wfn.org | WCC UPDATE: WCC advocacy weeks highlights creative ecumenical

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>>> WCC Media <media@wcc-coe.org> 11/18/04 11:32AM >>>
World Council of Churches - Update
Contact: + 41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org
For immediate release - 18/11/2004

WCC ADVOCACY WEEK AT UN HIGHLIGHTS CREATIVE ECUMENICAL PEACEMAKING METHODS IN
SUDAN, KOREA, ISRAEL/PALESTINE AND COLOMBIA 

Photos available free of charge, see below
Cf. WCC press update PU-04-61 of 17 November 2004
Cf. WCC press update PU-04-60 of 16 November 2004
Cf . WCC press release PR-04-56 of 11 November 2004

Through combined spiritual accompaniment and active advocacy approaches, the
ecumenical movement is making a vital contribution to the work for peace in
crisis regions around the world. A case in point - Sudan - was the main focus
of the third public seminar at a 14-19 November World Council of Churches
(WCC) international affairs and advocacy week at the UN in New York. 

"Moral outrage and fear everywhere" define the current situation in Sudan
according to seminar keynote speaker Jan Egeland, the Humanitarian Relief
coordinator for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA). Although the signs of crisis in Sudan were present many months
beforehand, the international response was "too little, too late" he said. 

"The threshold for intervention should not be the declaration of genocide.
Humanitarian relief and intervention actions should happen much before the
situation arrives at that level of crisis," said Ernie Regehr of the WCC's
Churches Commission on International Affairs (CCIA). Other participants
commented that a focus on the definition of genocide draws attention away
from critical needs, especially in a situation like that in Sudan. 

Seminar moderator Shirley deWolf, a member of the CCIA Commission, emphasized
the importance of building the capacity of churches and church leaders who
are currently doing the peacemaking, and who will remain in the countries
long after the aid agencies have gone. 

Panelist Xrnulf Steen, general secretary of the Christian Council of Norway
and a member of the Sudan Ecumenical Forum, concurred that capacity-building
is as critical to achieving lasting peace as it is for the ongoing work of
reconciliation. The Forum was created in 1994 to provide a shared platform
for advocacy between the churches of the Sudan and partner churches,
church-related agencies and ecumenical councils in Africa, Europe and North
America. Combined with the efforts of councils of churches in Sudan and of
the All Africa Conference of Churches, it is an important tool for
peace-building in Sudan, he said. 

"Women and children suffer disproportionately in Sudan's crisis, and the deep
levels of abuse and trauma they have experienced will not be addressed by a
written peace agreement signed in a distant city. Churches must think about
how to address this issue," commented another panelist, Rev. John McCullough,
executive director of Church World Service. 

A mandate for advocacy in crisis
"The humanitarian work of saving people drowning in a river is normally not
controversial. The political response - sending people upstream to find out
who is throwing people into the river, understand why this is happening, and
develop a constructive answer - can be more controversial," WCC/CCIA director
Peter Weiderud suggested to participants at an afternoon seminar session on
the work of advocacy in crisis.

Strategic sessions on regional situations highlighted some several
"forgotten" conflict areas : Southeast Europe, Israel-Palestine, the Korean
Peninsula, Colombia, and Zimbabwe. 

Among the advocacy and action methods discussed, an "Eminent Persons
Programme" being created in partnership with various ecumenical partners,
will be an important part of global ecumenical efforts to address conflict
situations in Africa. From Colombia, Patricia Cleves of the National
Conciliation Commission of Colombia, and Rev. Pablo Noguera of the Ecumenical
Network in Colombia shared about the ongoing struggles in their country, and
the hope that the work of churches there is providing. 

A senior advisor with Church World Service, Victor Hsu shared lessons learned
in long-term ecumenical advocacy efforts on the Korean Peninsula. Pastoral
visits and ecumenical delegations have played an important role there, as has
getting key players together, increasing the participation of women and
youth, and public campaigns on human rights. The work of the Ecumenical
Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) is another creative
method initiated by the WCC in real partnership with churches in the region
and around the world. This unique programme has been a crucial step for
ecumenical advocacy work in the Middle East crisis, Hsu said. 

Media contact person: Dr Laurence Konmla Bropleh, permanent representative,
WCC UN Liaison Office, tel: 1 212- 867 5891, Mobile: 1 202 258 4166 email:
lbr@wcc-coe.org 

Information on the 2004 WCC Advocacy Week is available at:
http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/international/advocweek04.html

More information on the work of the WCC UN Liaison Office (UNLO) in New York
is available at
http://www.wcc-un.org 

Photos from the 14-19 November International Advocacy Week are available on
our website at:
http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/international/advocweek-photos.html

Additional information: Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363
media@wcc-coe.org

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The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 342, in more
than 120 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, Netherlands. Its staff is headed by general secretary Samuel Kobia
from the Methodist church in Kenya.