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If the worsening global inequality highlighted recently is to be tackled, world leadership must act “now”, in tangible ways, says World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, participating in the 2017 World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland this week.

While participating in the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland from 17-20 January, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit urged the world’s leaders to be accountable to humanity for the sake of justice and peace for all.

Speaking at a peace vigil on the evening of 16 January in support of International Bridges for Justice, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit described the life-giving environment of justice, and its role in faith.

“I have been tested for HIV,” said Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC, who received his test while traveling in Oslo, Norway, as a demonstration of his support for the WCC campaign “Leading by Example: Religious Leaders and HIV Testing,” launched at events observing World AIDS Day - 1 December - at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland.

On 17-23 November, the Executive Committee of the WCC met for the first time ever in China. The visit was hosted by the China Christian Council and the Three-Self Patriotic Movement. The Three-Self Patriotic Movement is a Protestant church in the People's Republic of China, as well as one of the largest Protestant bodies in the world.

Religious leaders are getting tested for HIV in hopes of inspiring others across the world to seek testing, too. Increasing the number of people receiving HIV testing is vitally important in the effort to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.

Progress and current challenges in eliminating global statelessness were discussed during a public event at the UNHCR’s headquarters in Geneva on 27 October, marking the second anniversary of the global #IBelong campaign.

When the WCC joined the Blue Communities Project on 25 October, water and eco-justice advocates from around the world offered congratulations, while at the same time urging WCC member churches to join the quest for global water and sanitation rights.

WCC is casting out its bottled water and has joined the Blue Communities Project. Maude Barlow, co-founder of the Blue Planet Project, on 25 October awarded the WCC a “blue community certificate” and launched tap-based public water fountains at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva.

The chief cleric of Cairo’s prestigious mosque and university, H.E. Professor Dr Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar al Sharif, has decried the present-day “civilizational crisis” of poverty and insecurity and called for interreligious collaboration to address it.

“Rejoice and share the sacred gift of food with all.” That’s just one of the “Ten Commandments of Food” proposed by WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit as he called upon people to change their behavior and take action in both small and large ways.

Roman Catholic and WCC representatives are forging new ways of working together on today’s most pressing issues.

Rev. Dr Owe Boersma will take over the post of EAPPI international programme coordinator in Geneva, effective 26 September 2016. Mr Manuel Quintero, after eight years of service as EAPPI international programme coordinator based in Geneva, has reached retirement age and will be leaving the World Council of Churches’ EAPPI international office at the end of August.

The leadership and representatives of the World Evangelical Alliance and the WCC met in the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, Switzerland to explore and discuss possible areas of future cooperation.

What has contributed to the idea of a “European identity?” And, within a broad-minded vision of secularism, how can churches and other religious communities contribute? In this context, what is the role of Switzerland?

The 60th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women had “the elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls” as its review theme.

Two major crises have marked the months since the WCC called Katalina Tahaafe-Williams to work in Geneva on its migration, indigenous, and multicultural ministry programmes. When she took up the job in October, the European refugee crisis was in full flow. Then in November, terrorists attacked Paris.