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As climate-linked drought traps more people, Kenyan church leaders urge permanent solutions

Church leaders in Kenya were reiterating the call for solutions to the country’s food crisis, even as rain brought some hope for communities battered by a severe drought.

17 November 2022

Background document

WCC Ecumenical Water Network newsletter WCC 11th Assembly special edition

16 November 2022

WCC Programmes

A group of young children speak out to stop climate change, as under a 'call to #UprootTheSystem', Fridays for Future, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, 2021, Photo: Albin Hillert/Life on Earth Pictures

WCC Eco School for North America postponed until 2023

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has postponed its Eco School in North America until 2023, when it will be held in Europe. To accommodate participants from North America, a special event will be conducted in the region. Details about the event and the venue will be announced soon.

14 November 2022

Statement: public statement

Global Health and Wellbeing (statement)

I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10)

When approaching the issue of health and wellbeing, we as Christians and churches affirm that the giver and sustainer of life is our Lord Jesus Christ, the healer of our bodies and souls, the one who heals our diseases, who redeems our life from the pit and crowns us with love and compassion (Ps. 103:3-4).

12 November 2022

Executive committee

Interfaith dialogue promotes holistic reflection on climate change on eve of COP27 in Egypt

On the day before the official opening of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, representatives from different faiths gathered at Qesm Sharm Ash Sheikh, or The Heavenly Cathedral, home to congregants of the Coptic Orthodox Church, to share their perspectives on the climate crisis.

08 November 2022

WCC deputy general secretary urges “walk the talk” in addressing water crisis and climate change

During a conference focusing on water for human rights and sustainable development in Geneva, World Council of Churches (WCC) deputy general secretary Prof. Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri spoke on “Water for Climate, Resilience and Environment.”

08 November 2022

Message

Message of the WCC Indigenous Peoples Pre-Assembly

Message of the WCC Indigenous Peoples Pre-Assembly, 28-30 August 2022, Karlsruhe, Germany.

31 October 2022

WCC Programmes

Mother with six children in West Bank: “Water is a precious commodity around here”

Im Omar—as named after her eldest son—mother of six, must scrape every day for something most people take for granted: water. For her, water is scarce—and it’s directly connected to her family’s livelihood.

28 October 2022

African church-backed torch marches toward COP27

A church-backed symbolic torch—amplifying calls for climate justice—is moving across African countries, on its way to Sharm El-Sheik, the Egyptian city, hosting the 6-18 November UN Climate Change Conference (COP27).

27 October 2022

WCC joins 2022 Social Forum to emphasize that water is a gift from God, a common good and a fundamental human right

A conference focusing on water for human rights and sustainable development will be held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland and online on 3-4 November.

27 October 2022

Event

2022 Social Forum: Water for human rights and sustainable development

03 - 04 November 2022

A conference focusing on water for human rights and sustainable development will be held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland and online on 3-4 November.

Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland

African churches and humanitarian agencies urge foreign debt suspension to help countries tackle drought crisis

As a severe drought triggered a humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa, churches and several humanitarian organizations there urged foreign debt suspension to enable the countries to tackle the catastrophe.

13 October 2022

Applications extended for WCC Eco-School 2022 with focus on North America

Applications are still open for the fifth edition of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Eco-School on Water, Food and Climate Justice, to be held 5-11 December 2022 in the North America region.

07 October 2022

help from her 8-year old daughter Atap, Atouc Dut carries home water from a well in Malek Miir, a village in South Sudan's Lol State where a persistent drought has destroyed crops and left people hungry, Photo: Paul Jeffrey/Life on Earth Pictures

Church leaders assess solutions beyond eastern Africa’s severe drought

Amid a warning that a famine is “at the doorstep” in eastern Africa, church leaders are re-stressing urgent action to save millions of people caught in a drought described as the worst in 40 years.

07 October 2022

WCC expresses solidarity, urges advocacy for the human rights and self-determination of Indigenous Peoples across the world

In a public statement released by the leadership of the WCC central committee, the WCC encourages continued advocacy, “with Indigenous Peoples and on their behalf in defence of their human rights, to protect the use of human rights language, to promote Indigenous Peoples’ right to self-determination and the right to participate in the decision making process within churches and in society.”

16 September 2022

Statement: public statement

Statement on Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples

‘Behold I create new heavens in which life, justice and peace are possible for all’.

(Isaiah 65:17-25)

Indigenous Peoples are created with God-given identities that are beautiful. God was present in their lands and among their peoples before colonizers arrived. When Christians brought the Bible, Indigenous People recognized the voice of their Creator in Jesus’ teachings. They did not hear a call to reject their identities.

16 September 2022

Assembly

Water as a divine gift, and justice issue

The importance of water for Christians around the world cannot be overemphasized. From Genesis 1:1, where we read that “a wind from God swept over the face of the waters” to its sacramental role in baptism and the Eucharist, water is integral to the faith.

08 September 2022

Ukraine: Responding to humanitarian need

When the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022, churches had already been responding to humanitarian need in the country for eight years, since the annexation of Crimea in 2014. The work being undertaken by churches in meeting the needs of those displaced by the war is not new, but the scale is staggering as 14 million people have been displaced in the six months since the invasion began.

08 September 2022