wfn.org | WCC - "Racism no more" motto of ecumenical delegation at

["Sheila Mesa" <smm@wcc-coe.org>]

WCAR

World Council of Churches
Press Release, PR-01-29
For Immediate Use
27 August 2001

"Racism no more" is motto of ecumenical delegation at World
Conference against Racism

When the United Nations (UN) World Conference against Racism,
Xenophobia and Related Intolerance opens in Durban, South Africa,
a large ecumenical delegation sponsored by the World Council of
Churches (WCC) will be among the many thousands of
non-governmental organization (NGO) representatives attending
this long-awaited event.  

NGO Forum activities began on 26 August with a youth forum and
continue through 1 September. The governmental conference runs
from 31 August to 7 September. As NGO access to the latter is
restricted, a smaller ecumenical delegation will remain in Durban
after 1 September to follow the conference and lobby government
representatives on the conference "Declaration and Plan of
Action".  

According to Marilia Schuller, WCC programme executive for
combatting racism, the main issues being addressed by the
ecumenical delegation relate to ongoing WCC work on the
situations of Indigenous Peoples and Dalits, and the triple
discrimination of women due to gender, race and class.   

White racism as it relates to Africans and African descendants
is also an issue to which the delegation is paying careful
attention. Schuller notes that in preparing for the conference, a
number of NGOs have been seeking recognition by WCAR that
slavery, the slave trade and enslavement were crimes against
humanity. According to Schuller, "Governments have been reluctant
to allow these issues to be tabled for discussion because of
concern about reparations and compensation". "As the WCC, we
recognize the call for justice and for the redress of inequality
by Africans and people of African descent in matters related to
slavery," Schuller states. "The situations of racism that affect
people today are connected to the issues of the past. At the same
time, we don't want the WCAR to lose its focus on issues related
to, for instance, the legal aspects of preventing discrimination
and racism, or the question of education, history books and
school curricula, which should be inclusive of the perspectives
of all peoples who have contributed to the life and development
of a country."  

Another issue the WCC will follow is discrimination of
Palestinians based on descent and national origin. Schuller notes
that the WCC, through the team on International Relations, has
long followed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but that this is
the first time it is addressing the cause of the Palestinian
people from a racial discrimination point of view.  

In preparation for the WCAR, the WCC has held regional meetings
in Latin America and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, North
America, Asia and Pacific, and two meetings in Africa. An
international meeting on gender and racism was also held in
Africa. Ecumenical delegations have participated in the majority
of the experts' meetings and all of the preparatory meetings for
the WCAR.  

Schuller hopes the conference "will renew the commitment of
governments to implement the best possible programme of action
endorsed in Durban", and that this commitment "is not
bureaucratic but ethical, a position taken in relation to the
quality of people's lives".  

The WCC at the WCAR website:
http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/jpc/wcar-index-e.html 
WCC written submission for the conference:
http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/international/advoc-7.html 

A team of journalists will accompany the ecumenical delegation
and follow issues and events at the conference. WCC Updates will
be sent to our media list. In addition, there will be a series of
Features in English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese and
Zulu. If you would like to receive these Features, please send an
e-mail message to smm@wcc-coe.org, or fax to Sheila Mesa at
+41.22.798.13.46, also indicating which language(s) you wish to
receive.  

Members of the delegation:
(those with an * are part of the delegation to the governmental
conference)

Sra Ofelia Alvarez de McDavis, CLAI Nicaragua
Rev. Dr. Masilamani Azariah, Church of South India
*Mr. Marwan Bishara, Commission of the Churches on International
Affairs (CCIA), Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem
Ms Omega Bula, United Church of Canada
*Ms Laura Mariko Cheifetz, Presbyterian United Nations Office,
USA
*Bishop Mvumelwano Dandala, Methodist Church of Southern Africa
*Rev. Antonio Olimpio de Sant'Ana, CENACORA (National Ecumenical
Commission to Combat Racism), Brazil
Dr Comlan Prosper Deh, All Africa Conference of Churches,
Togo/Kenya
Mr Ellan Edwards, Baptist Church, Jamaica
Rev. Priscilla Everson, South African Council of Churches 
Mr. Walter Hahn, Bread for the World, Germany
Ms Adele Halliday, United Church of Canada
*Ms Evelyn Headley-Moore, Episcopal Church, USA
Mrs Nxisa Kaoga, Reformed Church in Botswana
Pasteur Jean-Blaise Kenmogne, CIPCRE (Cercle international pour
la promotion de la creation), Cameroun
Mrs Aparna Lanjewar, Dalit Solidarity Peoples, India
Sra Betty Ruth Lozano Lerma, Baptist tradition, Colombia
Prof. Samuel Tinyiko Maluleke, University of South Africa
Rev. Dr James Massey, Dalit Solidarity Peoples, India
Dr Patrick Matolengwe, South African Council of Churches 
*Mr Yesudoss Moses, National Council of Churches in India
Mrs Lucy Mulenkei, Indigenous Information Network, Kenya
*Rev. Marco Murillo Ilbay, FEINE (Consejo de Pueblos y
Organizaciones Indigenas Evangelicas del Ecuador), Ecuador
Lt. Colonel Vijayalakshmi Narayana Jaya, The Salvation Army,
India
Dr Khalil Nijimm, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jerusalem
Mr Chabo "Freddy" Pilusa, South African Council of Churches,
South Africa 
*Mr Cristian Popescu, Pravolavny Duchovni, Romania
*Rev. Dr Sirirat Pusurinkham, Church of Christ in Thailand
Ms Danielle Rahaingonjatovo, Evangelical Lutheran Church,
Madagascar 
Mrs Marie Ropeti-Iupeli, Pacific Conference of Churches, Samoa,
Aotearoa/New Zealand
Padre Daniel Samuel, Anglican Church, Haiti/Dominican Republic
Ms Suhaila Tarazi, Ahli Arab Hospital, Palestine
Ms Sheara Elsie Monica Vincent Manoharan, India
Mrs Esther N. Wesley, Indigenous Healing Fund, Canada 
Mr David Widihandojo, Indonesian Council of Churches, Indonesia
Mr Josef Purnama Widyatmadja, Christian Conference of Asia

For further information, please contact Karin Achtelstetter,
Media Relations Officer, Tel.:  (+41.22) 791.61.53   Mobile: 
(+41) 79.284.52.12

**********
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a fellowship of churches,
now 342, 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
Media Relations Office
Tel: (41 22) 791 6153 / 791 6421
Fax: (41 22) 798 1346
E-mail: ka@wcc-coe.org 
Web: www.wcc-coe.org 

PO Box 2100
1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland