People from around the world involved in the work of three critical World Council of Churches (WCC) commissions have discussed global geopolitical trends impacting their activities and church members. The panel, led by the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, was moderated by Dr Mathews George Chunakara, general secretary of the Christian Conference of Asia.
The World Council of Churches comments to the zero draft of the “Pact for the Future,” the envisaged outcome of the UN Summit for the Future, submitted on 12 February 2024 (extended version).
The World Council of Churches, the Muslim Council of Elders and Rose Castle Foundation are hosting an Emerging Peacemakers Forum for young men and women working in civil society and international organizations at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey.
Despite changes in child rights in recent decades, the world faces attacks on democracy, shrinking civil society space, and an unprecedented backlash against universal human rights, and these undermine child rights.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) has offered input for the articulation of the UN’s “New Agenda for Peace," a process intended to update the world body’s approach to peace and security in the current global context. In its submission – which is inspired to a significant extent by the WCC 11th Assembly statement on “The Things That Make For Peace”– the WCC focused especially on the need for greater financial and practical support for peacebuilding at national and local levels, rather than for division and military confrontation.
Sanctions should not harm the support for the most vulnerable, says a report on the impact of sanctions on humanitarian work presented at a side-event of 52nd session at the Human Rights Council of the United Nations in Geneva on 10 March.
As a “Living Together” celebration in Bagdad opened on 6 March, religious and ethnic leaders from Iraq celebrated diversity and, at the same time, candidly addressed challenges to inclusive citizenship. They were joined by representatives of Iraqi executive and legislative authorities as well as representatives from UN agencies and embassies.
Los jefes de las iglesias de Jerusalén, dirigentes del Consejo Mundial de Iglesias, asociados y amigos se reunieron en Jerusalén para conmemorar el 20o aniversario del Programa Ecuménico de Acompañamiento en Palestina e Israel.
Heads of churches in Jerusalem, World Council of Churches leaders, partners, and friends gathered in Jerusalem to commemorate the 20-year anniversary of the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel.
The World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) and the Christian Broadcasting Service of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon have partnered to help promote a more positive attitude and counter hate narratives toward migrants in Douala, Cameroon’s economic capital.
An interfaith consultation held 12-16 December in Beirut, Lebanon, offered the chance for participants from different traditions to share their vision for social and religious cohesion in Iraq, assessing the current context and envisioning the way forward.
“Holy Places and our Human Identities”, address of the World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca at the conference "International Religious Freedom and Peace – To Promote Freedom of Religion and Preservation of Spiritual, Cultural and Historical Heritage" held at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin from 8-12 September 2021.
As tension grows in the long-running regional dispute over a giant dam built by Ethiopia on the Blue Nile, one of the Nile River’s main tributaries, World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary, Rev. Prof. Dr. Ioan Sauca appealed to all WCC member churches in Ethiopia, Egypt, Sudan and around the world to pray for a peaceful solution to the problem.
Representatives of churches and religious communities will participate in the international online training “Mediation as a tool for conflict resolution in churches and (religious) communities in the context of shrinking spaces for civil society and churches”, organized by the United Evangelical Mission (UEM) in partnership with the Word Council of Churches.
As Mozambican churches respond to growing humanitarian challenges in the country, their leaders are urging the government to act decisively to end a violent conflict in the north which has left behind a trail of death, destruction and displacement.
World Council of Churches (WCC) interim general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca sent letters to Ethiopian prime minister Dr Abiy Ahmed Ali as well as to WCC member churches in Ethiopia expressing serious concern over alarming reports of conflict, massacres and other human rights abuses, particularly in the Tigray and Beninshangul-Gumuz regions, over the last months.
In the 7th Annual Symposium on the Role of Religion and Faith-Based Organizations in International Affairs, which drew several hundred online participants on 26 January, a lively discussion centered around “2021: A Defining Year for Accelerating Gender Equality, Equity and Justice.”
