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For those with disabilities, digital justice is about access, says EDAN's Waweru

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.

13 September 2021

Reflection on Climate Sunday in Glasgow

Ecumenical occasions often work a bit too hard to please everyone. Or maybe they work too hard not to offend anyone.

10 September 2021

Rev. David Coleman

WCC climate experts join with youth to carry innovative ideas on the way to COP26

World Council of Churches (WCC) climate experts and youth are planning to carry energy and ideas on the way to the United Nations climate change conference (COP26) in Glasgow on 31 October-12 November.

07 September 2021

Pastor Godson Lawson Kpavuvu, president of the Methodist Church of Togo, Photo: Methodist Church of Togo

Pastor Godson Lawson Kpavuvu: “God heals, but people must also be treated”

Pastor Godson Lawson Kpavuvu, president of the Methodist Church of Togo, is also chair of the International Reference Group of the World Council of Churches Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiatives and Advocacy programme (WCC-EHAIA). Involved with WCC-EHAIA from the beginning, he reflects below on what it’s like to be, as he describes, “one of the veterans of the struggle.”

02 September 2021

Walk the Talk

A Toolkit to Accompany the "Roadmap for Congregations, Communities and Churches for an Economy of Life and Ecological Justice"

“Walk the Talk” builds on “Roadmap for Congregations, Communities and Churches for an Economy of Life and Ecological Justice ,” a 5-step programme to change the way we deal with the economy and our ecological surroundings.

This toolkit aims to enthuse congregations and churches through concrete examples of communities in action as well as offer good practices and practical materials to “walk the talk” on economic and ecological justice, in each of the areas:

Living in Accordance with the Covenant with God and Creation
Renewable Energy and Climate Protection
Just and Sustainable Consumption
Economies of Life

31 August 2021

Climate change in Switzerland

It seems strange to put Switzerland in a line with other countries affected by climate change: not because we don’t suffer from climate change as well but because we, as Swiss people, should be very aware of how our problems stand in relation to our wealth.

19 August 2021

Sarah Bach

Media advisory

COVID-19 vaccination in Porto Alegre, Brazil, June 2021.

Dialogue on COVID-19 and Consequences for Global Multilateral Cooperation

On Monday, 30 August, from 17:00 to 18:30 CEST, all media are invited to learn more about urgent efforts by leading NGOs and other organizations to sustain a global, multinational dialogue and cooperation in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

18 August 2021

Can we end our societal addiction to fossil fuels?

Rev. Henrik Grape is senior advisor on Care for Creation, Sustainability, and Climate Justice for the World Council of Churches (WCC). He reflects below on the recently released report from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Grape is a member of the WCC delegation that will attend the UN climate talks (COP26) in Glasgow.

12 August 2021

Ecumenical International Youth Day 2021 Event Toolkit

Young People and Climate Justice

The World Council of Churches provides this toolkit as a resource for the fellowship to plan and organize unique celebrations of Ecumenical International Youth Day 2021. It includes background information and a description of this year’s theme, climate justice, tools and resources and a suggested programme format to use and adapt in local contexts.

The WCC programmes on Youth Engagement in the Ecumenical Movement, Churches Commitment to Children, and Climate and Economic Justice are collaborating for this year’s focus area.

06 August 2021

Rev. Dr Kenneth Mtata reflects on COVID-19 impact in Zimbabwe—and what gives him hope

Rev. Dr Kenneth Mtata is general secretary of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches. Below, he reflects on the negative impacts of a third wave of a COVID-19 in the nation, and what people most need.

04 August 2021

In Argentina, “Serving a Wounded World” is a hopeful call to collaborate

Prof. Dr h.c. Humberto Martin Shikiya, vice president of the Regional Ecumenical Advisory and Service Center (CREAS) In Argentina, reflects on how “Serving a Wounded World in Interreligious Solidarity: A Christian Call to Reflection and Action During COVID-19 and Beyond” is being received as a hopeful call to collaborate ecumenically and interreligiously. The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue jointly published “Serving a Wounded World” to encourage churches and Christian organizations to reflect on the importance of interreligious solidarity in a world wounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.

02 August 2021

Bishop Teresa Jefferson-Snorton reflects on how churches can head off vaccine hesitancy

Bishop Teresa Jefferson-Snorton is ecumenical officer for the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and presiding bishop of the Fifth Episcopal District. Below, she shares her reflections on the vital role of churches in reducing vaccine hesitancy and increasing vaccine equity.

08 July 2021

Indigenous peoples and the pandemic in the land of inequalities

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.

04 June 2021

Dina Ludeña Cebrian

Reflections on International Day for Biological Diversity

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).

22 May 2021

Manoj Kurian

Because God Loves Me - Affirming My Value in Christ

“Because God Loves Me—Affirming My Value in Christ,” a new curriculum written in French that is designed to help children ages 7-12 address gender-based violence.

Though the curriculum, edited by Yvette A. Kelem and Blandine E. Ackla, was developed for use primarily with churches and church groups in Africa, it is relevant and accessible for other French-speaking populations as well.

The Christian education programme encourages the full involvement of children, adolescents and youth in becoming early proponents of nonviolence. Developed for children's Bible study leaders, teachers, parish volunteers, and others who work with children, the curriculum serves as a guide to help churches live into their responsibility to protect all children, girls and women from gender-based violence.

20 May 2021

an old women carries a trolley on a street market

Economic and fiscal challenges from COVID-19

The aftermath of the pandemic will present enormous long-term political, social and economic challenges. After the pandemic has subsided, there will be an enormous financial cost to be calculated – especially in terms of increased government debt for almost every country. In particular, there is a very real risk that the UN Sustainable Development Goals will not be met. As Christians, we cannot use COVID-19 as an excuse for inaction and the preferential option for the poor must be recognised.

07 May 2021

Rev. Matthew Z. Ross

Health-Promoting Churches Volume II:

A handbook to accompany churches in establishing and running sustainable health promotion ministries

Based on the premise that the local congregation is the primary agent for healing, and each individual member has a unique gift to contribute to this healing ministry, this book provides guidelines, resources and tools to equip and support local Christian congregations in starting a sustainable health ministry.

It provides a theological and public health basis of the Health Promoting Churches (HPC) model and a guide on organizing the HPC programme sustainably.

28 April 2021

WCC answers your questions about vaccines

On World Immunization Week, the World Council of Churches is joining UNICEF and other organizations across the world in encouraging vaccinations for global health. Below, Dr Mwai Makoka, WCC programme executive for Health and Healing, answers often-asked questions about vaccines. He provides some history of vaccines, reflections on the role of faith-based groups, and why children and others are so vulnerable if they don’t receive vaccines.

26 April 2021