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World Council of Churches
Press Release, PR-00-38
For Immediate Use
4 December 2000

New instrument for global advocacy
Founding meeting of the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance

The founding meeting for a new instrument for global advocacy, the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, will take place 7-9 December at the Ecumenical Centre, Geneva, Switzerland. The meeting is being convened by the World Council of Churches (WCC).  

Based on the recognition that "in today's globalizing world, it is more important than ever that churches work together more effectively to address the root causes of human suffering," the meeting will bring together about 45 representatives of a wide range of church-related organizations including the WCC and its global constituency, Roman Catholic organizations, regional councils of churches and fellowships, Christian world communions, international ecumenical organizations, and church-related agencies and specialized networks.  

The meeting will officially launch the Alliance, and select priority issues for concerted global ecumenical advocacy over the next few years.  

Several years in the making

The call for a new mechanism to coordinate global advocacy first came in 1997 from church-related agencies and specialized ministries who understood that "support for development must be accompanied by efforts to change unjust structures". The call was inspired in part by the success of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and Jubilee 2000. It is hoped that the Alliance will enable churches and related organizations worldwide to come together to set priorities for common advocacy and to develop effective strategies leading to positive changes in global policies.  

Organizers note that "while organizations will be free to decide whether or not to work together on these campaigns, we hope that the meeting can agree on issues that are so important that most churches and related organizations will want to participate".  

Churches' potential to influence global developments

At the meeting's opening session, speakers from the WCC, the United Nations (UN), Roman Catholic organizations and a regional church fellowship will reflect on joint action by churches, and their potential to influence global developments by mobilizing their constituencies around a few selected issues.  

Speakers include:

Konrad Raiser, general secretary, World Council of Churches

Bertrand Ramcharan, UN deputy high commissioner for Human Rights

Celine Monteiro, Franciscans International

Baffour Amoa, general secretary, Fellowship of West African Churches and Councils of Churches

The public and press are invited to the opening session on Thursday, 7 December. The session will begin with refreshments at 17:00, followed by presentations starting at 17:30. The rest of the meeting will be closed to the public.  

Participants:

The founding meeting will include representatives of five broad categories of participants in the Alliance:

World Council of Churches (including both staff and representatives of governing and advisory bodies)

Regional ecumenical organizations and fellowships

Church agencies and specialized networks in the South

Christian world communions and international ecumenical organizations 

Roman Catholic organizations

The full list of participants is included below.  

A background document on the Alliance is available from mvs@wcc-coe.org. Other inquiries should be directed to Karin Achtelstetter, Media Relations Officer,  Tel:  (+41.22) 791.61.53, Mobile:  (+41) 79.284.52.12

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS 

A.  World Council of Churches		

Ms Geneviève Jacques, Director of the Cluster on Relations			

Rev. Dr Sam Kobia, Director of the Cluster on Issues and Themes			

Mr Thor-Arne Prois, Director of Action by Churches Together (ACT) 	

Rev. Dr Kondothra M. George, Moderator of the Programme Committee		

Dr Janice Love, Moderator of the Decade to Overcome Violence Reference Group

Ms Julienne Munyaneza, Member of the Advisory Group on Communication

Rev. Eunice Santana, Member of the Advisory Group on Regional Relations and Ecumenical Sharing

Mr Lopeti Senituli, Member of the Commission on International Affairs			

Ms Hellen Wangusa, Member of the Anglican Church of Uganda						

B.  Ecumenical Regional Organizations and Fellowships

Rev. Ngoy Mulunda-Nyanga, 	Executive Secretary for International Affairs,
All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC)

Rev. Dr Feliciano Carino, General Secretary, Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) 

Mr Gerard A.J. Granado, General Secretary, Caribbean Conference of Churches (CCC)

Rev. Stewart Lamont, Executive Secretary of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) Office in Brussels

Mr Angel Luis Rivera, Coordinator Solidarity with Churches Programme,
Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI)

Rev. Riad Jarjour, General Secretary, Middle East Council of Churches (MECC)	

Rev. Leva Kila Pat, Ecumenical Animator, Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC)

Mr Baffour Amoa, Secretary General, Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in West Africa (FECCIWA)

Ms Karimi Kinoti, Coordinator, Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in the Great Lakes and the Horn of Africa (FECCLAHA)

C. Agencies and specialized networks in the South

Ms Cornelia Füllkrug-Weitzel, 	Director, Bread for the World, Germany 

Ms Elsebeth Krogh, International Director, Danchurchaid, Denmark	

Ms Lisa Wright, Associate Director for International Development and Global Issues, Church World Service/ National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA				

Ms Gillian Southey, Christian World Service, New Zealand

Rev. Christoph Stückelberger, General Secretary, Bread for All, Switzerland

Mr Marcos Arruda, General Coordinator, Instituto Politicas Alternativas para o Cone Sul (PACS), Brazil 	

Dr James Peters, Grenada Community Development Agency (GRENCODA)

Ms Carmencita Karagdag, Secretary for Education and Nurture, National Council of Churches in the Philippines

D. Christian World Communions and international ecumenical organizations

Right Rev. Herbert Donovan, 	Anglican Observer at the United Nations	, Anglican Communion

Father George Tsetsis, Ecumenical Patriarchate

Mr Peter Prove, Assistant to the General Secretary for International Affairs and Human Rights, Lutheran World Federation (LWF)

Dr Marcus Plested, 	SYNDESMOS				

Rev. Dr Seong-Won Park, Secretary of the Department of Cooperation and Witness, World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) 

Mr Ralph Young, Geneva Secretary, World Methodist Council

Ms Beate Fagerly, General Secretary, World Student Christian Federation (WSCF)

Mr Carlos Sanvee, Executive Secretary for Finance and Administration, World Alliance of Young Men's Christian Associations (YMCA)

Dr Musimbi Kanyoro, General Secretary, World Young Women's Christian Associations (YWCA)

E.  Roman Catholic organizations

Father Paul Lansu, 	International Secretariat, Pax Christi International

Mr Jef Felix, General Secretary, International Cooperation for Development
and Solidarity (CIDSE)

Sister Celine Monteiro, Vice-President of the Board of Directors, Franciscans International										
F.  Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance Office

Ms Linda Hartke, Coordinator

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The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a fellowship of churches, now 337, in more than 100 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but works cooperatively with the WCC. The highest governing body is the assembly, which meets approximately every seven years. The WCC was formally inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Its staff is headed by general secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church in Germany.

World Council of Churches
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