wfn.org | ECUMENICAL ADVOCACY IN D.C.

["Ann Walle" <awalle@churchworldservice.org>]

MEDIA ADVISORY - UPDATE

INTERNATIONAL CHURCH, GRASSROOTS LEADERS AND POLICY EXPERTS TO TARGET
ECONOMIC JUSTICE, PEACE ISSUES IN DISTRICT'S  SECOND ANNUAL ECUMENICAL
ADVOCACY DAYS CONFERENCE

WASHINGTON, DC - 3/1/04- Global humanitarian agency Church World Service
(CWS) will present reports of its recent work in North Korea and Liberia and
neighboring West African countries, during the second annual Ecumenical
Advocacy Days for Global Peace Conference, March 5-8, in Arlington, Virginia.

Focusing on major issues across the world's key troublespots, a roster of
U.S. and international ecumenical grassroots and policy leaders will also
present during the conference's featured Africa, Middle East, Asia, Latin
America, Economic Justice and Nuclear Disarmament tracks.  

WHAT:		"I Will Feed Them with Justice" 
Second Annual Ecumenical Advocacy Days Conference

Representing ecumenical organizations worldwide, several hundred attendees
are expected for the international gathering. The last day of the conference,
event planners expect about 350 attendees will hold lobbying meetings on
Capitol Hill to forward support for trade justice and peace in targeted
regions.

WHEN/WHERE:	Friday March 5 - Monday March 8, 2004
	The Doubletree Hotel Crystal City
300 Army Navy Drive
Arlington, Virginia

WHO:  The symposium is sponsored by a broad range of churches and faith-based
coalitions including Church World Service.  Keynoters and presenters will
also include:

Ecumenical Leaders:
* Rev. Dr. Samuel Kobia, new General Secretary of the World Council of
Churches and
  former head of the National Council of Churches of Kenya
* Rev. Syngman Rhee, a Korean American born in North Korea, former President
of the
  National Council of Churches USA and former Moderator of the Presbyterian
Church 
  (USA)
* Rt. Rev. Andudu Elnail, Anglican Bishop of Kadugli-Nuba Mountains, Sudan
* Rev. Bernice Powell Jackson, Executive Minister of Justice and Witness
Ministries of the
  United Church of Christ 
* Rev. Jim Winkler, General Secretary of the United Methodist Church General
Board of
  Church and Society
* Rev. Milton Mejia, noted peace leader of the Presbyterian Church,
Barrnaquilla, Colombia
* Neville Gabriel, Coordinating Secretary, Justice and Peace Department,
South Africa 
  Catholic Bishops' Conference
* Bishop C. Dale White (ret.), United Methodist Church, Rhode Island
* Rev. Dr. Robert Edgar, General Secretary, National Council of Churches USA

Legislators, Policy Makers and Analysts:
* Edward Levine, Minority Counsel, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
(speaking on 
  nuclear disarmament)
* Hon. James P. McGovern (D-MA)  (speaking on war and peace in Colombia)
* Gimena Sanchez-Garzoli, Research Analyst, Brookings Institution, Project on
Internal
  Displacement
* Nancy Gallagher, Ph.D., Associate Director for Research, Research Center
for
  International and Security Studies, University of Maryland
* Erich Weingartner, Human Security Research Fellowship, University of York,
Toronto
* Peter M. Beck, Director of Research, Korean Economic Institute
* Jim Zogby, President, Arab-American Institute
* Shibley Telhami, Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development, University of
Maryland
* Lee Sigal, Director, Northeast Asia Cooperative Security Project, Social
Science
  Research Council
* Sanho Tree, Fellow and Director, Drug Policy Project, Institute for Policy
Studies

Advocacy Groups and International Organizations:
* Michael Tarazi, Legal Advisor to the Palestine Liberation Organization
* Jonathan Dean, Advisor on Global Security Issues, Union of Concerned
Scientists
* Martin Butcher, Director, Security Program, Physicians for Social
Responsibility 
* Brian D, Finlay, Executive Director, Nuclear Threat Reduction Campaign
* Jack Mendelsohn, a Director of the Arms Control Association
* Baker Spring, F.M. Kirby Research Fellow in National Security Policy, The
Heritage
  Foundation
* Leon Spencer, Executive Director, Washington Office on Africa
* David Garlner and Paul Zeitz, Executive Director, Global AIDS Alliance
* Marino Cordoba, Director, Association of Displaced Afro-Colombians
* Frederick F. Carriere, Executive Director, The Korea Society
* Eric Olsen, Consultant, Amnesty International 
* Marie Clarke, National Coordinator, Jubilee USA Network
* Delvis Fernandez, Director, Cuban-American Alliance Foundation

Media:
* Scott McConnell, Editor, The American Conservative
* Ori Nir, Washington Bureau Chief, The Forward
* John Feffer, author, South Korea, North Korea: U.S. Policy at a Time of
Crisis

Church World Service International Response and Recovery Liaison Ivan DeKam
and CWS Associate Director, Mission Relationships and Witness, Moses Ole
Sakuda, recently returned from Sierra Leone, will present a Sunday (3/7)
workshop on "The Crisis in Liberia and the Mano River Countries." DeKam and
Sakuda will also highlight the agency's January trauma healing and conflict
transformation training seminar in Sierra Leone,
 
CWS Senior Advisor Victor Hsu will present the agency's aid efforts in North
Korea during a Sunday workshop (3/7), as a case study of advocacy strategies
for ecumenical activists.

Church World Service Washington Representative and Associate Director for
Education and Advocacy Brian Hinman is a member of the event's Planning
Committee. "After attending last year's Advocacy Days, I was very excited
about motivating the grassroots to bring our message of the imperative for
peace with justice to Congress," Hinman says. 

"This year, with more people attending, and more messages being refined, the
grassroots should have a major impact on Capitol Hill during our Advocacy Day
there on March 8."

Church World Service staff members will also participate in workshops on
HIV/AIDS and the Middle East. CWS will also present its new advocacy
resources, including the agency's series of background papers on the
humanitarian crisis in Colombia and a CWS co-authored paper on economic
growth and development in the Middle East.

For more information on Ecumenical Advocacy Days, visit www.advocacydays.org 

EDITORS, NOTE: COMPLETE CONFERENCE SCHEDULE AVAILABLE BY FAX, ON REQUEST.

						###

CONTACTS:	Ann Walle/CWS/New York
		Phone: (212) 870-2654
		e-mail: awalle@churchworldservice.org 
 
		Jan Dragin/New York/Boston
		Phone: (781) 925-1526
		e-mail: jdragin@gis.net 

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