wfn.org | LWF general secretary calls for closer collaboration with the UN

[FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org (FRANK IMHOFF)]

Issues of common concerns raised in meeting between Noko and Annan

NEW YORK, United States of America/GENEVA, 15 October 1999 (lwi) - In
the context of a history of cooperation with the United Nations, the
Lutheran World Federation (LWF) General Secretary Dr. Ishmael Noko has
asked the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to work more closely with
religious communities worldwide to promote a culture of peace.

In a meeting on 6 October 1999 at the UN headquarters, Noko highlighted
the upcoming International Year for the Culture of Peace (2000) and the
International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the
Children of the World (2001-2010) as providing good opportunities for
doing so.

During the meeting with the UN Secretary-General, Noko emphasized the
necessity of joint leadership between the UN and the churches and other
faith communities on a variety of issues, in a world where wars continue
and violence against vulnerable groups are major concerns. Noko outlined
the efforts of the LWF and its member churches to promote peace and
resolve conflicts in the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia and Eritrea) and in
Southern Africa (the Botswana-Namibia border dispute), amongst other
areas.

Noko also stressed that ecumenical initiatives, such as the Joint
Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, which will be signed by
the LWF and the Roman Catholic Church in Augsburg, Germany, later this
month, also pay important dividends for a culture of peace. Ecumenical
and inter-faith agreements and dialogues build better understanding
between faith communities, which is an important contribution to the
establishment of a culture of peace for all humanity.

Noko expressed appreciation for the LWF's on-going cooperation with the
UN over the last several decades in meeting the needs of refugees and
displaced persons, and in the promotion of development, justice and
peace. He mentioned, in particular, the good cooperation with the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food
Program (WFP) in different parts of the world where the Federation is
present through its Department for World Service (DWS).

Through the DWS, which serves as the international relief,
rehabilitation and development arm of the Federation, the LWF operates
service programs in 22 countries worldwide. Its work includes
environment, human rights, landmines, refugees, training, evaluation,
development education and migration and resettlement.

In this context, the LWF General Secretary expressed the hope that the
UN would extend its security arrangements to cover both expatriate and
national staff of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) engaged in
humanitarian activities in hazardous situations. With specific reference
to the situation in Angola, Noko noted that non-governmental
organizations like the LWF are increasingly being obliged to exercise a
de facto protection role for refugees and displaced persons in areas in
which the UN is not present or from which it has withdrawn, and called
for capacity-building and closer liaison with the UN in order to enable
NGOs to meet this challenge.

In response, Mr. Annan expressed appreciation for the partnership which
the UN has had with NGOs such as the LWF. He highlighted the capacity of
a collective effort between the UN and NGOs to make a difference in a
troubled world. The UN head said that a pooling of efforts to promote a
culture of peace would have a direct impact on the difficulties facing
refugees, indigenous peoples and others around the world. He also
encouraged the LWF to cooperate even more with the UN system at the
country level.

In the course of the meeting, Noko also foreshadowed a formal invitation
to the Secretary-General to visit the Ecumenical Center in Geneva,
Switzerland, to lay before the churches the challenge of building a
culture of peace in cooperation with the United Nations.

Accompanying Dr. Noko on his visit with the Secretary-General were the
Rev. Susan Nagle, chairperson of the LWF Council's Program Committee for
Mission and Development; Dr. Joachim Track, chairperson of the Council's
Program Committee for Theology and Studies; Peter N. Prove, Assistant to
the General Secretary for Human Rights and International Affairs; and
Dennis Frado, Director of the Lutheran Office for World Community, which
represents the LWF at UN headquarters in New York.

Whilst in New York, Dr. Noko also held meetings with other UN officials
on topics such as conflict and humanitarian needs in Sierra Leone,
Liberia and Angola, the situation in East Timor, and peace-building in
Central America. In those discussions he emphasized the willingness of
the LWF to cooperate in various additional ways with the UN system in
the future.

(The LWF is a global communion of 128 member churches in 70 countries
representing 58 million of the world's 61.5 million Lutherans. Its
highest decision making body is the Assembly, held every six or seven
years. Between Assemblies, the LWF is governed by a 49-member Council
which meets annually, and its Executive Committee. The LWF secretariat
is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information is the information service of the Lutheran
World Federation (LWF). Unless specifically noted, material presented
does not represent positions or opinions of the LWF or of its various
units. Where the dateline of an article contains the notation (lwi), the
material may be freely reproduced with acknowledgment.]

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Lutheran World Information
Assistant Editor, English: Pauline Mumia
E-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org
http://www.lutheranworld.org/