As reports of casualties and loss grow in Haiti in the wake of a 7.2-magnitude earthquake on 14 August, a tropical depression was threatening the same area two days later.
The Religious Forum Against COVID-19 in South Africa issued a statement with faith leaders standing in solidarity in response to COVID-19, and with a broader objective of collaborating in making for a safer South African environment.
In an ecumenical meeting for North American church leaders on 24 June, prayers and discussion centered on issues that are both deeply painful and seemingly insurmountable: racism, division, vaccine hesitancy, genocide, war. But hope found a way into the virtual gathering as participants supported each other to find ways forward.
A two-part webinar series co-convened by the World Health Organization, UNICEF and Religions for Peace is exploring the role and impact of faith actors in overcoming barriers to COVID-19 vaccination.
As a United Nations high-level meeting convenes from 8-10 June in New York, the World Council of Churches (WCC) is joining the UN and other faith-based and civic groups to review progress on commitments to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.
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.
A Faiths4Vaccines National Summit will be held on 26 May, featuring US medical professionals—including US surgeon general Vivek Murthy—as well as faith leaders who have been serving critical roles in their communities to support equitable vaccine distribution in the USA.
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).
The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee, convening from 17-20 May, set a tone of hope for the future while, at the same time, addressing multiple global crises with statements, pastoral messages, and calls for prayer.
An international online seminar, “Brazilian Tragedy: A Risk to Our Common Home?” brought religious, social and human rights leaders together with prominent experts on 4-6 May to discuss how the process of deconstructing democracy in Brazil in recent years has led the country to multiple crises.
The Working Group of Experts of People of African Descent met virtually from 24-26 March to discuss “Environmental Justice, the Climate Crisis and People of African Descent.”
Faith-based and civill groups from around the world are amplifying their call for the UN to more formally recognize the tie between climate change and human rights. A webinar on 26 March convened by the Geneva Interfaith Forum on Climate Change, Environment and Human Rights, reiterated the need for a new position within the UN: a special rapporteur on Climate Change and Human Rights.
World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca participated in a virtual “High-Level Dialogue on Multi-religious Response to COVID-19 Vaccine” on 19 March with Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as leaders from other religious groups.
Faith-based health services play a critical role in many countries in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization head Dr Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus, has said in support of a World Council of Churches (WCC) led Week of Prayer on the pandemic.
The 15 March webinar provided information on the pandemic's current status and related issues and presented an introduction and overview of the ecumenical Week of Prayer from 22-27 March.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) will host a webinar on 15 March that looks candidly at “signs of the times” after one whole year has passed since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic.
In a statement developed for the 46th session of the Human Rights Council, the Geneva Interfaith Forum on Climate Change, Environment and Human Rights declares that 2021 is the year to act on climate change and human rights.
Young people in the Pacific region shared their unique ecological insights, along with their passion for change, at the World Council of Churches (WCC) Eco-School on Water, Food and Climate Justice in February.
A panel of Jewish, Buddhist and Christian women reflected on the role of women in promoting interreligious cooperation in a webinar entitled “Women and Interfaith Engagement: sharing lessons learnt during COVID-19 and beyond.”
Under the title “Christ’s Love in the Midst of Pandemic: Moving the World to Reconciliation and Solidarity,” the World Council of Churches (WCC) journal The Ecumenical Review explores a range of theological, spiritual, and societal questions raised by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The World Social Forum 2021 is taking place virtually from 23-31 January, taking into account the interlinked global crises of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic hardship and climate emergency. Faith groups are continuing to accompany this process by organising discussions on theologies of liberation.
