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World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, on behalf of the global fellowship, expressed grave concern regarding the recent escalation of violence in the Middle East following the first direct confrontation between Iran and Israel.

The World Council of Churches comments to the zero draft of the “Pact for the Future,” the envisaged outcome of the UN Summit for the Future, submitted on 12 February 2024 (extended version).

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay opened the 10th Annual Symposium on the Role of Religion and Faith-based Organizations in International Affairs on 23 January in New York City, with reflections on the theme “Human Rights and Dignity: Towards a Just, Peaceable, and Inclusive Future.” 

Reinforcing the traditional role of faith communities in offering sanctuary and, indeed hospitality to refugees, 90 faith-based leaders today committed to offering their continued and additional support to refugees, including children, on their journey to safety, including in reception and admission, meeting protection or service delivery needs and supporting communities to find solutions such as private sponsorship or scholarship programmes.

"Peace Among the People – Interreligious Action for Peace and Inclusive Communities", keynote address by Peter Prove, director of the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, World Council of Churches, at the Peace Conference in Jakarta, Indonesia, 21 November 2023.

A World Free From Nuclear Weapons is Possible: remarks by Peter Prove, Director of the WCC's Commission of the Churches on International Affairs at the International Meeting for Peace: Religions and Cultures in Dialogue "The Audacity of Peace", Berlin, 10-12 September 2023.

Children deliver rallying cry to Summit for a New Global Financing Pact: “replace the existing colonial economic model”.

Keynote address of Rev. Dr Kenneth Mtata, WCC programme director for Public Witness and Diakonia at the "International Conference for Reconciliation in Colombia", Bogota, Colombia, 9 August 2023

On 27 July 1953 – 70 years ago today – the Korean War Armistice Agreement was signed in Panmunjom by senior representatives of the United Nations Command, and military leaders of North Korea (the Korean People's Army) and China (the Chinese People's Volunteer Army).

Lecture of the World Council of Churches central committee moderator Bishop Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm delivered at the Kitzingen deanery, a regional church district near Würzburg, Germany.

Between the period of the 13^th of September 1993 (when the Oslo Agreement was signed) and the 31^st of December 2022: Israel demolished 2787 structures in East Jerusalem including 213 donor-funded structures, and it displaced  5093 persons including 2582 children.  These included homes; Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) facilities; and agricultural structures. 

The World Council of Churches (WCC) input for the articulation of the UN’s “New Agenda for Peace," a process intended to update the world body’s approach to peace and security in the current global context.

A joint statement of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, Geneva for Human Rights, Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, and Vivat International delivered during the debate on human rights and obstetric fistula at the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council on 17 March 2023. The statement was delivered by Eva Abel from Kenya, masters student at the WCC Ecumenical Institute in Bossey.

Statement of the National Council of Churches in Korea, 3 January 2023.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to let the oppressed go free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.

(Luke 4:18-19)

The current global context is marked by escalating conflicts, divisions, inequalities, resurgent racism, xenophobic attacks on migrants, antisemitism, violations of the rights of women and other forms of discrimination, threats against human rights defenders, as well as authoritarianism, populist nationalism, and religious and other forms of extremism, that threaten grave peril for the physical security and human dignity and rights of diverse communities and individuals around the world.

Keynote speech of the World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca at the Ecumenical peace conversation, Seoul, Korea, 11 October 2022.