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The faith-based response to HIV and AIDS has become more visible and integrated because of the increased engagement and coordination of faith-based representatives over the past International AIDS Conferences. A range of faith-based activities are now being planned for AIDS 2018 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 23-27 July 2018.

On 23 February 2018, the World Council of Churches joins Pope Francis and the Roman Catholic Church in calling for a day of prayer, for peace in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

According to the Christian tradition, Lent is a time to prepare for the celebration of the death and resurrection of Christ. During this period many people engage in fasting and practice moderation or self-denial in order to focus on repentance and consecrating themselves to God. While water has a strong spiritual significance in the Christian tradition as a gift from God, this scarce resource is threatened and denied to millions around the world.

The World Council of Churches Ecumenical Water Network (WCC-EWN) invites you to use this season of Lent to reflect on water. Since 2008, EWN has been providing weekly theological reflections and other resources on water for the seven weeks of Lent and for World Water Day on 22 March.

The World Council of Churches is hosting a dynamic networking zone in the Global Village of ICASA 2017 in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, 4-8 December 2017. A "Faith Networking Zone: Global Village Roadmap" is available for download.

On 1 December 2017, the World Council of Churches invites to a full-day event at the Ecumencial Centre in Geneva, featuring a commemorative service, an interactive exhibition and a panel discussion on the lives and rights of children and adolescents living with HIV.

Organized by the World Council of Churches and the Canadian Council of Churches on 2-4 November, in Toronto, Canada, "Redesigning the Tree of Life" is intended as a participatory learning conference, informed by expert presentations, with time to build relationships and shared learning that make future shared work possible.

Since its establishment, the World Council of Churches has supported health work of the churches globally, by supporting establishing and strengthening of Christian health associations at national and regional levels, global advocacy, and other initiatives. But there is currently lack of data on the contribution of the Christian family to global health. Through a workshop on 10-11 October 2017, the WCC aims to discuss and develop a framework for mapping such data.

Organized as part of World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden, the WCC invites faith-based organizations, congregations as individuals to a 30 August public event entitled “Water and Faith: Building partnerships to achieve the SDGs”. The event is an open session, organized by the WCC in collaboration with Church of Sweden, Global Water Partnership, Stockholm International Water Institute, and Swedish Institute Alexandria.

The ecumenical strategic forum will articulate a common vision for the churches’ engagement for sustainable development, while strengthening relations and cooperation for ecumenical diakonia.

On 16 June 2017, the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance in partnership with the Kenya chapter of the International Network of Religious Leaders Living with or personally affected by HIV and AIDS (INERELA+ Kenya), along with many other organizations, is coordinating an event to highlight country-led action backed by global support. Religious leaders and leaders of faith-based organizations will remind governments of their commitments agreed in the June 2016 United Nations’ Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS that there should be “special emphasis on providing 1.6 million children (0-14 years of age) with antiretroviral therapy by 2018.”

More than 100'000 participants are expected at the Kirchentag festival organized by a Protestant lay movement in Germany. Among the 2500 events on the Kirchentag programme, many involve representatives of the WCC member churches and its leadership, including the moderator of the WCC Central Committee, Dr Agnes Abuom; WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit; the WCC president for Africa, Rev. Dr Mary-Anne Plaatjies van Huffel; and various members of the WCC Central Committee.

At its first Eco-School on Water, Food and Climate Justice, the WCC's Ecumenical Water Network (EWN) along with its Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance will bring together about 20 young people from the Africa region. Over a period of 10 days, in an ecumenical setting, participants will have the opportunity to study the local, regional, and international manifestations and causes of the water crisis and food security affected by climate change. They will examine the situation and challenges from a perspective of faith and ethics, and search together for possible ecumenical responses to these challenges.

As more people face famine today than any time in modern history, the WCC together with the All Africa Conference of Churches and a range of faith-based partners and networks invite a Global Day of Prayer to End Famine on 21 May 2017, in response to the hunger crisis.

The WCC held the 1st consultative meeting on ecumenical global health strategy in Maseru, Lesotho on 27 February 2017. A second consultation takes place in Geneva on 24 May, to reinforce the unique contribution of the ecumenical movement to global health issues, and to strengthen the coherence of the ecumenical global health strategy being developed.

During a visit to the Ecumenical Centre, where the WCC has its offices, His Holiness Bartholomew I, Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch, will speak about issues concerning the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church, the ecumenical movement, the protection of the environment and the protection of children. A livestream of the lecture will be available through the WCC website.

This interactive panel aims to build awareness and momentum within the Human Rights Community around the new targets for children and adolescents set in the Start Free, Stay Free, AIDS Free Framework, and in the 2016 Political Declaration on AIDS. In addition, participants will discuss how the rights of children living with HIV can be mainstreamed into the work of the human rights mechanisms.

This interactive panel will focus on the impact that HIV has on a woman’s right to own and manage property. Panelists will address stigma and discrimination toward women living with HIV, including deprivation or dispossession of property rights, and they will share best practices and potential pathways to promote and protect women’s economic equality.

World AIDS Day, observed on 1 December each year, is an important opportunity when governments, national AIDS programs, faith organizations, community organizations, and individuals around the world bring attention to the global AIDS epidemic and emphasize the critical need for a committed, meaningful and sustained response.

The WCC will receive the visit of the renowned water activist Dr Maude Barlow at the Ecumenical Centre to welcome the WCC into the “blue community”.

UNAIDS, UNFPA, UNWomen (as part of the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Religion and Development), the World Council of Churches - Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, & the Wijngaards Institute for Catholic Research will co-host a symposium to launch three reports examining the intersections and areas of contention between health, human rights & lived theology during the United Nations General Assembly.