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For children, the COVID-19 pandemic is more about the impact of containment measures than a health issue, as such. Confinement may put children at risk for domestic violence and affect their rights to education, care and protection. Churches around the globe are well-positioned to pro-tect and champion child rights further.

As coronavirus cases rise sharply in Latin American countries, so has violence against women.

Thursdays in Black grew out of women’s movements of resilience and resistance to injustice, abuse and violence. In the Pacific region, which has some of the highest recorded rates of violence against women, churches are leading conversations to change attitudes and actions. Domestic violence is prevalent throughout Fiji. According to UN Women’s Global Database on Violence against Women, almost 2 out of 3 women aged 18-64 in Fiji have experienced physical or sexual violence from their intimate partner – almost twice the global average.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) sent greetings to the Presbyterian Church of Colombia as the church commemorates 164 years of preaching and service.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have faced new challenges worldwide. Our life situation has changed drastically and in many places and regions of the world it has even become an existential challenge. We do face many ambiguities and uncertainties, which raise many questions. In such a life situation, it is good to rely on the experiences and practices of others, and to be part of a wider fellowship of voices of reason and support.

The legacy of sexual slavery before, during and after the brutal Korean War weighs heavily on the shoulders of the thousands of Korean women who lived for decades under a brutal militarized patriarchy.

On 26 June, the World Council of Churches (WCC) joined an online panel discussion for the launch of a global status report on preventing violence against children, released by UNICEF, WHO, UNESCO, the UN Special Representative on Violence against Children and the End Violence Partnership, of which WCC is a member.

Thursdays in Black ambassadors play a vital role in increasing the impact of our collective call for a world without rape and violence. Rev. Dr Tapio Luoma is the archbishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a new urgency to adopting an “Economy of Life,” and global religious groups that represent millions of people are saying now is the time.

Leaders of member churches in the South African Council of Churches wrote a pastoral letter to the people of South Africa, offering comfort and addressing the question of what will be the normal. “We write to say, God is with us even in these times of perplexing national pain,” reads the letter. “We applaud the scientific community, both here and at the World Health Organisation for the work they do in the face of a virus that is totally new to humanity; and we call on the nations of the world to support the WHO for the sake of all human society.”

In a statement published 23 April, the group “Faith in Beijing,” a collective of religious ac-tors and faith-based networks, called for the world to advocate governments and civil so-ciety for urgent COVID-19-related responses that protect women’s rights and achieve gender equality.

A WCC interview with Katherine Marshall, a senior fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, and professor of the practice of development, conflict, and religion at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.