News
Celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA) today in Geneva, members and partners recognized past achievements and discussed opportunities and challenges for future coordinated Christian witness for justice.
At the anniversary seminar the Rev. Dr Hielke Wolters, associate general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) held up a set of keys as a symbol of what is needed for effective action. "The suffering community is the primary mover for justice," he stated, "but it needs networks of solidarity and advocacy specialists. We need keys to open doors."
The importance of advocacy not just for people on the margins, but advocacy by the people most affected by injustice was a recurring theme at the event. The EAA's role in providing a platform for people living with HIV to speak and take leadership was highlighted along with the need to continue to provide the space, support and communication that make advocacy at all levels possible.
Dr Michel Sidibé, executive director of UNAIDS, noted in a message read to participants by a UNAIDS staff member that the EAA "has played a central role in convening and spearheading advocacy from the faith community on AIDS over the last ten years."
"Your approach has been strategic and professional, bringing religious leaders and faith based organizations into the critical debates around HIV and helping to shift stigma and discrimination," he continued.
Yet, Sidibé stated, "More than ever before, we need to understand how to work with faith communities and religious leaders to dismantle some of the entrenched stigma and discrimination towards people living with HIV and others most vulnerable in society. We need to engage in a transformative social movement that will culminate in zero new HIV infections, zero AIDS-related deaths and zero stigma and discrimination."
Jonathan Frerichs, WCC programme executive for Peace building and Disarmament, expanded a common catchphrase as a challenge for ecumenical advocacy, "We need to think globally, but act locally, nationally and globally."
Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, general secretary of the World YWCA, said that the past 10 years has demonstrated how much "advocacy in today's world has demanded a clear, collected voice of the faith community, not a fragmented voice." She continued, though, noting that with 22 million people in sub-Saharan Africa alone living with HIV, the critical need is to change the discourse on development away from mere statistics: "It's not about numbers, it is about life."
Rev. Martin Junge, general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, noted in his reflections in the opening worship, that it was a "wonderful coincidence" to celebrate the EAA's 10th anniversary in the church's season of advent, the "season where we realize again that God doesn't turn his back on the world." He reflected that God through Jesus Christ, himself arrived "in the margins" in a time of occupation and as a refugee. Christ's challenge to us then is to "make this place a place where God is present in the world … a place where change and transformation are possible."
Background information
The EAA was officially founded in December 2000 at a meeting convened by the WCC. There are currently 73 churches and Christian organizations that are members of the Alliance, from Catholic, Evangelical, Orthodox and Protestant traditions. These members, representing a combined constituency of tens of millions of people around the world, are committed to working together in public witness and action for justice on defined issues of common concern. Current campaigns are on Food and on HIV and AIDS. See the list of current EAA members