Search results

A webinar on 4 December will focus on “Decolonizing beauty: mission, gender, racism, and health in the skin-whitening pandemic.”

To coincide with World Mental Health Day on 10 October, the World Council of Churches' (WCC) announces its 13th Global Ecumenical Health Network Meeting on 11 October. This year's theme stresses, "Mental health is a universal human right," spotlighting the vital role of faith communities in mental wellbeing.

In commemoration of World AIDS Day, this online meeting will provide an update of the HIV response in the World Council of Churches (WCC) and its ecumenical partners around the globe, looking at the strategies implemented and the way forward.

A upcoming webinar will offer speakers’ insights on “Food from Oceans, Rivers and Lakes.” Offered on 28 January , the webinar will explore the vital role of blue, or aquatic, foods in the wellbeing and livelihood of 3 billion people in the world. But the health of the water bodies is being degraded by climate change,  pollution, unsustainable overfishing, and mining.

The webinar will discuss the impact of climate change on food, food systems and livelihoods. Key input will give information regarding negotiations towards developing meaningful guidance to inform climate action in agriculture.

The webinar will provide an opportunity for critical analysis and feedback on the UN Food Systems Summit process and summit. (Pre-summit took place in July and the Summit on 23 September). 

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is inviting all people of good will to attend an online prayer service on 16 October, World Food Day at 4:30 p.m. (CET).

This year, the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), in partnership with the World Student Christian Federation (WSCF), will observe together the International Youth Day (IYD) with the theme: “Transforming Education.” Youth are the future of the church, and they are great advocates for Christian unity. The WCC wants to empower young Christians to liven up the ecumenical movement.

This seminar explores the role religion plays in providing primary health care today and in the past, by analysing the work of medical missionaries and faith-based organisations.

Since its establishment, the World Council of Churches has supported health work of the churches globally, by supporting establishing and strengthening of Christian health associations at national and regional levels, global advocacy, and other initiatives. But there is currently lack of data on the contribution of the Christian family to global health. Through a workshop on 10-11 October 2017, the WCC aims to discuss and develop a framework for mapping such data.

On 16 June 2017, the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance in partnership with the Kenya chapter of the International Network of Religious Leaders Living with or personally affected by HIV and AIDS (INERELA+ Kenya), along with many other organizations, is coordinating an event to highlight country-led action backed by global support. Religious leaders and leaders of faith-based organizations will remind governments of their commitments agreed in the June 2016 United Nations’ Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS that there should be “special emphasis on providing 1.6 million children (0-14 years of age) with antiretroviral therapy by 2018.”

More than 100'000 participants are expected at the Kirchentag festival organized by a Protestant lay movement in Germany. Among the 2500 events on the Kirchentag programme, many involve representatives of the WCC member churches and its leadership, including the moderator of the WCC Central Committee, Dr Agnes Abuom; WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit; the WCC president for Africa, Rev. Dr Mary-Anne Plaatjies van Huffel; and various members of the WCC Central Committee.

At its first Eco-School on Water, Food and Climate Justice, the WCC's Ecumenical Water Network (EWN) along with its Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance will bring together about 20 young people from the Africa region. Over a period of 10 days, in an ecumenical setting, participants will have the opportunity to study the local, regional, and international manifestations and causes of the water crisis and food security affected by climate change. They will examine the situation and challenges from a perspective of faith and ethics, and search together for possible ecumenical responses to these challenges.

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.

The WCC held the 1st consultative meeting on ecumenical global health strategy in Maseru, Lesotho on 27 February 2017. A second consultation takes place in Geneva on 24 May, to reinforce the unique contribution of the ecumenical movement to global health issues, and to strengthen the coherence of the ecumenical global health strategy being developed.

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.

In Southern Africa, around 28 million people are facing food insecurity due to drought conditions brought on by the strength of El Niño in 2015/2016. The World Council of Churches – Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance is holding a regional consultation, hosted by World Vision International, to plan coordinated faith-based action in support of sustainable agriculture, agro-ecology and other climate-resilient methods, particularly targeting the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) discussion on the response to El Niño.