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The World Council of Churches (WCC), in a submission to the International Criminal Court (ICC), welcomed a policy establishing accountability for environmental crimes.

With the Ecumenical Prayer Cycle, we pray for the people and churches of Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria.

World Health Day is April 7 when the World Health Organization commemorates its 76th anniversary. This year the theme is 'My Health, My Right, which reminds us to advocate for equitable access to health services and work towards a healthier, more inclusive world.  

We, the members of communities including social thinkers, clergy, theologians, activists, and community leaders representing social organizations, ecumenical institutions, and religious traditions, gathered under the aegis of the New International Financial Economic Architecture (NIFEA). We met at a time when leaders of the G20 were also gathering to deliberate on the future of this planet.

"Diakonia of Hope in a fragile world", keynote address by Rev Dr Kenneth Mtata at the Regional Conference for the DRAE (Africa and Europe) region in Neuendettelsau, Germany, 06 - 10 September 2023

Welcome address by Marianne Ejdersten, World Council of Churches director of communication at the seminar "Caring for the Earth, transforming lives: Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration" on 12 May 2023.

Statement from the Faith-Based Organizations to the High-Level Ministerial Segment of the 27th Session of the Conference of the Parties – COP27 to the UNFCCC, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, 15 November 2022

Ecumenical Water Network-Brazil (REDA-Brazil) Stands in Solidarity with #FAME 2022.

As people of faith, we join in committing to pray and act against hunger at this time when 811m people worldwide go to bed hungry each night, hunger has increased globally by 25% since 2019, and across the globe more than 41m people–around half of them children–are at risk of falling into famine in 43 countries.

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

I had addressed you less than a week ago at the opening of the WCC Eco School 2020-2021 on Sunday evening, Geneva time. And here I am addressing you at the closing. The past 5 days have passed very quickly.  I have been updated by my colleagues responsible for the Eco School that this was an unique experience for all of them and I am sure for you as well. Carrying out a training programme for 5 consecutive days beyond midnight was new for most of them.  But I gather it has been a very enriching experience for them journeying with you all imparting this important training and at the same time listening to your valuable comments, questions and feedback.  But as I said in the opening, despite the geographic and time divide, we are united together virtually for a common cause  -  and that it eco justice! 

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

We are deeply privileged to conduct this Eco- School with all of you, with the youth from 5 different nations, in Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Tonga and Vanuatu. We are truly blessed to join you, the Pacific youth, along with the global ecumenical family and partners for this opening ceremony. We are holding hands virtually, bridging the oceans, the geographic and time divide, and the disruptions caused by the COVID 19 pandemic. We thank you, the Pacific youth, for your time and commitment.

Prof. Dr Mathew Koshy Punnackad was one of the pioneers who initiated the “green church” movement in India in the 1990s. Today, he is the director of the Ecological Concerns Department of the Church of South India (CSI). In an interview with the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Water Network, he talks about caring for life on earth as a spiritual commitment, about “greening” the church, and the importance of education for sustainable development.

O Lord, open to us the gates of righteousness…

This week, on the first week of Advent, in the Ecumenical Prayer Cycle, we are praying with the people and churches of Myanmar and Thailand.

In the context of the 16 Days against Gender-Based Violence, this week marks World AIDS Day (December 1), the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery (2 December) and the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (3 December).

Interfaith Message on Just Finance, Debt and Reparations

16 October 2020

In the kitchen is a half drunk plastic bottle of water - left over from my last train journey. A large internationally-recognized label brands the bottle and adds value (at least for the shareholders in the company) to the humble yet life-essential contents.

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.”

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”.

The third reflection of the seven weeks for water 2020 of the WCC’s Ecumenical Water Network is by Adi Mariana Waqa, the Child Protection Coordinator of the Pacific Conference of Churches with contributions from Frances Namoumou Programmes Manager, PCC  and Mereani Nawadra (Project Officer for Gender Equality Theology,  Methodist Women’s Fellowship. In the following reflection they critique Abraham’s decision to send off Hagar into the wilderness with a child with very little water. They draw comparisons that Hagar then and women of today take on the responsibility of securing water needs of the family at the cost of their own safety and wellbeing. This reflection is to commemorate International Women’s day in the context of right to water.