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Profondément inquiet pour les migrants dans de nombreuses régions du monde, en particulier ceux qui «sont motivés à entreprendre des périples désespérément risqués et dangereux», le Comité exécutif du COE a déclaré: «Tous les membres de la communauté internationale ont une obligation morale et légale de sauver la vie des personnes en danger en mer ou en transit, quels que soient leur origine ou leur statut.»

Young ecumenical leaders from Asia have met in Siam Reap, Cambodia to examine how religious traditions can offer resources to overcome religious violence in a changing Asian context.

More than 400 representatives of member churches and partner bodies from 28 countries in Asia, Australia and New Zealand, headed home on 27 May from an exciting week in Jakarta, Indonesia after attending the Christian Conference of Asia's (CCA) 14th General Assembly.

In the house of God we have to take seriously the needs of the excluded, marginalized and oppressed, says the Rev. Phyllis Wong Mei Fung. "We would like to give a strong voice and highlight the sad realities that women and children face, and address the causes of problems,” she says.

The WCC general secretary has sent a letter to the President of the Republic of Indonesia H. E. Joko Widodo appealing for clemency for the 10 death row prisoners scheduled for imminent execution in Indonesia.

Participants in a recent WCC consultation in Myanmar have stressed the need to equip churches and ecumenical organizations to build peace, human security and human dignity in order to move beyond conflicts, towards a world of peace.

Qualities of the Pacific region – communal life, unbroken tradition of faith, work to combat injustice, deep scriptural grounding – are valuable contributions toward fulfilling the WCC call for a “pilgrimage of justice and peace”, said Rev. Dr Mele’ana Puloka, WCC president for the Pacific.

In South Asia, where conflicts are often fueled by religion, a WCC conference stressed the role of Christians and Hindus as eminent stakeholders in their common search for justice and peace – beyond majority and minority politics.

Scattered throughout the recent history of Indigenous Peoples are national treaties, declarations and laws that languish in obscurity or are brushed aside and ignored.

The WCC has decided fossil fuel investment is a “no-go” zone on its list of investments, reflecting both its commitment to reversing climate change and ethical investments.

Fr Rex R. B. Reyes, Jr. vividly remembers what he calls “the fateful morning of 8 November” 2013.

Le père Rex R. B. Reyes Jr se souvient parfaitement de ce qu’il appelle «le matin fatal du 8 novembre» 2013. Alors qu’il assistait à la 10e Assemblée du COE en République de Corée, il apprit que le super-typhon Haiyan s’était abattu sur son pays. Plus de 25 millions de personnes aux Philippines se trouvaient sur la trajectoire du cyclone.

Jayonta Adhikari, a Bangladeshi member of the WCC Central Committee, speaks about socio-political realities for Christians in his country, aspirations for protection of human rights, as well as what the WCC's call for a “pilgrimage of justice of peace” means for the region’s churches.

Thirteen years after the bomb attack at the Catholic Church of Baniarchar in Bangladesh which killed ten people and injured more than twenty, religious groups hold rally in Dhaka demanding justice.

A communiqué adopted at a WCC consultation describes human trafficking as a “serious human rights violation” and its consequences are “most horrific results of the economic and social disparities that increase the vulnerability of millions of people”.

Human rights defenders from Bangladesh, gathered in a meeting sponsored by the WCC, are calling the international community’s attention to the severe persecution of Bangladesh’s religious and ethnic minorities.

The WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has expressed deep sadness over the death of the Rev. Ron O’Grady, who passed away on 26 February at the age of 83 after a battle with cancer.

A resource book on HIV and AIDS has recently been launched by a member church of the WCC promoting visions of a strengthening partnership among churches and faith-based organizations in the Philippines to address country’s HIV epidemic.

Dr Erlinda N. Senturias, a physician, educator, ecumenical activist and former WCC staff member from the Philippines, has been named by President Benigno Aquino III to the nation’s new Human Rights Victims’ Claims Board.

The World Council of Churches (WCC), as a fellowship of 345 churches from around the world, expresses deep sadness and sympathy for the devastating loss of life and property in the Philippines caused by the super typhoon Haiyan.