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Pauline Wanjiru Njiru with one of Kenya's Grandmothers against Poverty and AIDS. Now in her 80s, Naomi has been bent over since she broke her spine while cutting firewood in order to cook for her orphaned grandchildren.

Fighting ignorance, fear and stigma through Bible study

The shock expressed by members of a rural congregation when offered an opportunity for voluntary HIV testing and counselling, and other similar experiences have taught Pauline Wanjiru Njiru that it is not the Human Immunodeficiency Virus that kills people, but fear, stigma and ignorance.

09 December 2011
Document
Statement: public statement
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Religious minorities and rights for religious freedom

We, the participants of the International Study Consultation on Freedom of Religion and the Rights of Religious Minorities - drawn from churches, church related organisations, academia, civil society and human rights organisations and the legal profession in 23 countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, the Americas and Europe - met in Istanbul, Turkey as part of an international study consultation organised by the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs of the World Council of Churches. The Consultation analysed the situations of rights of religious minorities and freedom of religion in various contexts.

02 December 2011
Commission on International Affairs
Document
Message
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AGAPE Consultation: There's a new world in the making

This document arises from the North American consultation on poverty, wealth and ecology sponsored by the World Council of Churches and held in Calgary, Alberta from 6 to 11 November 2011. This consultation that included representatives from Christian confessions in Canada and the United States of America along with representatives from other ecumenical organizations and local and global ecumenical partners took place at a time of deep global financial crisis and people’s resistance around the world. It is directed to the World Council of Churches, its member churches and partner organizations and all who share in the ideals and goals of this conference.

11 November 2011
WCC Programmes
News
Dr Sarojini Nadar at a discussion on Forms of missionary engagement

Challenging gender inequity in pursuit of women's health

Dr Sarojini Nadar is a theologian from South Africa working on the issues of gender, religion and health for many years. She is currently serving as senior lecturer and director of the Gender and Religion programme, School of Religion and Theology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Nadar has been deeply involved with churches to raise awareness about women

02 November 2011
News
Participants of WCC Africa Human Rights Defenders Training, Sierra Leone

Human rights advocacy is a prophetic witness of the churches

Participants in the second Africa Human Rights Defenders Training in West Africa organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) have called on faith-based institutions to use their constituencies to uphold human rights and dignity. They have expressed concern on failures in the justice system and denial of human dignity to the majority of people in the Mano River Union countries.

01 November 2011
News
Rommel F. Linatoc. Photo: Fredrick Nzwili/WCC

Water: a political issue needing political solution

Dr Rommel F. Linatoc reflected on the issues of water and sanitation from an ecumenical perspective in the Philippines, speaking in an interview at the Global Forum of the Ecumenical Water Network. The theme of the forum, which took place from 25-27 October in Nairobi, Kenya, was "Like a tree planted by the water".

27 October 2011
News
WCC consultation on Christian self-understanding in the context of Hindu religion at Bossey Ecumenical Institute, Switzerland

WCC explores Christian self-understanding in context of Hindu religion

With the rise of religious fundamentalism and religious extremism in the world, as well as recently emerging tensions in India over the issues of conversions, a genuine need exists to review Christian -Hindu relationships afresh, according to the participants of a consultation organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) on Christian self-understanding in the context of Hindu religion.

18 October 2011
News
Rev. Kjell Magne Bondevik speaking in a morning prayer dedicated to Mental Health Day at the Ecumenical Centre, Geneva

Praying and reflecting on World Mental Health Day

"Mental illnesses affect people of all ages, in all societies, from the boy soldier in Sierra Leone traumatized by years of bloody civil war, to the mother affected by HIV/AIDS. Therefore it is crucial for the churches to challenge the stigma attached to mental illness,"€ the Rev. Kjell Magne Bondevik reminds the churches.

10 October 2011
Document
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2011 Nobel Peace Prize

In a statement published on Friday 7 October, the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, formally acknowledged the commitment and achievements of the three women who are to be awarded this year's Nobel prize for peace. It was announced on Friday morning that the prize will be shared by Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Roberta Gwobee of Liberia and Yemeni woman's rights activist Tawakkul Karman.

08 October 2011
General Secretary
News
The Valihan'i Jehovah Choir—, a group from the ecumenical community of Madagascar based in Switzerland, sang at a prayer service celebrated in Geneva's St. Pierre Cathedral marking the WCC's 60th anniversary in 2008.

WCC opens its arms to migrant Christian communities

To recognize the contribution of migrant communities in church life and continue the search for more authentic forms of Christian unity, the World Council of Churches (WCC) has invited members of the diverse migrant Christian communities in Geneva to a conference on “Migration and the Ecclesial Landscapes: An Ecumenical Response to Migration” from 30 September – 1 October 2011 at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva.

28 September 2011
Document
Statement: public statement
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Ten years after 9/11

Ten years after the 9 September 2001, when thousands of people from more than 90 countries were killed in a coordinated assault on targets in the United States, the WCC general secretary reflects on the legacy of pain, grief, disorder and enmity, and on the power and meaning to be found in supportive prayers and other expressions of compassion.

07 September 2011
General Secretary