The Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services (CEOSS) in Egypt is working on an advanced gender approach. In a country which is facing enormous challenges, more than ever a development agency has to be up to date on the needs of the people.
Reconciliation was once primarily seen as a message of the church but is now used by secular leaders trying to establish peace in communities torn by conflict and war, the WCC president for Africa, the Rev. Mary Anne Plaatjies van Huffel, has said at a major Protestant gathering in Germany.
Religious leaders in Cyprus stood together against violence towards women and girls, releasing a first-ever official joint statement on 8 March to mark International Women’s Day.
The #SyriaCrisis has raged for five brutal years and another round of talks involving the world’s powerful nations and those involved in the conflict to push for peace could be starting to finally end the warring.
Reduction in and prevention of statelessness, and the protection of stateless people in the Middle East provided the focus of a workshop organized by the WCC and the Middle East Council of Churches in Beirut, Lebanon.
A recent meeting of representatives from ecumenical organizations, Catholic, Evangelical and Pentecostal churches in Strasbourg, France has promised to address more effectively discrimination, persecution and violence faced by Christians around the world. This theme will be explored in depth through an international consultation to be held in 2015.
Inspired by the theme “pilgrimage of justice and peace”, the Central Committee of the WCC, a chief governing body of the Council, has set directions for the work of the Council from 2014 to 2017.
