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Sanctions should not harm the support for the most vulnerable, says a report on the impact of sanctions on humanitarian work presented at a side-event of 52nd session at the Human Rights Council of the United Nations in Geneva on 10 March.

In a pastoral letter to the Korean Christian Federation, World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca expressed “very deep Christian concern” over the COVID-19 outbreak in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) and the Christian Broadcasting Service of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon have partnered to help promote a more positive attitude and counter hate narratives toward migrants in Douala, Cameroon’s economic capital.

Christian educators and other church leaders in Togo are eagerly turning the pages of a new resource for children, a curriculum entitled “Because God Loves Me—Affirming My Value in Christ,” published by the World Council of Churches (WCC).

Upon the 20th anniversary of the UN Resolution 1325, the question is still being answered as to whether women’s important work in peace and security is getting the visibility it deserves.

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.

Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, World Council of Churches (WCC) interim general secretary, expressed both alarm and dismay at the destruction of the joint liaison office in Kaesong - opened in 2018 to facilitate communication and cooperation between the two Koreas - and renewed threats of military action on the Korean Peninsula.

Simultaneous attacks by extremist insurgents on a military base and Arbinda town in Soum province in the north of Burkina Faso resulted in the deaths of 35 civilians – almost all of them women – as well as seven soldiers. President Roch Marc Christian Kabore has declared 48 hours of national mourning, and all Christmas celebrations have been cancelled.

Gender-based violence and attacks on foreign nationals in South Africa have left communities wondering where to turn. In a visit of solidarity, a World Council of Churches (WCC) Pilgrim Team visited the nation from 7-12 December.

Young people in Uganda are on fire for change that will free the world from both HIV and sexual and gender-based violence. Spreading sparks of knowledge and enthusiasm, they have been visiting schools to inform and inspire even more young people.

As South Africa grapples with a gender-based violence crisis, president Cyril Ramaphosa is convening, on 18 September, the entire parliament for a special session on how to create a society in which women feel not only safe, but enjoy human rights equal to men. With 52,420 sexual offences reported in the last financial year - and many unreported - hundreds of thousands of people in South Africa are publicly saying “#EnoughIsEnough.” Churches and faith communities are a vocal, visible part of this call for change. Will the momentum grow? Will we stand with the women of South Africa?

Thirty years ago, the founders of the Ecumenical Decade of Churches in Solidarity with Women were searching for ways to not only help women across the globe seek justice but also highlight their contributions to churches and the world.

Last week, the chairperson of the WCC Ecumenical Water Network, bishop Arnold Temple from The Methodist Church Sierra Leone, came to Stockholm to participate in the World Water Week, which is the world’s leading annual water event where experts and decision-makers from all over the world gather to strengthen the systems and processes that govern access to – and protection of – fresh water.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, as head of a delegation visiting the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), offered a sermon on 19 August encouraging peacemakers during an ecumenical service in the Protestant Cathedral in Kinshasa.

In a powerful symbol of unity, Christians from North and South Korea sang together yesterday during celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the World Council of Churches (WCC). The Koreans linked arms to sing the 600-year-old folk song Arirang that is the unofficial anthem of Korea – the united Korea that existed until civil war divided the country in the 1950s.

As people in Seoul held a candlelight vigil on 7 June to pray for peace on the Korean Peninsula, they were joined by the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva, the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC), and hundreds of others across the world.