Ecumenical Office to the United Nations (EOUN)

World Council of Churches' focal point for advocacy initiatives at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

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Housed at the Church Center for the United Nations, the EOUN is the World Council of Churches’ focal point for advocacy initiatives at the United Nations headquarters in New York City.

Together with ACT Alliance, through the EOUN the WCC plays a key role in convening and facilitating advocacy at different levels and building joint ecumenical strategies on priority issues.

The EOUN is a key instrument, helping to create a platform for the most marginalized among us, particularly those from the Global South, to bear witness to their experiences and truth in order to influence policy and decision making at the UN in New York, among member states, and within other intergovernmental and multilateral institutions.

By engaging in continuous dialogue and programmatic cooperation with such agencies as the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Religion and Sustainable Development, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and UN Women, we aim to strengthen and enhance UN discourse and practice on issues of peace and security, sustainable development and human rights. Through these dynamic partnerships, the EOUN serves to echo the call to action of the ecumenical fellowship, promoting peace building, reconciliation, human rights, peaceful resistance to violence, and sustainable development.

EOUN exists to amplify the prophetic voice and values of the ecumenical movement within the various multi-lateral settings of the United Nations (UN), and to articulate that voice in relation to the shared principles of the UN charter and international law. We aim to influence policy and decision making at the UN in New York, among member states, and within other intergovernmental and multilateral institutions.

It is our hope that through ecumenical collaboration and in the ecumenical spirit we can expand the advocacy capacity of our member churches and agencies and link to key advocacy moments when the voices of the ecumenical movement can affect the global discourse on the most critical issues of justice and peace in our world today.

Key aspects of the EOUN’s advocacy strategy are to encourage and expand the capacity of church leaders and community representatives to engage in national-level advocacy as well as to have access to decision makers in the UN. Through cooperative relationships with UN member states, the EUNO ensures open channels of communication. We also work to identify strategic synergies within the ecumenical movement to link actors and facilitate collective advocacy.

The EOUN ensures that the WCC is actively represented and highly influential on its priority activities: 

1. Peace and security

2. Sustainable development and monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

3. Religion, violence, and extremism

4. Gender justice

5. Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

2025

Date: April 3, 2025, 8.30 AM-13.00 PM (EST)
Format: Hybrid: Zoom and in-person (8th Floor Conference Room, Church Center for the United Nations, 777 UN Plaza, New York NY 10017)

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Faith-based partners initiated the Annual Symposium on the Role of Religion and Faith-based Organizations in International Affairs as an annual event aiming to foster dialogue on the intricate interplay between religion and international affairs. Since 2016, the founding faith-based organizations established a strong partnership with the UN Interagency Task Force (IATF) on Religion and Sustainable Development, creating an annual policy dialogue involving UN entities, member states, faith-based actors, and civil society to address pressing global challenges.

11th Annual Symposium Theme: “The Future is Upon Us: What Now?: Amplifying the Role of Faith and Civil Society Actors in Multilateral Solutions”

As global challenges such as climate change, economic inequity, violations of human rights, and global conflicts continue to grow, the inclusion of diverse voices—especially those from civil society and faith-based organizations—is critical to ensuring sustainable peace and development. However, recent years have seen a systemic reduction of space for civil society, and often the absence of any mention of faith actors as vital contributors in national and multilateral solutions and in policy formulation at both the national and international levels . 

This year’s theme will explore how civil society, particularly faith actors, can actively contribute to shaping global solutions through multilateral engagement. It will also assess how faith communities, often working at the grassroots level, can influence policy at the national and global levels to ensure sustainable development, peace, and justice.

Moreover, following the adoption of the Pact for the Future in September 2024, the year 2025 marks a significant moment in global governance and multilateral cooperation, asking us as a global community to learn from the challenges of the past while confronting the future that is now at our doorstep. Several major milestones in 2025 will provide essential contexts for the symposium’s theme and discussions, including:

  • 30th Anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action
  • 25th Anniversary of UNSCR 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security 
  • 2025 UN Peacebuilding Architecture Review
  • 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (June 30-July 3, Seville, Spain)
  • World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS+20 Forum, July 7-11, Geneva, Switzerland)
  • UN Ocean Conference (June 9-13, Nice, France)
  • Second World Summit on Social Development (November 4-6, Doha, Qatar)

Proposed Program

The opening sessions will offer a broad framing of the challenges and opportunities facing faith-based actors in multilateral spaces. The program will then shift to specific thematic discussions examining what is needed for grassroots faith communities and organizations to contribute to global decision-making processes, promoting a localized and people-centered approach to sustainable development.

Principal sessions are envisioned as follows:

  • High-Level Welcome: The formal welcome session will feature high-level representatives both from the UN and from the faith community, and will frame the discussions to follow.

Moderators: 
Dr Nkeiruka (Kiki) Didigu (UNFPA) and Mr Peter Prove (WCC)

Speakers: 
Ms Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, Deputy Executive Director, UN Women
Hon. Maina Talia, Minister for Climate Change, Tuvalu (tbc)
Nika Saeedi (UNDP)
Bishop Julius Trimble, General Secretary, General Board of Church and Society-United Methodist Church

  • Opening Session: Faith Actors and Multilateralism: Advocating for Inclusive Global Governance: This session will explore how faith-based organizations and civil society can enhance their participation in multilateral processes, advocating for inclusion in national, regional, and global governance structures. This session will assess how civil society and faith actor contributions are essential for sustainable development, peace, and human rights. It will also highlight relevant UN and faith advocacy efforts.

Moderator:
Ms Audrey Kitagawa (International Academy for Multicultural Cooperation)

Speakers: 
Mr Rio Hada, Officer for UN the High Commissioner for Human Rights, NY Office
Mr Ganoune Diop, Public Affairs and Religious Liberty, Seventh-day Adventist Church
Mr Ishaan Shah, Stolen Dreams (UK)
Ms Bani Dugal, Principal Representative of the Bahá’í International Community to the UN

 

  • Panel: Revitalizing commitments to the Beijing Platform for Action: As we mark the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action and the 25th anniversary of the Women Peace and Security Agenda (UNSCR 1325), this panel will assess the link between gender equality and peace. It will explore the importance of multi stakeholder collaboration with faith actors to advance these agendas and building on the Pact for the Future look towards genuine and sustained commitments for women’s rights and security.

Moderator:
Dr Thorsten Göbel, Director of Programmes, ACT Alliance

Speakers:
Ms Leyla Sharafi, UNFPA 
Ms Ivy Koek, Soka Gakkai International 
Ms Nkechika Ibe, Founder, Impact Her World Foundation, Chair of the Women in Security Peace and Diplomacy Network (WISPAD) 
Mr Anas Badawi, The Network of Religious and Traditional Peacemakers
 

  • Panel: Building Peace in the Midst of Conflict: We live in a time of proliferating conflicts and conflict risks. In this panel, representatives of faith communities and related organizations will engage with the UN and other counterparts in reflecting on the current threats and challenges to sustainable peace, and the responses prescribed in the Pact for the Future. The panel will also address opportunities in the context of the 2025 UN peacebuilding architecture review.

Moderator: 
Elizabeta Kitanovic, Professor in Human Rights Law, Protestant Theological Faculty and Religious Studies in Brussels

Speakers:
Ms Roselyn Akombe, DPPA
Ms Sylvie Jacqueline Ndongmo, President WILPF
Ms Jenny Neme, WCC Deputy Special Envoy to Peace Process in Colombia 
Dr. Makrina Finlay, Regenerate Shingal (Iraq), URI
Mr Ahmed Shehata, CEO Islamic Relief USA

 

  • Panel: The AI Genie is Out of the Bottle. Can Digital Governance Catch Up?: This panel discussion will address the implications of the accelerating roll-out of Artificial Intelligence for addressing existing inequity and exclusion. It will reflect on possibilities for catching up on global governance of this new technology arising from the Global Digital Compact adopted by the Summit of the Future. The discussion will cover the ethical dimensions of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) as agreed in the WSIS Declaration and Plan of Action which will be reviewed at the WSIS+20 High-Level Event in July 2025 in Geneva. 

Moderator:
Rev Dr Liberato Bautista, President, Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO)

Speakers: 
Mr Tomas Lamanauskas, Deputy Secretary-General, ITU
Ms Yu Ping Chan, Head, Digital Partnerships and Engagement, UNDP 
Mr Fadi Daou, Executive Director, Globethics 
Ms Rose Payne, Lead – Policy and Advocacy, Global Partners Digital 

Concluding session
Dr Nkeiruka (Kiki) Didigu (UNFPA) and Mr Peter Prove (WCC)

 

Sponsoring Organizations: 
World Council of Churches, ACT Alliance, General Board of Church and Society of The United Methodist Church, Islamic Relief USA, Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Soka Gakkai International, United Religions Initiative. 

In partnership with:
Members of the UN Inter-agency Task Force on Religion and Sustainable Development  

Participant profile:
Invitations will be sent to various constituencies and networks of the collaborating symposium partners. This includes FBOs, civil society organizations, Member States and their Permanent Missions, and UN agencies through the Inter-Agency Task Force on Religion and Sustainable Development, and other supporters. 

11th symposium flyer
ABOUT THE SYMPOSIUM

The Annual Symposium on the Role of Religion and Faith-based Organizations in International Affairs marks a significant milestone as it celebrates its tenth edition in a distinguished series of annual gatherings that began in 2015. Faith-based partners initiated this symposium, which coincided with Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday that aimed at fostering dialogue on the intricate interplay between religion and international affairs. With a deliberate inclusion of UN member states and entities, the symposium sought to create a platform for collaborative policymaking and constructive engagement.

In 2016, the second symposium established a strong partnership with the UN Interagency Task Force on Religion and Sustainable Development, creating an annual policy dialogue involving UN entities, member states, faith-based actors, and civil society to address pressing global challenges. Past themes included human rights, preventing atrocities, promoting peace, addressing migration, and economic justice. The 2020 symposium was postponed, leading to a workshop for faith-based organizations. The 2021 and 2022 virtual  symposia focused on gender equality and combating systemic injustices. In 2023, the symposium emphasized human security. The upcoming 10th Symposium will reiterate commitment to human rights and dignity, fostering consensus for future events. It aims to inspire collective action for a compassionate society and aligns with the World Interfaith Harmony Week in February to promote understanding among diverse religious communities worldwide

 

Peter Prove
Email: [email protected]

Address:
777, United Nations Plaza
10017 New York, New York, USA