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The tenth edition of the Symposium on the Role of Religion and Faith-based Organizations in International Affairs will take place on 23 January online, and will explore the theme “Human Rights and Dignity: Toward a Just, Peaceable, and Inclusive Future.” 

Organized by the World Council of Churches and a variety of other faith-based partners, the symposium, an online event, will open with a high-level panel consisting of a UN official, faith-based representative, and member state. The theme of the 2023 edition is "Securing People’s Wellbeing and Planetary Sustainability".

The 8th Annual Symposium on the Role of Religion and Faith-based Organizations in International Affairs, entitled "Mobilizing Moral Influence and Governance to End the Systemic Injustices of Racism, the legacy of Colonialism and Slavery", will be held virtually 8:00 – 12:30 EDT on Tuesday 25 January 2022. 

In the context of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, this webinar will explore both the tremendous achievement of the decolonization of land and people and the legacies of colonialism and their effects on people and the environment.

The World Council of Churches and the Lutheran World Federation are collaborating to host a joint event on human trafficking. The event will take place on 30 July 2021, the World Day Against Trafficking in persons. This day provides an opportunity to sound the alarm about the horrible crime of human trafficking as well as for governments, faith based organizations and other partners to reaffirm their commitment to end this gross violation of human rights.

An upcoming symposium will explore the theme “2021: A Defining Year for Accelerating Gender Equality, Equity and Justice”. Scheduled for 26 January, the event marks the 7th Annual Symposium on the Role of Religion and Faith-Based Organizations in International Affairs.

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.

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.

An interfaith prayer breakfast will be held during the United Nations General Assembly will renew commitment to a shared vision of ending AIDS by 2030. Organized by the World Council of Churches – Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (WCC – EAA), in collaboration with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and the UN Interagency Task Force on Religion and Development (IATF), this will be a unique opportunity to strengthen current collaboration and to forge new partnerships between faiths and other sectors.

The United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect, the World Council of Churches and the KAICIID Dialogue Centre, in cooperation with the Permanent Missions of Italy and Spain, are co-organizing a consultation "Bearing Witness: Combating Human Trafficking and Forced Migration".

Religious actors representing different faiths from a broad range of countries participate in the meeting, including Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe. They will work together over two days to develop a strategy to prevent and counter incitement to discrimination, hostility and violence in the region.

The event is co-organized by the United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect, the International Dialogue Centre (KAICIID), the World Council of Churches, and the Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers.

This event will feature discussion based on practical examples of peace and reconciliation, healing of memories, and transitional justice. It is promoted by the Permanent Mission of the Republic of South Africa to the United Nations, the World Council of Churches and the United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect.

The United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect, the Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers and the World Council of Churches will promote a meeting to discuss the role of religious leaders in preventing incitement to violence that could lead to atrocity crimes.

The workshop aims at strengthening ecumenical advocacy for peace by bringing key stakeholders together to share existing initiatives and best practices on advocacy for peace in the Middle East and to develop a joint advocacy plan for peacebuilding in the Middle East.

International affairs have very direct intersections with religion. Several Christian organizations that work with the United Nations have decided to address these intersections through an Annual Symposium on the Role of Religion and Faith-Based Organizations in International Affairs. The thematic focus in 2016 will be on religion, violence and extremism.