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In a historical overview of the relationship between the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the United Nations, a new WCC publication explores why the shared purposes of the organizations are needed now more than ever.

In a regional training workshop coordinated by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Council for World Mission, more than 40 participants from 10 nations in the Pacific examined situ-ations where people start life without a nationality, or can become stateless during their lifetimes.

World Council of Churches (WCC) programme executive for Human Rights and Disarmament Jennifer Philpot-Nissen told a parliamentary standing committee in Fiji that victims of nuclear testing in the Pacific are often marginalized, and the consequences of the testing in the region have largely remained invisible and unaddressed by the wider world.

Pacific islands experience lasting impacts of the 50 years of nuclear testing and the region has become a global hotspot of climate change, the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) learned in its meeting this week in Brisbane, Australia.

On International Human Rights Day, observed on 10 December each year, the World Council of Churches (WCC) is not only commemorating the day but actively continuing its human rights work on many levels. For more than 70 years, the WCC has supported member churches and partners from many countries and contexts as they work to support their governments in making human rights a reality for all.

The work of the World Council of Churches (WCC) related to disarmament continues to endure and expand, even as the world faces increasing injustice and tensions that threaten peace on a daily basis.

In a declaration on 23 August, the 10th World Assembly of Religions for Peace called for caring for our common future and advancing shared well-being. The assembly, held in Lindau, Germany, drew 900 people from 125 countries.

Virag Kinga Mezei is a Hungarian intern for the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs. With a passion for human rights, she regularly engages in discussions while also getting training through the WCC on mechanisms that lead to the achievement of racial and social justice.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) made a positive impact at the 41st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, held 24 June through 12 July.

The WCC has a long history of engagement with the United Nations human rights system, in witnessing and advocating for human dignity and justice on behalf of the worldwide ecumenical movement.

On 1 May, faith communities delivered a public statement to the Third Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2020 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

Archbishop of York John Habgood, a member of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee from 1983 to 1991 and moderator of Church and Society from 1983 to 1990, died on 6 March at the age of 91. A scientist and philosopher, Habgood was regarded as one of the most outspoken clerics of his time.

Last month, three members of Nigeria’s Christian community spoke to Government representatives in Geneva, spotlighting the challenges that children, and particularly girls, face in their society. Their meetings took place ahead of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of their country, at the United Nations this week.

In the wake of the recent Panmunjom Declaration, signed in April by South Korean President Moon Jae-In and Chairman Kim Jung Un of North Korea (DPRK), as well as the June summit of Chairman Kim with US President Donald J. Trump, the WCC central committee has re-assessed the prospects for peace on the troubled Korean peninsula.

After the United States (US) - Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) summit concluded, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit gave thanks to God for what he called “an important first step on the path to a more peaceful and secure future in the region.”

A group of German ecumenical activists including former WCC general secretary Konrad Raiser has criticised the German government for its failure to support the United Nations treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons. “It has become clear to many people in recent months that nuclear weapons do not offer lasting security and protection, but remain a continuing threat to humanity and creation,” the ecumenical activists said in an appeal published in Berlin on 20 February, referring to the stand-off between the United States and North Korea.

This year it is five hundred years since the Reformation. This has been commemorated throughout the year. A lot has happened in the world. The Reformation is ongoing in churches around the world. Discussions are constantly held about how a church should be today and how to reach out with the gospel. WCC News meets Bishop Helga Haugland Byfuglien this year, one of the most experienced and prominent women among Lutheran bishops in the world.

When WCC’s long-time partner, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), was awarded the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize, another small but important step towards a safer world was taken. Not only was it a recognition of global efforts to abolish nuclear weapons, but also an affirmation of the role Christian churches have played at local and grassroots levels to raise awareness and mobilize people against nuclear proliferation.

The WCC has for decades been calling for a world free from nuclear weapons. As the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), a WCC partner, received the Nobel Peace Prize over the weekend, WCC leaders reflected on the next steps to build on momentum toward ridding the world of nuclear weapons.

In an historic ceremony on 10 December at Oslo City Hall in Norway, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) accepted the Nobel Peace Prize and urged the world to continue its work toward an unequivocal norm against nuclear weapons.

ICAN campaigners in Oslo for the Nobel Peace Prize award were busy the day before planning for what comes next. ”Tomorrow we will have to be silent so let’s make a lot of noise today,” a facilitator told some 150 activists and supporters of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.