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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.

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.

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.

In a global campaign, the WCC invites people across the globe to extend “A Light of Peace” for the Korean Peninsula and for a world free from nuclear weapons.

The WCC congratulated its partner, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), for receiving the Nobel Peace Prize on 6 October.

In a 15 September letter to Swedish foreign affairs minister Margot Wallström, WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit expressed strong support for religious leaders in Sweden who have requested that Sweden take part in the next step towards entry-into-force for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which opens for signature on 20 September at the United Nations.

As the recent developments of nuclear weapons and increased tensions between United States and North Korea leaders can bring the world to the brink of war, churches around the world are calling for bilateral dialogue, expressing their commitment to peace and nonviolent resolution.

On the 72nd anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the world can find hope in a new treaty, the text of which has been negotiated and agreed by a large majority of the world’s governments, to outlaw nuclear weapons.

Banning nuclear weapons is something like climbing a mountain. The summit of this mountain – agreement on a ban treaty – is now clearly in view at United Nations negotiations in New York.

Governments’ foreign policies need to change to focus on issues such as global inequalities that drive conflicts in many parts of the world, the moderator of the WCC Central Committee, Agnes Abuom, said at a forum in Berlin with German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel.

Governments should capitalize on years of growing concern and negotiate a ban on nuclear weapons next year, the World Council of Churches (WCC) said in an inter-religious call at the United Nations on 12 October. Speaking on behalf of Christian, Buddhist and Muslim organizations, Dr Emily Welty urged delegates to “negotiate a legally-binding instrument prohibiting nuclear weapons”.  

“Negotiate a legally-binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons”. Do it “in 2017”. Make sure the negotiations are “open to all states” and include civil society. These are key points in a much-disputed report adopted last week by a United Nations working group of more than 100 countries meeting in Geneva.

To raise awareness on the work of churches and church-related organizations engaged in peace-building efforts in Colombia, the WCC and Caritas Internationalis are promoting an event in New York on 18 August.

This year 6 and 9 August mark the 71st anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, two Japanese cities destroyed by atomic bombs with a combined death toll estimated at more than 225,000 people.