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Human rights defenders from Bangladesh, gathered in a meeting sponsored by the WCC, are calling the international community’s attention to the severe persecution of Bangladesh’s religious and ethnic minorities.

“The immediate end of the suffering of the people in Syria must now be the focus for all parties in the Geneva 2 talks,” WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit said in a meeting today, 14 February in Geneva with members of the Syrian opposition. And “this includes all parties in the conflict,” he added.

Calling Nelson Mandela a leader with hard-won wisdom and maturity unparalleled in our time, the WCC general secretary gave thanks to God for Mandela’s life, which he described as a gift to South Africa and the whole world.

Politicization of religion, rights of religious minorities and stateless people, peace and reunification of the Korean Peninsula and just peace served as subjects of the public statements adopted at the WCC 10th Assembly in Busan, Republic of Korea.

The WCC 10th Assembly in Busan, Republic of Korea, concluded on 8 November, acting to inspire churches to renew their commitments to justice and peace. Through varied encounters and dialogue within the fellowship of churches, the Assembly has made concrete decisions and recommendations setting priorities for the future work of the WCC.

“’God of life, lead us to justice and peace’ has become a prayer around the world.” These were words of Dr Wedad Abbas Tawfik about the theme of the WCC 10th Assembly. She shared her experiences and hopes for social and political stability as a Coptic Christian in her country, Egypt.

Work for the rights of religious minorities should be done in the spirit of universalism, said the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, in his opening address at a WCC consultation.

The Archives of the WCC in Geneva have provided both research materials and a space for public consideration of “the ecumenical movement and Cold War politics”.

The WCC general secretary on 3 June spoke to a UN conference on opportunities and challenges for the 21st century.

An upcoming WCC consultation in Bangkok will attempt a distinctive mode of inter-religious dialogue.

The WCC general secretary has expressed solidarity with Bangladesh, and concern over recent tragedies in the country, including the loss of over a thousand lives in a garment factory accident near Dhaka, as well as increasing attacks against religious minorities.

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit and other members of the WCC staff met in New York on 12 February with the United Nations (UN) deputy secretary-general Jan Eliasson. Tveit and Eliasson discussed the many conflicts and divisions around the world, including North and South Korea, the Middle East region, particularly Syria and Israel-Palestine.

Justice should not be secondary to peace, and both should go together, according to Dr Navanethem Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. She made her comments in an encounter with the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC).

It is not imaginable for the World Council of Churches (WCC) to have a future “without a much stronger emphasis on international affairs and peace with justice,” said Martin Robra, programme director for the study of ecumenism in the 21st century, at a consultation on "churches and the rule of law" this week in Geneva.

“No state should take away the right of its citizens to debate a law that affects them gravely. Therefore, there is a growing need of dialogue on the blasphemy law and its negative impacts on religious minorities in Pakistan,” said I.A. Rehman, veteran human rights activist and director of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in a side event at the United Nation’s Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.

The question of who is your enemy is one that touches everyone in the world particularly in a place like Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina which suffered a devastating civil war nearly two decades ago.

South Africa, Australia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Greece, French Polynesia (Maohi Nui), Pakistan, Syria and Myanmar have provided the subjects for statements and minutes of concern voiced by the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC) as part of public issues actions during a recent meeting of that governing body at the Orthodox Academy of Crete in Kolympari, Greece.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Royal Aal Al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought (RABIIT) on 12 July issued a report on their joint commitment to help in resolving the tensions in Nigeria. The report reflects a new Christian-Muslim model of cooperation for peace between religions and further interfaith dialogue.

World Council of Churches (WCC) participants in the Rio+20 Conference have joined a broad religious coalition in rejecting the official outcome document of the United Nations-sponsored event.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has been playing an active role in the two major events that are taking place in Rio from 12 to 23 June: the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), also known as Rio+20, and the People’s Summit.