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Peace in Colombia has been a long time coming, began Juan Carlos Cuéllar, representative of the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), as he spoke at a World Council of Churches (WCC) panel discussion titled "The things that make for peace in Colombia” on 9 April.

The Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI) has issued a statement unequivocally condemning torture against civilians in Papua, following the emergence of videos which appear to show the violent mistreatment of indigenous Papuans by members of Indonesian armed forces.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay met with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, West Bank, on 19 February, urging an end to the “seemingly endless cycle of violence and suffering.” 

The World Council of Churches (WCC), on 12 February, submitted comments to the zero draft of the “Pact for the Future,” the envisaged outcome of the UN Summit for the Future.

The tenth rendition of the Annual Symposium on the Role of Religion and Faith-based Organizations in International Affairs was held on 23 January in New York City, drawing more than 700 registered followers online;

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay met with Melissa Parke, the new executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has offered input for the articulation of the UN’s “New Agenda for Peace," a process intended to update the world body’s approach to peace and security in the current global context. In its submission – which is inspired to a significant extent by the WCC 11th Assembly statement on “The Things That Make For Peace”– the WCC focused especially on the need for greater financial and practical support for peacebuilding at national and local levels, rather than for division and military confrontation.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) and Religions for Peace will issue on 9 May a joint message on statelessness, “Belonging—Affirmations for Faith Leaders”.

The document is one of the most recent fruits of WCC work that has been ongoing for more than a decade around the issue of statelessness. It is currently available in English, French, Spanish and Arabic.

Addressing the challenges for a common vision of churches on human rights today, the international conference “Christian Perspectives on Human Dignity and Human Rights” will take place on 9-12 April in Wuppertal, Germany. Everyone is invited to follow the public session of the conference on 11 April, when a panel of the keynote speakers will bring together biblical, theological and practical perspectives on human dignity.

Participants in a meeting of members and partners of the Ecumenical Forum for Peace, Reunification & Cooperation on the Korean Peninsula (EFK), held online on 25 August, emphasized the need to continue to work together for peace on the Korean Peninsula even amid COVID-19 and challenging political circumstances.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) condemns the violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex during the night of Friday 7 May, in which more than 200 people are reported to have been wounded. Reacting to the news, WCC acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca called on Israel to respect the status quo of holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City in the interest of peace and stability. We also call for all to refrain from further violence, and from provocative and destabilizing actions.”

Church leaders from across the world are expressing their grave concern over the government of Israel’s plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.

Erich Weingartner, who previously helped lead the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, has also represented CanKor, a Canadian interactive resource on North Korea. From the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, he was also founding head of the Food Aid Liaison Unit of the World Food Programme.