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As a photo exhibition from the Marshall Islands opened at the World Council of Churches (WCC) on 8 March, speakers offered a stark overview of the damage done by nuclear testing—as well as the resilience and determination of the Marshallese people to pursue justice. 

With a focus on the legacy of nuclear testing and climate change, the World Council of Churches (WCC) is planning a pilgrimage visit to the Marshall Islands on 16-24 November.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has offered 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. In its submission – which is inspired to a significant extent by the WCC 11th Assembly statement on “The Things That Make For Peace”– the WCC focused especially on the need for greater financial and practical support for peacebuilding at national and local levels, rather than for division and military confrontation.

The World Council of Churches joined dozens of other faith-based and humanitarian groups in signing a Global Civil Society Statement on Myanmar urging the United Nations Security Council to impose a comprehensive global arms embargo on Myanmar to help prevent further violations of human rights against peaceful protesters and others opposing military rule.

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 National Christian Council in Japan, in a “Statement Regarding the Enactment of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons,” expresses a “strong sense of disappointment that we have arrived at this point with the Japanese government neither approving nor ratifying” the treaty.

Religious leaders in Hiroshima and Nagasaki are welcoming the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, even as Japan's Christian council “regrets” that the government has not supported or ratified the treaty.

Pacific islands experience lasting impacts of the 50 years of nuclear testing and the region has become a global hotspot of climate change, the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) learned in its meeting this week in Brisbane, Australia.

The work of the World Council of Churches (WCC) related to disarmament continues to endure and expand, even as the world faces increasing injustice and tensions that threaten peace on a daily basis.

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.