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Working on human rights and disarmament for the World Council of Churches (WCC) does not show instant results. The quest needs perseverance, says the WCC programme executive who interacts with the United Nations in Geneva. Jennifer Philpot-Nissen, a trained human rights lawyer, has the task of engaging on human rights and disarmament for the WCC's Commission of the Churches on International Affairs.

The All Africa Conference of Churches has welcomed the coming into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, stating on 26 January that the treaty “addresses the disproportionate impact of nuclear weapons on women and indigenous peoples.”

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is hosting a webcast on 27 January that focuses on how to reach the vision of a nuclear weapons-free world after the celebrated milestone of the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

The WCC Executive Committee met in Uppsala, Sweden from 1-8 November to approve the 2019 programme plans and budget, follow up and decide on a variety of assembly matters, review the WCC strategic plan, discuss world affairs and issue seven statements in response to current situations. The Executive Committee also discerned the way forward for the WCC’s Communication Strategy.

In its continuing efforts to outlaw nuclear weapons, the WCC has issued public support for French Polynesia’s petition to the UN for redress for ongoing effects of nuclear testing there.

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.

Sit beside Bishop Mary Ann Swenson for five minutes, and you see that she is constantly nurturing people to learn more about each other, walk together, and become more unified, no matter their differences.

This year 6 and 9 August mark the 71st anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, two Japanese cities destroyed by atomic bombs with a combined death toll estimated at more than 225,000 people.

Participants in a recent WCC consultation in Myanmar have stressed the need to equip churches and ecumenical organizations to build peace, human security and human dignity in order to move beyond conflicts, towards a world of peace.

Inspired by the theme “pilgrimage of justice and peace”, the Central Committee of the WCC, a chief governing body of the Council, has set directions for the work of the Council from 2014 to 2017.

As a 10-year-old schoolgirl, on 6 August 1945, at 8:15 a.m., Setsuko Thurlow, then Nakamura, suddenly saw a brilliant bluish light flash outside her schoolroom window. “I remember the sensation of floating in the air. When I regained consciousness, in the total darkness and silence, I found myself in the rubble.”

In the lead-up to the 14-16 September 2005 United Nations World Summit, the World Council of Churches (WCC) has shared its views on a planned reform of the international body with the governments of the UK and China - the two nations which currently preside, respectively, over the G8, and the G77.

Free photos available, see below.