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Keynote address of Rev. Dr Kenneth Mtata, WCC programme director for Public Witness and Diakonia at the "International Conference for Reconciliation in Colombia", Bogota, Colombia, 9 August 2023

In a joint message on gender-based violence, sexual abuse, and faith communities, 26 World Council of Churches (WCC) Thursdays in Black ambassadors lament that the scourge of sexual and gender-based violence continues unabated—and call on faith communities to prevent such violence in their own spaces.

Opening an online international seminar commemorating the life of  Dr Paulose Mar Gregorios, World Council of Churches (WCC) deputy general secretary Prof. Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri shared thoughts on his ecumenical contributions.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is making available a prayer to invite its member churches and partners across the world observe the International Day for the Elimination of  Racial Discrimination on 21 March 2021.

The Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform (EJHA) in the USA is dedicated to chemical safety and supporting healthy, toxic-free communities where people can safely live, work, play, pray and go to school. The alliance is rooted in the history of the environmental and economic justice movement. WCC-EWN talked to Michele Roberts of the Environmental Justice Health Alliance (EJHA) about challenges to safe drinking water in the USA, how these are closely related to systemic racism, and possible solutions to achieve water justice for all.

After 52 participants from 22 countries from different confessional and faith traditions gathered 16-19 June in Wuppertal, Germany, they have released "Kairos for Creation – Confessing Hope for the Earth”.

Are we in a time when the message of the threats of climate change is on its way to sink into our shared consciousness? After being active in the climate debates in the ecumenical and interreligious discussions and advocacy work with not so much of a visible impact on policies and action I am wondering if we are getting closer to the point where we should have been 20 years ago. A point that says that humanity needs to choose another way if we are going to secure a decent future for coming generations and to save ecosystems and peoples opportunities to have a good and peaceful life together.

The seventh and last reflection of the “Seven Weeks for Water 2019” of the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Water Network is by Ismael Fisco Jr., a young adult from the United Methodist Church in the Philippines, and former Chairperson of the ecumenical youth movement Kalipunan ng Kristiyanong Kabataan sa Pilipinas (KKKP). He currently works as Director for an international digital publishing company while pursuing his Law degree. He writes for several publications and was part of the communication team of past General Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA). In this reflection, Ismael laments the recent water crisis in Manila, Philippines, which is his home country. Inspired by Isaiah 55:1, he argues that water should not be commodified and therefore must not be privatised. He proposes that the blue community is the way to go to address the water crisis.

Plenary presentation delivered by Prof. Isabel Apawo Phiri at the 11th All Africa Conference of Churches Assembly Kigali, Rwanda

The story of the prophet Jonah tells us about a tortuous road of a call to conversion and about God’s infinite mercy both towards the reluctant prophet and towards “the great city in which there are more than a hundred twenty thousand persons … and a large number of animals” (Jonah 4:11).

The fifth reflection of the of the "Seven Weeks for Water", of World Council of Churches’ Ecumenical Water Network, is by Veronica Flachier, a journalist and theologian from Ecuador. In the following reflection she turns a leaf from the Ecuadorian Constitution and its national plan for gender equality and poverty eradication, which  puts drinking water and sanitation at its center.  She further adds that Ecuador recognises Good Living or Sumak Kawsay as an alternative to the so-called “development” and promotes living in harmony and in balance with the cycles of Mother Earth and “mother water”.

On the place where the continental platforms of Eurasia and North America can be observed drifting from each other WCC conference adopted a message on Just Peace with Earth. October 11-15 2017

Keynote address by Prof. Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri, WCC deputy general secretary, at the Consultative meeting towards developing the Ecumenical Health Strategy, 27 February 2017, Maseru, Lesotho.

Keynote address by Prof. Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri, WCC deputy general secretary, at the Consultative meeting towards developing the Ecumenical Health Strategy, 27 February 2017, Maseru, Lesotho.

Keynote address by Prof. Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri, WCC deputy general secretary, at the Consultative meeting towards developing the Ecumenical Health Strategy, 27 February 2017, Maseru, Lesotho.

Welcome message by Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri, WCC associate general secretary for Public Witness and Diakonia, at the consultation organized by the WCC and the South African Council of Churches.

These materials were prepared by the Student Christian Movement India (SCMI) and first published by the WCC's Ecumenical Water Network (EWN).

A study guide for congregations and ecumenical pilgrims by Dr Emily Welty

The sixth Biblical reflection of the Seven Weeks for Water 2014 is by Raj Bharath Patta, an ordained pastor from the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church in India, currently serving the Student Christian Movement of India as its general secretary. He understands the fifth word of Jesus  on the Cross (“I thirst”), as expression of his physical need. In this reflection, Patta illustrates the missiological relevance of this word of Jesus to us today, in our own contexts.

A statement issued by the World Council of Churches and the Middle East Council of Churches at the international and ecumenical conference on "Christian Presence and Witness in the Middle East" from 21 – 25 May 2013 at the Notre-Dame du Mont Monastery, Lebanon.