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Getting more people tested and treated for HIV, caring for the sick, helping people understand how to care for themselves —these are the tasks of faith-based organizations (FBOs) helping people with HIV in local communities.

Charles R. (“Chuck”) Harper, director of the Latin American human rights resource office at the World Council of Churches (WCC) from 1973 to 1992, died on 25 May 2016 in Saint Hilaire d’Ozihan, France. A Presbyterian minister and ecumenical activist, he was the recipient of presidential awards from Chile in 2011 and Argentina in 2014 for his dedication to the defence, protection and restoration of human rights in those countries.

During the 4th United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights, the WCC, in collaboration with the ACT Alliance and Lutheran World Federation, organized a side-event on “Faith-based organizations’ contribution to the protection of communities’ land rights: lessons learnt and good practices from Africa, Asia and Latin America” at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva.

A former WCC official, Rev. Charles Harper, has been honoured with the Order Comendador de Mayo, a high decoration of the Argentine government for his emblematic legacy of struggles for human rights in the ecumenical movement.

The new, global and potentially life-saving Arms Trade Treaty, years in the making, is showing record progress toward coming into effect.

How can Africa attain economic liberation, social welfare, as well as ecological protection in partnership with the European Union (EU), United States (US) and China? An ecumenical gathering in Tanzania will address this question by assessing investments in poverty eradication and development in the region.

A staff member of the Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiative in Africa (EHAIA) has been elected as general secretary of the Council of Christian Churches in Angola (CICA). She will be the first woman to serve as general secretary of the CICA, a position she considers an “opportunity to mobilize African churches to do more” in healing HIV affected communities.

In a recent World Council of Churches (WCC) consultation, participants analyzed the impact of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) in Africa’s sub-regions. They pointed out that more than sixty percent of deaths in battle-related conflicts are caused by small arms, and billions of dollars are spent every year on small arms.

Calle Almedal from Sweden has worked on issues of HIV since 1982. He is a former consultant for the Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiative in Africa (EHAIA), a project of the World Council of Churches. In an interview he speaks about HIV's impact on communities, the importance of education in sexual health and churches' responses to HIV.

Whether facilitating training, translating information, or distributing printed materials, Deolinda Dorcas Teca is determined to help craft the tools people in the Portuguese language region of Africa will use to face the challenges of HIV and AIDS.

A new inter-religious partnership for health will be kick-started at the United Nations Millennium Development Goals Review Summit in New York, 20-22 September.

Violent conflict leaves wounds not only on the victim's body but also in the soul of the community. The healing of these invisible wounds was the subject of a 5-11 September regional consultation and training session for Southern African church representatives.

"Our commitment to peace as churches and as Christians is something we have inherited at birth, or, indeed, from the birth of the baby of Bethlehem," said Bishop Dr Martin Schindehütte of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) at a day preparing for the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation.

The international tug-of-war over carbon emission thresholds and other instruments meant to limit the deterioration of the earth's climate has caused a big stir in recent months, but yielded little results. Therefore the international community must now get ready to take care of those who will be forced from their homes by climate change.

By Juan Michel (*)

By Jonathan Frerichs (*)

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A team of church representatives from Portugal, Switzerland and Brazil is paying a solidarity visit to churches, ecumenical organizations and civil society organizations in Angola and Mozambique from 18 to 28 July.

For the first time, the All Africa Conference of Churches gave prominent space to the water and environmental crises at its general assembly in Maputo, Mozambique, 7-12 December .

Liberian information minister Lawrence K. Bropleh spoke Monday on behalf of his country's president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, in a keynote address to the ninth assembly of the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC). He called on African churches to regain and reassert their vision of bold leadership against a backdrop of global financial meltdown and political instability.