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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.

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.

At a consultation on religion and development on 28 September, WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit shared thoughts on an emerging global religion and development agenda. The meeting was convened by the ACT Alliance. Tveit and other participants shared their thoughts on how faith-based and humanitarian groups can work together to help reach the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The leadership and representatives of the World Evangelical Alliance and the WCC met in the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, Switzerland to explore and discuss possible areas of future cooperation.

A former WCC official, Rev. Charles Harper, has been honoured with the Order Comendador de Mayo, a high decoration of the Argentine government for his emblematic legacy of struggles for human rights in the ecumenical movement.

Inspired by the theme “pilgrimage of justice and peace”, the Central Committee of the WCC, a chief governing body of the Council, has set directions for the work of the Council from 2014 to 2017.

By Marcelo Schneider (*)

“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.

South Africa, Australia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Greece, French Polynesia (Maohi Nui), Pakistan, Syria and Myanmar have provided the subjects for statements and minutes of concern voiced by the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC) as part of public issues actions during a recent meeting of that governing body at the Orthodox Academy of Crete in Kolympari, Greece.

By Marcelo Schneider (*)

In The Ecumenical Review of March 2012, Christian experts survey the current position of churches throughout the Middle East. According to the editors, past year’s historic events in the Arab world “have highlighted the aspirations to citizens for their dignity and freedom”, yet these same developments “have also raised new and serious challenges for the many Christian communities there.”

In a recent visit to Pakistan, a World Council of Churches (WCC) delegation met with prime minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, religious leaders, civil society organizations and UN representatives urging protection of religious minorities, especially against the misuse of blasphemy law in the country.

By Aneth Lwakatare (*)

By Aneth Lwakatare (*)

By Maurice Malanes (*)

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A seminar on the responsibility of the UN for human rights in Iraq, to be held at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva on Tuesday 22 March 2005 (13:00-16:00), will focus on the norms and principles that should apply to the situation in Iraq, and facilitate a dialogue on the responsibilities of the international community and UN human rights machinery.