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Empowering women and girls with disabilities: nurturing resilience and inclusion in the face of climate change

Burundi recently witnessed a significant event aimed at fostering inclusivity and addressing the impact of climate change on persons with disabilities. During the National Dialogue on Disability-Inclusive Climate Change Policies and Programs last week, the Friends Church in Burundi embarked on a mission to support and uplift women and girls with disabilities in Nyabihanga, Gitega Province. 

WCC extends condolences upon death of His Holiness, Abune Kerlos I, fifth Patriarch of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church

The World Council of Churches (WCC) extended condolences upon the death of His Holiness, Abune Kerlos I, fifth Patriarch of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church. WCC acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca noted that the election of Abune Kerlos I as Patriarch of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church came at a time of unprecedented challenges for the churches and people of Eritrea, and for the entire world.

African Churches mark International Women’s Day

As African churches joined the rest of the world in marking International Women’s Day, pastors, gender experts and activists called for a critical evaluation and strengthening systems to ensure gender justice and equality in churches and society.

Churches in Burundi welcome disability mainstreaming in development

The Anglican Church of Burundi and Friends Church in Burundi in partnership with World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network and the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission have embarked on a three-year journey of mainstreaming disability in their development programmes. This journey, aiming to improve the livelihoods of persons with disabilities in Burundi, began with the launch of a project entitled “Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Church Development Programmes in Burundi” held on 27 February in Bujumbura.

Churches celebrate reconciliations in Ethiopia, Eritrea

The WCC’s executive committee has welcomed recent reconciliations in Ethiopia and Eritrea. In a statement issued from its 2-8 November meeting in Uppsala, Sweden, the committee also invited further support from member churches for further efforts there.

African women embark on pilgrimage in Burundi

In a pilgrimage of justice and peace in Burundi on 8-10 November, African women of faith met some of the world’s most pressing problems - poverty, violence and climate change - with faith, hope and action.

UN and WCC consultation issues communique on sustainable peace in Burundi

A consultation in Arusha, Tanzania, has issued a communique entitled “Sustainable Peace in Burundi.” The meeting, organized by the World Council of Churches and the United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect, drew together Burundian religious leaders on 18-19 October.

Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church hosts WCC delegation

A delegation from the WCC concluded a solidarity visit to the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church, one of Africa’s oldest Christian churches dating back to the year AD 329. It was the first such visit in more than 10 years and the WCC left with a pledge to pray and work for peace between Eritrea and its neighbor Ethiopia as they attempt to resolve a border dispute.

Ecumenical youth on the move – through GETI with visions for the future

“We’ve seen in the case of refugees, how the church takes a strong standpoint in welcoming those who have fled. But it isn’t always so easy in the congregations. There are many who feel fear, as we receive not only refugees but sometimes also people of other faiths. In this case, we can see a gap between what the church says, and what is actually lived.”

Religious leaders explore message of peace in Burundi, DRC

“The peace message must be delivered to all the stakeholders, including the opposition," urged Adama Dieng, United Nations special adviser on the prevention of genocide, during opening remarks at a consultation of church leaders from Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi opened in Addis Ababa on 23 February.

African churches commit to working for the elimination of statelessness

“Statelessness renders people’s vulnerability to abuse and to denial of their rights invisible to national authorities. In this sense the right to a nationality is a threshold issue for access to protection of all other human rights - almost a 'right to have rights'”, said Peter Prove, director of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA), following a regional training workshop on birth registration and gender discriminatory nationality laws in Africa, organized by the WCC in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 11–13 May.