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As three World Council of Churches commissions—the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, Commission on Health and Healing, and Commission on Climate Justice and Sustainable Development—completed their meeting on 8 March in Geneva, they came away with a sense of collaborative determination to address the world’s challenges with hope and with practical actions. 

Remembrance Day, observed 1 March, is a national holiday in the Marshall Islands that honors victims and survivors of nuclear testing done in the area in the 1950s.

During a visit to Angola held 21-28 January, World Council of Churches (WCC) staff met with local church and community leaders to discuss how preventing obstetric fistula is a matter of human rights.

With a focus on the legacy of nuclear testing and climate change, the World Council of Churches (WCC) is planning a pilgrimage visit to the Marshall Islands on 16-24 November.

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay met with Melissa Parke, the new executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).

A World Council of Churches delegation led by general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay has concluded its visit to Armenia after “witnessing dramatic events”.

Peter Prove, director of the World Council of Churches Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, spoke on a nuclear weapons-free world during “The Audacity of Peace” gathering in Berlin.

Speaking on behalf of the World Council of Churches (WCC) at a “Churches Together South Australia” event on 13 August, WCC director of international affairs Peter Prove offered an address on “Imagining a Safer World.”

The World Council of Churches joined other global and regional groups in delivering to the UN an interfaith statement in support of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots.

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.

More than 600 people attended the Ninth Annual Symposium on the Role of Religion and Faith-based Organizations in International Affairs, held online on 24 January. Exploring the theme “Securing People’s Wellbeing and Planetary Sustainability,” the symposium was organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and a coalition of faith-based and UN partners. The event featured UN officials, representatives of international faith-based organizations, and other experts on climate change, disarmament, and other relevant topics.

An interfaith panel discussion on climate, held 21 September, sent a clear message to the world’s governments: a social and spiritual transformation must underpin policies that care for the earth and the most vulnerable people living on it.

A new “Local Changemakers Course” is being released by the Freedom of Religion or Belief Learning Platform to help empower local communities in their fight for human rights, particularly freedom of religion or belief.

A World Council of Churches (WCC) webcast on 3 December will introduce a new campaign guide for churches concerned about autonomous weapons systems, also known as “killer robots”.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) has facilitated churches’ engagement in a wide range of critical issues of the world since the last WCC Assembly in Busan, concluded the 58th meeting of the WCC CCIA, gathering church representatives in Johannesburg and online in the 75th anniversary year of the Commission’s creation.

With the welcoming sound of South African drums, the 58th meeting of the World Council of Churches Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) began this week in Johannesburg, reviewing the work of the commission between two WCC assemblies and discussing the churches’ engagement in critical issues of the world today.

An intergenerational conversation held online on 7 September will convene past and current directors and commissioners of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, which was founded 75 years ago in the wake of the Second World War.

A group of bikers from the Bike for Peace visited the World Council of Churches on 30 August as part of a commemoration in the Place de Nations. 

The Christian Conference of Asia is organizing a two-week Institute on Human Rights, which began 17 May, offering participants from Asian countries an opportunity to explore the theme “Being Defenders of Human Rights and Human Dignity.”

The World Council of Churches joined dozens of other faith-based and humanitarian groups in signing a Global Civil Society Statement on Myanmar urging the United Nations Security Council to impose a comprehensive global arms embargo on Myanmar to help prevent further violations of human rights against peaceful protesters and others opposing military rule.