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The systemic injustices of racism, colonialism and slavery—and how they feed into increases in violence and atrocities—held the attention of hundreds of people who attended the online Symposium on the Role of Religion and Faith-based Organizations in International Affairs on 25 January.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is gathering a group of experts and practitioners on Overcoming Racism, Racial Discrimination and Xenophobia for a pre-Assembly consultation on 6-10 December, in Geneva.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is currently working on learning from its member churches and other partners about the realities around the world of racism, discrimination, and xenophobia, WCC director of international affairs Peter Prove has told a gathering at the United Nations in Geneva.
Prove, director of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, Prove was speaking on 17 September at a side event during the 42nd UN Human Rights Council from 9 - 27 September at the Palais des Nations.

Twenty-seven young ecumenists from across Asia are currently attending the month-long Asian Ecumenical Institute organized by the Christian Conference of Asia. The programme aims to provide ecumenical formation and leadership development training for prospective church and ecumenical leaders. It is being held at the Christian Conference of Asia headquarters in Payap University Campus in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Why do people move? When their movement is forced, how should this be addressed? How can nations and faith-based organizations work together to mitigate the causes of forced migration and protect individuals who are forced to flee? What are the national and international legal architectures that need to be constructed to prevent a repeat of our recent failures as nations and organizations to protect and provide for migrants? What risks and rights challenges do migrants face in transit and in destination countries? What are the social costs of migration? And what is the benefit of host nations receiving migrants?

A consultation in Arusha, Tanzania, has issued a communique entitled “Sustainable Peace in Burundi.” The meeting, organized by the World Council of Churches and the United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect, drew together Burundian religious leaders on 18-19 October.

Progress and current challenges in eliminating global statelessness were discussed during a public event at the UNHCR’s headquarters in Geneva on 27 October, marking the second anniversary of the global #IBelong campaign.

Roman Catholic and WCC representatives are forging new ways of working together on today’s most pressing issues.

Interview with Fr James Oyet-Latansio (JOL), general secretary of the Christian Council in South Sudan and Mr Ferdinand von Habsburg-Lothringen (FHL), advisor on reconciliation, South Sudan Council of Churches

Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance negate the essence of human beings by negating their origins and identities. This year marks the fifteenth anniversary of the 2001 World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance held in Durban, South Africa.

Representatives of more than 150 faith-based organizations gathered in Bogota, Colombia on 5 November to discuss their role in the peace process in that country. The meeting was organized by the Ministry of Interior and drew participation from the WCC.

“From the very beginning, women in the ecumenical movement have been raising the question of who is missing around the table and why,” said Dr Fulata Mbano-Moyo, speaking at the Latin American Congress on Gender and Religion.

United Nations leaders and the WCC have agreed that the international community and faith leaders need to cooperate more on working to fight the scourge of the deadly Ebola virus.

Encouraging faith-based perspectives in the United Nations initiated dialogue on culture and its role in shaping the post-2015 development agenda, the WCC UN office in New York invites churches to participate in an e-consultation.

Working in alliance with churches is strategically important, said a UN representative at the recent assembly of the Latin American Council of Churches.

“No state should take away the right of its citizens to debate a law that affects them gravely. Therefore, there is a growing need of dialogue on the blasphemy law and its negative impacts on religious minorities in Pakistan,” said I.A. Rehman, veteran human rights activist and director of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in a side event at the United Nation’s Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.