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"Greed and Global Economics" is the theme of the latest issue of Ecumenical Review. In view of the current economic, financial and ecological crises, theologians, economists, an ethicist, and an historian provide an analysis of the issues of economic justice and structural greed.

Dr Rommel F. Linatoc reflected on the issues of water and sanitation from an ecumenical perspective in the Philippines, speaking in an interview at the Global Forum of the Ecumenical Water Network. The theme of the forum, which took place from 25-27 October in Nairobi, Kenya, was "Like a tree planted by the water".

After a meeting with Ricardo Patiño, minister of Foreign Affair, Trade and Integration of Ecuador, World Council of Churches (WCC) officials call the Yasuni Ishpingo Tambococha Tiputini (ITT) initiative of the Ecuador government a courageous model of development.

Climate change is impacting human life and nature in severe ways. Yet it is the vulnerable who suffer most. As the life of such people is dependent on eco-systems for survival, churches join hands with other faith based organizations to support their cause, stressing an ethical aspect in the debate on climate change.

Thirteen West African countries. Thousands of youth and women. The numbers are daunting. But Ayoko Bahun-Wilson, West Africa regional coordinator of the Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiative in Africa (EHAIA), is determined to help West African youth become conscious, committed and prepared to fight to reduce the rate of HIV infections.

At a time when the impact of climate change is on the front page of nearly every newspaper, magazine and web page, churches around the world are calling for a renewed commitment towards the environment and ecosystems.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has joined in a call to observe Thursday 1 September through Tuesday 4 October 2011 as a time for prayer, reflection and re-dedication regarding care for and just use of God’s gifts in nature.

Young Christians aged 18-30 years are invited to apply for a programme addressing the links between environmental and socio-economic justice which is jointly organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in the context of United Nations climate negotiations in the latter part of 2011.

South Sudan achieves its independence on Saturday 9 July 2011, and the new president has received congratulations and an assurance of continued solidarity from the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC). In a letter dated 7 July on behalf of the WCC, Tveit extended to the president of the Republic of South Sudan, General Salva Kiir Mayardit, “our prayers and very best wishes for the bright and peaceful future of your country and people.”

“If we don’t have dreams about what we want to become true, we are not quite realistic,” says the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC). “A radical realism in the form of dreams is required to open the space for serious dialogue on the challenges we are facing together.”

The experience of the German city of Dresden demonstrates how churches can be witnesses to peace and reconciliation based on justice, the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit,  said in advance of the 33rd German Protestant Kirchentag 1- 5 June.

The Rev. Joachim Mukambu Ya'Namwisi, who represents both the Mennonite Church and the Church of Christ in the Democratic Republic of Congo, said he has watched churches develop increasing strength when it comes to standing up for basic human rights.

Sofía Chipana Quispe is part of the first generation of her family born in the city. Her parents migrated to La Paz, Bolivia, from the Andean mountain rural areas before she was born in 1952.

Tuvalu, a Polynesian island nation in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Australia, is home to more than 11,000 people, whose very existence, which at one time was tied to the ocean and its bounty, is now threatened by rising ocean water levels.

The International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) formally opened on Wednesday in Kingston, Jamaica, as theologians, faith leaders and the prime minister of Jamaica welcomed some 1,000 participants from more than 100 countries.

In an encyclical letter intended to be read in congregations of the Church of Constantinople around the world on Sunday 22 May, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I welcomes “with great joy” the initiative of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in convening the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) in Kingston, Jamaica from 17 through 25 May 2011.

The “dignity of work” or “decent work” in the context of a values-based response to globalization was at the core of a recent international inter-religious seminar hosted by the Geneva-based World Council of Churches (WCC).

The Chernobyl disaster of 25 years ago remains a human and environmental tragedy so severe the consequences will continue for centuries. Its anniversary this week is especially timely given the current emergency in Japan which echoes some of Chernobyl’s hard lessons. To learn them would honour those who suffer from the past and could save lives in the future.

Five general secretaries of international ecumenical organizations engaged in lively conversation with leaders of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) on Friday 8 April, the final day of the EKD Council’s visit to the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva. The general secretaries are heads of the ACT Alliance, the Conference of European Churches (CEC), the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) and the World Council of Churches (WCC).