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Webinar explores "Reconnecting in faith with creation, land and water”

A 28 July World Council of Churches (WCC) webinar entitled "Reconnecting in faith with creation, land and water” explored the ways in which we tie our faith to living responsibly on earth. Participants explored together why and how a sustainable future must be based on the interdependency of the whole creation, not an anthropocentric understanding in which human beings are the dominant species.

South Sudan cleric highlights biting hunger in a “triple pandemic” as African churches confront food insecurity

South Sudan church leaders are among African clerics who are highlighting a painful “hunger pandemic” in their countries, as experts warn of aggravated food insecurity in regions due to coronavirus.

Fr James Oyet Latansio, general secretary of the South Sudan Council of Churches, said the disease had devastated families, creating a “triple pandemic” including COVID-19, gender-based violence and severe hunger.

Martin Khor Kok Peng, “friend of the poor,” passes away

It is with deep sadness that the global ecumenical movement marks the passing away of Martin Khor Kok Peng on 1 April. An economist trained at Cambridge University and the University Sains Malaysia, Martin Khor had led the civil society movement in Malaysia and internationally for decades, on issues of economic, ecological and health justice, founding and leading several key organisations and mentoring various leaders around the world.

Faith communities vital in overcoming hunger

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to require the world to protect its most vulnerable people, the reality of undernourishment faces more than 820 million people in the world. This increases vulnerability in our one human family. Dr Manoj Kurian, coordinator of the WCC Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, reflects on the current state of food security.

Seven Weeks for Water 2020, week 7: "Thirsty for justice", by Frances Namoumou and Netani Rika

The seventh and last reflection of the seven weeks for water 2020 of the WCC’s Ecumenical Water Network is written jointly  by Ms Frances Namoumou, Programmes Manager, and Mr Netani Rika, Communications Specialist, Pacific Conference of Churches.  In the following reflection they have analysed the water scarcity situation in the Pacific that is getting worsened by climate change with a justice perspective from the narratives of the persistent widow of the bible. They challenge us not to give up our “thirst for justice” under any circumstances.

WCC Programmes

Seven Weeks for Water 2020, week 6: "Water, food and trade: Impact on the Pacific Islands", by Athena Peralta and Dr Manoj Kurian

The 6th reflection of the Seven Weeks for Water 2020 is by Athena Peralta and Dr Manoj Kurian, programme executives of the World Council of Churches Economic and Ecological Justice programme and Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, respectively. In this reflection, they are focusing on the perils of cash crops such as sugarcane, produced primarily for exporting, threatening to impact the freshwater levels of Fiji. Over-dependency on food import for its sustenance is not a sustainable practice.

WCC Programmes

Seven Weeks for Water 2020, week 5: "Water and Climate Change", by Dinesh Suna

The fifth reflection of the Seven Weeks for Water 2020 is by Dinesh Suna, coordinator of Ecumenical Water Network, World Council of Churches. He is a Lutheran and comes from India. In the following reflection, he explores the importance of “hand-washing” in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic while this basic facility is not available to millions of people, particularly to children. He dedicates this reflection to World Water Day which is being observed on 22 March with the theme “Water and Climate Change.”

WCC Programmes

Seven Weeks for Water 2020, week 4: "Water: a gift of God, a public good and a human right. Should we privatize it?", by ev. Dr. Donald Bruce Yeates

The fourth reflection of the seven weeks for water 2020 of the WCC’s Ecumenical Water Network is by Rev. Dr. Donald Bruce Yeates, a minister of Saint Andrews Presbyterian Church of Suva, Fiji and a consultant chaplain at The University of the South Pacific. Bruce has been active in the Pacific since 1975 as an academic in social work, community development and social policy having served at the University of Papua New Guinea and The University of the South Pacific. In the following  reflection he underlines the importance of human right to water and the onslaught of privatisation in the backdrop of  world’s most famous bottled water which comes from his home country, the “Fiji waters”.

WCC Programmes