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On the final day of the World Council of Churches’ (WCC) 11^th Assembly, participants are contributing to a strong visual statement of their solidarity for a world without rape and violence through the Thursdays in Black campaign.

A Christian vision of a Just Community of Women and Men was approached from many geographical and church perspectives at a pre-assembly plenary session on the morning of Monday 29 August. The pre-assembly is being held 29-30 August in advance of the 11th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Karlsruhe, Germany.

Four World Council of Churches (WCC) pre-assemblies are about to convene, drawing hundreds of people eager to, in a safe space, share their honest reflections and life challenges. The pre-assemblies include Indigenous Peoples, Ecumenical Youth Gathering, Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network, and Just Community of Women and Men.

A “Go for Gender Justice” initiative was launched by the Protestant Church in Germany in Berlin on 1 February with calls for overcoming gender clichés and traditional role models. Germany’s "First Lady,” the judge Elke Büdenbender called on women and men to fight together for social change. Under the motto "Go for Gender Justice,” nine regional churches invited people to move together toward gender equality.

A team from the Church of Westphalia visited the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Institute at Bossey from 27 September to 1 October, exploring a global view of ecumenism by learning about the WCC as a global ecumenical organisation.

Bishop Johan Tyrberg and a delegation from the Church of Sweden in Lund visited the World Council of Churches on 22-23 September, participating in a morning prayer for Christian unity, receiving a guided tour and discussing the theme of the World Council of Churches (WCC) 11th Assembly, “Christ’s love moves the world to reconciliation and unity.”

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Thursdays in Black campaign has created new “virtual backgrounds” to help people raise awareness about gender-based violence.

As she joined women from Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, and Catholic perspectives, World Council of Churches deputy general secretary Prof. Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri offered an ecumenical perspective on Fratelli tutti, the third encyclical of Pope Francis on fraternity and social friendship.

Damaris, a Nigerian woman, described her experience of 2020: “We’ve gone through hell.”

Damaris and her sisters were kidnapped in March 2020 and threatened with death as their kidnappers demanded money. Her father had to sell everything and beg on the streets to meet their demands. “We are just a common people in Nigeria,” she said. “We don’t know what we did.”

A webinar hosted by the World Council of Churches (WCC) on 26 November will explore “Conflict Zones and Covid-19: A call to compassion.” Speakers from Cameroon, Nigeria, South Sudan, Lebanon, Belarus and Colombia will offer their insights on how conflict exacerbates the conditions for contracting and treating COVID-19 among civilians caught in the crossfire, especially women.

A new Facebook profile frame developed by the WCC is helping people express their support for the upcoming “16 Days against Gender-Based Violence.”

Upon the 20th anniversary of the UN Resolution 1325, the question is still being answered as to whether women’s important work in peace and security is getting the visibility it deserves.