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The central committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC) today called on the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam to respect the terms and conditions of the 2002 cease-fire agreement, put an immediate end to all hostilities and resume peace negotiations without future delay.

By Stephen Webb (*)

The global fund for tackling HIV and AIDS should be distributed through churches because they have the best access to the populations affected.

The gathering of the new WCC central committee, the 55th session since the Council was established in 1948, represents a diverse and colourful cross-section of the Christian world. Young pastors and lay people sit alongside venerable archbishops and monks, all appointed to represent their churches and serve for the coming seven years on the WCC's main governing body.

Dr Peter Piot, Bishop Mark Hanson, Canon Gideon Byamugisha, Rev. Rick Warren and his wife Kay, and Erik Sawyer are among speakers at ecumenical and interfaith pre-conferences taking place on the eve of the world's largest HIV/AIDS conference.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia encouraged the Council's member churches to pray for all those suffering as a result of the Middle East crisis, to support the appeals for emergency aid and to speak out for justice among the states and peoples in the region.

A high-level meeting to urge the strengthening and continued presence of the UN peacekeeping force in Haiti was held on 14 July in New York, hosted by the Canadian government in collaboration with the UN liaison office of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and World Vision.

The new wave of violence in the Middle East is a cause for alarm around the world, and all sides should cease the violent confrontation and ensure the protection of civilians, the World Council of Churches (WCC) appealed today.

At its first meeting, the WCC's newly-appointed Standing Commission on Faith and Order named six officers to oversee its work until the next WCC Assembly in 2013. Following an address by WCC general secretary Samuel Kobia, the Standing Commission also outlined major areas of study for the period.

At its first meeting since its appointment in February 2006, the WCC's executive committee has approved new programmatic directions for the Council and has endorsed a framework for activities in the coming years.

Leaders of the World Council of Churches (WCC) issued an appeal today for the churches and international community to urgently refocus efforts to safeguard the fragile peace process in Sudan, and warned of the risks of an "ominous humanitarian crisis of gigantic proportion" if those responsible for crimes against humanity in the Darfur province are not brought to justice.

For peace to be achieved, both parties to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should be held to identical standards on ending violence, respecting agreements, and recognizing the other says the World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee.