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The WCC executive committee released a statement lifting up in prayer the people and churches of Ethiopia.

“The unbearable toll of lives lost, and the impact on the affected communities and nations, must engage the concern, solidarity and action of the international community and all people of goodwill, to stem the bloodshed and to confront the brutal ideologies behind such atrocities,” wrote Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, interim general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), on 3 November, as he commented on the violent extremist attacks in western Ethiopia, Kabul and Vienna.

South Sudanese Church leaders are appealing for urgent humanitarian assistance to meet the needs of their population, who have been left vulnerable by a mix of five crises, including floods and the COVID-19 pandemic.

World Council of Churches (WCC) interim general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca expressed horror at the news of a brutal attack on schoolchildren at the Mother Francisca International Academy in Kumba, Cameroon, on 24 October. Unidentified gunmen killed at least eight children in their classroom with guns and machetes, while 12 others were injured.

Upon the 20th anniversary of the UN Resolution 1325, the question is still being answered as to whether women’s important work in peace and security is getting the visibility it deserves.

In a message on 15 October, Rev. Dr David Tswaedi, executive director of the Lutheran Communion in Southern Africa, lamented that the voices of survivors and victims of gender-based violence have been muted, due to stigma and the perceived power of the perpetrators.

The World Council of Churches interim general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca condemned the violence in Nigeria in a statement on 22 October and offered condolences to those who have lost loved ones.

Church leaders in Sudan are welcoming a peace agreement signed between the transitional government and rebel groups on 3 October, after a year of talks in Juba City, the South Sudanese capital.

As South Sudan joined the world in celebrating the International Day of Peace, the country’s church leaders urged speedy implementation of a key peace pact known as the Revitalised - Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan.

In Cameroon, hundreds of people are praying for peace, and they are also singing, dancing, marching, and listening to reflections led by people of faith who are calling for a ceasefire — now.

In a letter to UN officials, the World Council of Churches (WCC) urges an end to violence and the violation of human rights in Cameroon.

After hearing about death threats against Nobel laureate Dr Denis Mukwege, physician director of Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Council of Churches (WCC) urged UN officials to call upon the government to ensure the protection of the life of Mukwege.

Conflict has ingrained itself in the people of Mozambique for many decades from the days of Portuguese colonial rule, to the ensuing civil war which only ended this century, and now Daesh along with the unseen enemy of COVID-19. So, the churches have their hands full as peacemakers.

The Thursdays in Black campaign for a world free from rape and violence has been intensified in Namibia, bringing awareness of the heightened risk of violence against women and children during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, World Council of Churches (WCC) interim general secretary, joined the South Sudan Council of Churches and the All Africa Conference of Churches in condemning recent violent killings of innocent people in South Sudan, and called to an end to brutality in the country.

In a joint letter, the World Council of Churches (WCC) and ACT Alliance urged the president of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi, to protect lives, property and livelihoods from increasing violence in the country.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation with an estimated 210 million people, has a distinctive mix of people with almost equal numbers of Christians and Muslims, most of whom get on, living their normal lives intertwined in peace, except when terror strikes.