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.
As part of the Barbados Gospelfest, Caribbean co-coordinator of the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network Rev. Dr Gordon Cowans offered a public lecture on 22 May, exploring the theme “Touching Lives of Persons With Disability: Freed to Simply Be.”
At a webinar organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC), Norwegian Church Aid, and the International Partnership of Religion and Sustainable Development on 30 May, participants brought to light the challenges faced in Menstrual Hygiene Management and the role that religious communities can play to build a world where no one is held back because they menstruate.
The upcoming Barbados Gospelfest, set for 21-28 May, will express churches’ affirmation and celebration of persons with disabilities in musical and other creative ways.
The fifth edition of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Eco-School on Water, Food, and Climate Justice, will be held 24-31 July in Crete, Greece. Convening in-person in the Orthodox Academy of Crete, Greece, the event is open to young people under 30 years of age from the Europe and North America region only.
The National Christian Council of Sri Lanka, in a statement, expressed its strong opposition to a proposed Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) which aims to replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).
World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed grave concern about the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan, and urged an end to hostilities.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) hosted the 11th Ecumenical Global Health Partners Meeting on 26 April. The online meeting gave WCC and its partners an opportunity to share strategic directions on health and healing programmes for the period 2023-2030.
Strengthening the link between Christian perspectives and practical action for human rights, a symposium on human dignity and rights took place in the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey on 25-26 April.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) will host a hybrid event on 2 May in conjunction with the 32nd session of the United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent.
TheMiddle East Council of Churchesannounced that the 22 April each year—the day of the kidnapping of the two Archbishops of Aleppo, Metropolitan Boulos Yaziji and Metropolitan Gregorios Youhanna Ibrahim— will be named “The Ecumenical Day for the Abducted and the Forcibly Absented.”
Gertrude Oforiwa Fefoame was elected to chair the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. She is also a commissioner for the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on World Mission and Evangelism, as well as an active member of the Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network.
A World Council of Churches (WCC) webinar on 19 April explored ideas for eradicating HIV stigma and discrimination—and how churches might be able to bring justice for vulnerable people.
Through a biennial award, churches in Africa are moving to recognize individuals or organizations who show progressive and tangible faith-based leadership in the fields of human rights, good governance, and the rule of law.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) cohosted an online consultation on 12 April to address the pressing issue of the converging food and debt crises. The event invited churches, ecumenical partners, and civil society allies to come together to examine the intersections and roots of these crises, and to seek collective guidance on possible joint responses.
During the debate on human rights and obstetric fistula at the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council, the World Council of Churches (WCC) with its ecumenical partners called upon governments to pay more attention to the prevention of obstetric fistula in their policies, strategic plans, and budgets.
Below, Rev. Dr Kenneth Mtata, World Council of Churches (WCC) director of Public Witness and Diakonia, reflects on the relevance of ecumenical diakonia and public witness today.