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The first draft of a new mission statement for the World Council of Churches (WCC) was at the centre of a 5-day meeting recently held by the 25-member Commission for World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) on the campus of the University of Ghana near Accra.

Reflecting on the socio-political situation of Christians in Pakistan, the World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit finds God in difficult situations and explores the mission of the church in the country’s special context. He was speaking at a mission consultation organized by the Church of Pakistan on 9 October in Lahore.

"€œChristian Witness in a Multi-Religious World: Recommendations for Conduct"€, a five-page document on the conduct of mission "€œaccording to gospel principles", was released during a public presentation on Tuesday 28 June 2011 at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland.

Dr Jorge Ramirez Reyna, president of Asociación Negra de Defensa y Promoción de Derechos Humanos (Black Association for Human Rights Defense and Promotion, ASONEDH) in Peru, reflects on the issue of racism in his country and the role of the conference on the Violence of Racism in Latin America, which was organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI) 22-24 June in Managua, Nicaragua. He was interviewed by Sean Hawkey.

Tuvalu, a Polynesian island nation in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Australia, is home to more than 11,000 people, whose very existence, which at one time was tied to the ocean and its bounty, is now threatened by rising ocean water levels.

As peace advocates from around the world relayed heartrending stories of violence and oppression, they also expressed their ongoing hope that a movement of peace will prevail during the proceedings of the second day of the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) being held in Kingston, Jamaica.

What does it mean for the church to call for peace in a world where many forms of racism persist? This is one of the questions a World Council of Churches (WCC) conference on racism tried to answer.

The international tug-of-war over carbon emission thresholds and other instruments meant to limit the deterioration of the earth's climate has caused a big stir in recent months, but yielded little results. Therefore the international community must now get ready to take care of those who will be forced from their homes by climate change.

Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), and Rev. Dr Geoff Tunnicliffe, international director of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) met on 3 March, at the Ecumenical Center in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss common concerns around Christian unity.

As a wave of ringing bells embraced the globe, churches sent a strong message to world leaders gathered at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen: There is only one world and in order to preserve it, bold action needs to be taken now.

Resettlement of people displaced by the consequences of climate change was highlighted as a major concern for churches at a gathering of ecumenical representatives from Asia and the Pacific region.

Church representatives from around the world will gather in New York City 15-20 November to press three issues within the agenda of the United Nations: peoples being displaced by climate change, indigenous people's rights and Colombia's protracted internal conflict.

"We believe that this is a moment where we are invited by God to commit ourselves to be instruments of change in the church and the wider society," participants in an international conference on "Churches against Racism" have said, 17 June. The message was read in the presence of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands during a closing worship service.

The recent incidents of violence in Bagua, Peru are "but one instance of a series of government actions to abrogate the rights of the Indigenous peoples of the Peruvian Amazon over land and resources", stated the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia in a 9 June letter to President Alan García Pérez.

The Dutch queen will be the guest of honour at a conference seeking to take on the legacy of the World Council of Churches' (WCC) historic anti-racism efforts.

"Being indigenous peoples is not about wearing colourful garments but about being engaged in the political struggle towards an alternative to the current, crisis-laden model of civilization", says María Chávez Quispe, an indigenous person from Bolivia who is a consultant for indigenous issues at the World Council of Churches (WCC).

After six days of intense discussions on migration, the conflict in Sri Lanka and climate change, of common prayer and practical efforts to make the voice of the churches on these issues heard at the United Nations, the UN Advocacy Week of the World Council of Churches (WCC) ended with good results on Friday.

"Papuans still are subject to torture, ill-treatment, arbitrary arrests and unfair trials by the Indonesian authorities," said the World Council of Churches (WCC) programme executive for human rights, Christina Papazoglou in a 14 March oral intervention before the United Nations Human Rights Council, which is currently holding its seventh session in Geneva. On behalf of the WCC, Papazoglou asked for a fact-finding mission to be sent to the Indonesian province of Papua, one of the word's richest in terms of natural resources, in order to raise the international awareness of the indigenous population's poor living conditions.