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From Geneva to Bethlehem and across the world, the World Council of Churches (WCC) World Week of Peace in Israel and Palestine inspired gatherings for prayer, reflection and action last week. Among the commemorations, a group gathered on 22 September at the Wi’am: The Palestinian Conflict Transformation Center in Bethlehem to pray for peace.

During World Humanitarian Day on 21 August, Dr Rebecca Samuel Dali received the 2017 Humanitarian Award from the Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation at the United Nations office in Geneva in recognition of her courageous efforts in reintegration of women abducted by the Boko Haram into their local communities in the northern Nigeria. In her visit to the Ecumenical Centre, Dali shares the source of her courage and commitment to help the most vulnerable.

At a meeting in Auckland, New Zealand from 1-3 August, the Pacific Conference of Churches released texts on climate change and nuclear weapons, and issued calls to action related to human rights and other issues.

Advocacy for women’s rights and the fight against gender-based violence is not only a concern for women but crucial for the whole of humanity and more men need to get involved. This was one of the key emphases at the annual advocacy training for faith-based organizations (FBOs) at the Ecumenical Center in Geneva.

The Philippines has long been noticed for crimes committed against its people, but now human rights violations of the government of President Roderigo Duterte are coming under scrutiny at the Human Rights Council after submissions made by church-backed civil society groups.

Working conditions for millions of workers in the informal economy, especially migrants and seasonal workers, tend to escape legal regulations and even fail to meet basic human rights standards. The state as well as the church has a big responsibility regarding the most vulnerable of workers, found participants in a workshop on the protection of workers in an informal economy yesterday at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva.

Not nearly enough is being done to save the lives of the 20 million people who face famine in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Nigeria. Among them are 1.4 million children, who are at imminent risk of death unless aid reaches them immediately.

Religious leaders in Cyprus stood together against violence towards women and girls, releasing a first-ever official joint statement on 8 March to mark International Women’s Day.

Members of a church-backed coalition have called on Indonesia to open access to West Papua for international journalists, independent observers, human rights organizations and the International Red Cross.

The 54th meeting of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) began today in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, marking its yearly regional focus on Africa. During the meeting CCIA members are discussing the commission’s previous work and its outcomes focusing on Middle East, as well as setting strategic directions for activities until 2021.

Religion is often manipulated by groups who fuel divisions between people of different faiths, said Adama Dieng, special adviser of the UN secretary-general on the prevention of genocide at a 23-25 November Global Summit on Religion, Peace and Security.

The Right Livelihood Award is seen as an “alternative Nobel Prize” and its laureates are often regarded as courageous people or organizations offering exemplary solutions to the root causes of global problems. An interactive seminar, “Fostering Solidarity for Human Rights, Peace and Justice,” featuring several laureates of the award took place on 31 October at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva.

World Mental Health Day event on breaking the chains of stigma in mental health and restoring human dignity for persons with mental illness was held the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, sponsored by Frascarita International, the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Fondation d'Harcourt and the Belgium government.

The World Council of Churches co-organised a discussion in Geneva on 28 September entitled “Rebuilding from below: The role of local civil society in South Sudan.”

Leading religious scholars representing the major world religions have issued a declaration saying it is imperative that religions be a “positive resource for human rights”. The Declaration of Human Rights by the World’s Religions was released 15 September in Montreal, Canada at the 3rd Global Conference on World’s Religions after September 11.

The WCC is committed to a just peace in Palestine and Israel with a view that this conflict is about justice with deep moral dimensions that must be given proper weight by all if we are to reach a lasting solution. Religion can both contribute to the increase of the level of conflict, or help establish peace. Read the interview with the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit.

As they talk during a workshop in Ghana, women are collectively asking a question: “Is it not time for women and girls to raise their voices to say what they want as mothers, as widows, as single parents, and as God’s children?”

From Paris to Pakistan, Orlando to Myanmar, Iraq to Nigeria, each day witnesses conflict and violence perpetrated in the name of religion or committed against persons because of their religious identity.

More than 120 people from throughout the world have gathered in the eastern German city of Halle to reflect on how insights from the Protestant Reformation 500 years ago can contribute to transforming the world today.