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The World Council of Churches (WCC) is mourning the loss and celebrating the life of Rev. Dr Jose Belo Chipenda, an African theologian and ecumenical leader.

Chipenda passed away on 10 January in Canada at the age of 95. 

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) completed its annual meeting from 21-26 November, and also commemorated its 20th anniversary.

The World Council of Churches and its partners hosted a side event during COP27 that explored “Delivering the promise: How to ensure present and future adaptation needs are addressed.”

Today the world joins in mourning the passing of a towering figure in the struggle for freedom and for human dignity and rights.

The city of Geneva is planning to rename a street for Annie Jiagge (1918-1996), who was the first African woman to be a World Council of Churches (WCC) president (1975-83). She was also moderator of the WCC’s commission on the Programme to Combat Racism.

The All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) and the World Council of Churches (WCC) are calling for justice for Memory Machaya, a 14-year-old who died while giving birth at the shrine of the Johanne Marange Apostolic Church. 

Zambia’s founding president, Kenneth Kaunda, passed away at the age of 97. He led his country for 27 years and championed Africa's struggles against apartheid and HIV.

Rt. Rev. Dr. Munib Younan, bishop emeritus of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and the Holy Land, will be the 2020 recipient of the Kenneth W. Bensen Award for Contextual Leadership presented by OMNIA Institute for Contextual Leadership.

Rev. Dr Angelique Walker-Smith is senior associate for Pan African and Orthodox Church Engagement at Bread for the World. She also serves on the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee. She recently participated in a rally and march in Washington, DC, where thousands gathered to commemorate the 57th anniversary of the March on Washington in 1963 that included Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have A Dream" speech.

Dr Kobus Gerber, the first general secretary of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa, passed away in the early hours of 6 August, following heart surgery.

In a statement to the president of the Republic of Indonesia, Papuan religious leaders are urging justice for seven defendants on trial in the Balikpapan - East Kalimantan District Court who held a demonstration because they were rejecting racist treatment. “But the indictments and charges at the trial were very different from the data and facts in the field,” reads the statement. “They are victims of racism but they have been accused of treason.”

The All Africa Conference of Churches joined many across the world in expressing shock and dismay at remarks from two French scientists during a live interview on the French television channel LCI, suggesting that Africa should be the testing ground for treatment for the coronavirus.