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The general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit and other members of the WCC staff met in New York on 12 February with the United Nations (UN) deputy secretary-general Jan Eliasson. Tveit and Eliasson discussed the many conflicts and divisions around the world, including North and South Korea, the Middle East region, particularly Syria and Israel-Palestine.

“Violence begets violence. It is not possible for Syrians to overcome conflict without a political solution, strong democratic institutions and demilitarization of the country,” said Dr Haytham Al-Manna, a prominent Syrian human rights defender and opposition figure, head of the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change in Syria (NCB).

By Marcelo Schneider (*)

Justice should not be secondary to peace, and both should go together, according to Dr Navanethem Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. She made her comments in an encounter with the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC).

“Sixteen years after the signing of the peace accord in 1996, Guatemala is still struggling to overcome wide ranging issues that put the economic, political and social wellbeing of the country at risk,” noted a World Council of Churches (WCC) delegation visiting Guatemala from 27 to 29 November.

On 7 December at the Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), where no agreement has been reached so far, the World Council of Churches (WCC) delivered a statement to the High-Level Ministerial Segment of COP 18 in Doha, Qatar.

A World Council of Churches (WCC) consultation on peace and human security in Latin America has adopted a communiqué demanding protection mechanisms that insure peace and human security in Latin America.

“Long years of civil war and import of weapons since the 1980s have created a difficult situation in Latin America, where it is challenging to prevent proliferation of arms”, stated Prof. Benjamin Cortes Marchena at a World Council of Churches (WCC) consultation in Antigua, Guatemala. Â

The newly upgraded status of Palestine in the United Nations (UN) is viewed as a positive step in the direction toward peace and a reaffirmation of the World Council of Churches (WCC) long-term commitment to a two-state solution, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, WCC general secretary said on Friday.

“The fight against proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) is critical for peace and security in Africa,” said Peter Omurangi Otim, head of the Peace and Security department of the African Union (AU) at a World Council of Churches (WCC) consultation in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, held from 22 to 25 November.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has expressed deep concern about the conflict in Gaza and Israel. In a recent statement he urged both sides to “cease hostilities” to ensure that “civilians will be protected”.

To promote children's rights and eliminate violence against children, the WCC invites its member churches to join an inter-religious call for prayer and action on 20 November.

While peace talks are underway between the Colombian government and FARC rebels (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) in Norway, Dr Ricardo Esquivia of the Mennonite Church in Colombia affirmed that “creativity and audacity to advocate for justice in a nonviolent way” is essential at this time.

It is not imaginable for the World Council of Churches (WCC) to have a future “without a much stronger emphasis on international affairs and peace with justice,” said Martin Robra, programme director for the study of ecumenism in the 21st century, at a consultation on "churches and the rule of law" this week in Geneva.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a global organization with many skills and experiences. As such it can create added value for the United Nations system, the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit said in a recent interview for the United Nations Special magazine and website.

Arrests of Palestinian civilians and vandalism of their homes at the hands of Israeli military forces is not a new phenomenon in the West Bank. Natalie Maxson, a volunteer for the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel speaks from her experience of meeting a family in Azzun faced with a similar situation.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary has expressed deep sorrow over the death of Armenian Apostolic Patriarch Torkom II Manoogian, primate of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Torkom II passed away on 12 October at the age of 96.

The participants of a World Council of Churches (WCC) sponsored hearing on the misuse of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws have urged the Pakistani government to “take realistic and solid steps to stop abuse of the blasphemy law that are causing massive human rights violations.”

“No state should take away the right of its citizens to debate a law that affects them gravely. Therefore, there is a growing need of dialogue on the blasphemy law and its negative impacts on religious minorities in Pakistan,” said I.A. Rehman, veteran human rights activist and director of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in a side event at the United Nation’s Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.

While accusations of blasphemy in Pakistan have once again captured the news headlines, Bishop Samuel Azariah, moderator of the Church of Pakistan, hopes for the Pakistani government to consider repealing the controversial clause in the Pakistan Penal Code which, he says, invokes misuse of the blasphemy law.