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The Nigerian Patriarch His Holiness Pope Dr Rufus Okikiola Ositelu, Primate and Metropolitan Archbishop of the Church of The Lord (Prayer Fellowship) Worldwide is visiting Geneva and the WCC 29-30 January 2018. A public panel on "Christianity and human rights in multi-faith Nigeria", hosted by WCC, will take place 29 January at 14.00-15.30, at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva. The event is followed by a press briefing.

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.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Geneva Agape Foundation (GAF) invites you to a joint reflection on “What is the role of Christian Entrepreneurs in Churches and the Ecumenical movement?”

The Continuing Formation on Health and Healing in Africa will give a space for young people to come together and discuss the role of the churches in addressing those issues and enabling young people to become actors of healing in their communities within the framework of the pilgrimage of justice and peace.

Religious actors representing different faiths from a broad range of countries participate in the meeting, including Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe. They will work together over two days to develop a strategy to prevent and counter incitement to discrimination, hostility and violence in the region.

The event is co-organized by the United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect, the International Dialogue Centre (KAICIID), the World Council of Churches, and the Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers.

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.

Some 80 leaders of governments, UN agencies, faith-related as well as non-religious civil society organizations from countries affected by the current refugee crisis in Europe, Middle East, and Africa will meet at a conference hosted by the World Council of Churches in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Fund for Population (UNFPA), and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to discern how they can proactively influence and shape coordinated collective practical responses.

The Churches’ Week of Action on Food is an opportunity for Christians and others around the world to act together for food justice and food sovereignty. It is a special time to raise awareness about farming approaches that help individuals and communities develop resiliency and combat poverty. The Food for Life Campaign places a particular emphasis on sustainable agricultural practices and the situation of smallholder producers and their access to, and control over, natural resources such as land, water and seeds.

Churches and faith communities have a vibrant role to play in addressing the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Churches and other religious communities not only have a constant and influential reach to the grassroots to offer populations practical advice about hygiene and safe funeral practices but can also directly address the deeper cultural and religious roots of widespread stigma and discrimination that have accompanied the epidemic.

This training workshop will provide a space for dialogue on how men and women can contribute towards building peaceful communities. It will add to the efforts of women contributing towards an “ecumenical pilgrimage of justice and peace” consistent with a call from the WCC 10th Assembly in 2013.