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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.

John Doom lived in a small place on the planet, but he was committed to big things through his faith, fighting to stem atomic testing in the fragile ecosystem of his homeland French Polynesia.

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.

As António Guterres of Portugal was named the ninth secretary-general of the United Nations, the World Council of Churches (WCC) congratulated him on his appointment. “This is good news for the UN and for all who need the UN to fulfill its important tasks in our time,” wrote WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit in a letter to Guterres. “I admire your courage, your clarity, and your true compassion with the suffering peoples in our world.”

A visit to the al-Za'atari refugee camp, currently hosting more than 80,000 people fleeing from conflict in Syria, was a life-changing experience for members of the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) who met recently in Amman, Jordan.

“The Nobel Peace Prize awarded today to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos is a sign of hope and encouragement on the path to peace, and towards the end of the 52-year-long conflict”, said Mr. Peter Prove, director of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA), commenting on the announcement of the award by the Norwegian Nobel Committee earlier today.

A panel discussion “Religion and Religious Freedom in International Diplomacy” was organized during the 33rd session of the UN Human Rights Council by the United Nations special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, the delegation of the European Union to the UN in Geneva and the World Council of Churches (WCC).

"If there ever was a time to change words into action, it is today", said U.S. ambassador-at-large Deborah L. Birx, M.D., coordinator of the United States Government Activities to Combat HIV/AIDS and U.S. Special Representative for Global Health Diplomacy, at an interfaith prayer breakfast held during the United Nations General Assembly in New York on 20 September.

This year 6 and 9 August mark the 71st anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, two Japanese cities destroyed by atomic bombs with a combined death toll estimated at more than 225,000 people.

Kerlan Fanagel’s submission to the Human Rights Council (HRC), delivered on the council’s 10th anniversary, highlighted the plight of the Lumad in Mindanao, a group of people who have been displaced from their traditional lands in the southern Philippines.

The Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC), at its meeting in Trondheim, Norway, 27 June 2016, has elected a new executive committee with 11 new members.

Speakers at today’s press conference will be: Ms Sabine Rakotomalala, Global Partnership to end Violence against Children, Mr Masimba Kuchera, Zimbabwe, United Church of Christ in Zimbabwe, member of the WCC Commission of Churches on International Affairs (CCIA), and
Ms Caterina Tino, partnerships specialist, UNICEF