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As the implementation of the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan gains ground, Christian and Muslim leaders have united to draw to attention to a growing conflict in Yei River state, which is displacing thousands while igniting a severe humanitarian challenge.

The South Sudan Council of Churches, United Nations World Food Programme, and UNICEF have signed an agreement to work in partnership towards peace building to realize food security.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) expressed its “growing concern” for the lives and welfare of all people affected by failure to resolve the political situation in Venezuela, in a statement jointly signed by Dr Agnes Abuom, moderator of the WCC Central Committee, and Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, WCC general secretary, on 14 February.

WCC News met with the Very Reverend Archimandrite Dr Alexi Chehadeh, who leads the Department of Ecumenical Relations and Development for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and all the East in Damascus, Syria. He is an impressive role model and peacemaker in Syria.

The third annual training of peace activists through the Young Ambassadors of Peace in Asia (YAPA) opened during an interfaith service at the headquarters of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) on 15 October.

What else could your family, your parish, your community do to respond to the needs of migrants and refugees arriving in your country? Representatives of many different churches met in Rome in September to discuss that practical question, as well as respond to the broader challenge of how people of faith can combat the rising tide of racism, xenophobia and nationalist policies that increasingly target vulnerable migrants and asylum seekers.

Participants at the conference “Xenophobia, Racism and Populist Nationalism in the Context of Global Migration” released a message on 19 September that affirms and upholds the institution of asylum for those fleeing from war, persecution or natural disaster, and invokes respect for the rights for all people on the move.

The conference, held in Rome, was organized jointly by the World Council of Churches and the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development in collaboration with the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has expressed deep regret over the decision by the government of the USA to withdraw all funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian Refugees.

As the worst flooding in half a century struck the southern India state of Kerala, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit called for prayers for those affected and for those responding, and expressed his sympathy for those who have lost loved ones in the disaster.

Churches, civil society organisations and almost 100 children and adolescents - many of whom experience poverty and violence daily - attended a consultation on 11 August organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) in the town of Pilar, north of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

“What?! You are going to the Barrio Borro? Sorry, I can’t drive you there, and no other taxi driver will do that for you. It is too dangerous to go there.” These were the reactions Frederique Seidel heard when she revealed her intention to visit the Obra Ecuménica Barrio Borro, in Uruguay.

On 29 June, the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) published guidance aimed at helping humanitarian agencies attune their work to the faith and background of people affected by conflict, disaster and displacement.

South Sudanese churches have welcomed the signing of a permanent ceasefire agreement by the main rivals, while cautioning that many other such pacts had also been dishonoured.

South Sudanese church leaders said in their Easter message that the Church stays committed to hope and refuses “to yield to fear or indifference” in their troubled homeland where the end of a bitter conflict seems elusive once again.

This week world leaders are gathered in Davos under the very theme of “Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World”. They do so at a time when we see poverty amongst plenty; hunger and thirst in the midst of abundance; shocking disparities in the quality of life between neighboring communities: real problems that the world has the potential and the possibilities to resolve.

"I think it is wonderful that ICAN won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize, we really need this when we see what today’s superpowers are doing. We all want peace on earth!"

“Christ is born” declares a drawing by Kenyan schoolboy Richard Ochieng, whose work is featured on the WCC’s Christmas card this year.

The Coptic Church does not have to worry about the future of its monasteries. Many young Copts want to become monks or nuns. That was not always the case. In the late 1960s, monasticism in Egypt was close to extinction.

In a press statement on 27 September, the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) called for government officials to offer adequate information in order to ensure peace and justice in the face of panic buying of fuel and basic food items.