus pandemic, they are particularly at risk because they often live in already poverty-stricken circumstances and have limited access to resources, water, sanitation systems and health facilities.

Refugee camps or centres do not offer the luxury of accessible clean water, hand sanitisers or physical distancing. The impact of the lockdowns has affected migrant workers overseas and internally—they are the first people to lose their jobs or be sent home.

A global panel of speakers will share experiences and reflect theologically on the role of faith in standing in solidarity with and advocating for people on the move.

The webinar, fourth in a series of webinars on COVID-19 perspectives organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC), will feature the following speakers:

Rev. Joram Calimutan, United Church of Christ, Philippines, program coordinator, Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants, Hong Kong
Rev. Dr Deidre Palmer, president, Uniting Church in Australia
Alicia Mathura, theatre arts teacher, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, Presbyterian Church of Trinidad and Tobago
Dr Torsten Moritz, general secretary, Churches' Commission for Migrants in Europe
Priyanka Samy, social activist and intersectional feminist, Church of South India, National Federation of Dalit Women
Rev. Jack Amick, director of Global Migration and Special Assignments, United Methodist Committee on Relief (theological listener)
Rev. Michael Blair, general secretary, The United Church in Canada, WCC Commission on World Mission and Evangelism commissioner and moderator of the WCC Mission from the Margins Working Group