wfn.org | WCC AGENDA: April 2005

["WCC Media" <Media@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches - Agenda
Contact: + 41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org
For immediate release - 22.03.2005

APRIL 2005

> Papuan rights highlighted at UNCHR
> Kobia keynote speaker at CCA Assembly
> Decade to Overcome Violence focus on Asia launch
> WCC scholars discuss "Marks of Peacemaking"
> Farmers' global forum on life-giving agriculture
> Global Week of Action on trade
> Debate on military intervention for humanitarian purposes

> Papuan rights highlighted at UNCHR
> 12 March - 22 April, Geneva, Switzerland

The rights of the Papuan people will be the focus of WCC's involvement in
the 61st session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR).
The WCC delegation includes representatives from Papua, Nigeria, Pakistan,
Nepal and Colombia. A written submission has been presented to the
commission, and a study on the economic, social and cultural rights of the
Papuan people, commissioned by German churches with the WCC and undertaken
by Papuan academics and human rights defenders, will be released on
Thursday, 31 March.

http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/international/chr2005.html

> Kobia keynote speaker at CCA Assembly
> 1-2 April, Chiang Mai, Thailand

WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia will attend the 12th general
assembly of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) in Chiang Mai,
Thailand, where he will deliver the keynote speech on the assembly's theme
"Building Communities of Peace for All". The theme reflects a vision in
the context of Asia's religious and ethnic diversity and ongoing quest for
communal harmony. The CCA represents over 100 churches from countries like
India and Korea, as well as Aotearoa-New Zealand.  The assembly will be
Kobia's final stop on his first visit to WCC member churches in Bangladesh
(26-29 March) and Thailand (29-31 March).

http://www.cca.org.hk/12ga/index.htm

> Decade to Overcome Violence focus on Asia launch
> 2 April, Chiang Mai, Thailand

The 2005 DOV Focus on Asia will be launched at the CCA Assembly. Acting as
"living letters", international guests will speak of their work and
experiences in overcoming violence. The assembly theme, "Building
Communities of Peace for All", is also the theme of the focus on Asia.
National and local churches and networks on various levels are conducting
projects to overcome violence and promote a culture of peace, both within
the churches and in society.
There will be two Asia-wide events during the DOV Focus on Asia: one in
July, bringing together scholars under the focus theme, and a larger DOV
consultation later in the year.

http://www.overcomingviolence.org

> WCC scholars discuss "Marks of Peacemaking"
> 8-10 April, St. Louis, USA

What are the marks of peacemaking in the life of the churches? WCC
scholars currently studying in the United States will meet at Eden
Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, to explore this theme in the
context of the ongoing Decade to Overcome Violence.
Rev. Dr Bernice Powell Jackson, WCC president from North America and
executive minister for Peace and Justice Ministries of the United Church
of Christ, will participate in the gathering. The ten students sponsored
under the WCC scholarship programme come from Uganda, Romania, the
Philippines, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kenya, India, Indonesia and the Solomon
Islands.

http://www.wcc-usa.org

> Farmers' global forum on life-giving agriculture
> 8-13 April, Wonju, South Korea

The Life Giving Agriculture Forum, sponsored by the Ecumenical Coalition
for Alternatives to Globalization (ECAG), provides a platform for farmers
from all continents, particularly Christian farmers working in sustainable
agriculture. About 100 participants will share ideas and methods and
identify strategies for globalizing their concepts. The forum is both
global and local in nature, including visits to organic farming projects
in Korean villages. The purpose is to create an ongoing process with
further regional and global meetings, aiming at a theology of life from an
agricultural perspective, and encouraging Christian communities and
churches to engage in life-giving farming methods and rural development.

> Global Week of Action on Trade
> 10-16 April, worldwide

During the Global Week of Action a trade petition, currently signed by 130
religious leaders, will be presented to the World Trade Organization's
director of External Relations. This is part of the Trade for People
campaign, coordinated by the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA). On 20
April the archbishop of Cape Town, Njongonkulu Ndungane, will address the
WTO Public Symposium as spokesperson for the Trade for People campaign,
calling for international trade rules to give priority to human rights and
protection of the environment, and contribute to the eradication of
poverty.
The Week of Action, with hundreds of events in more than 70 countries, is
a global call to all social movements, mass organizations, local and
national campaigns to challenge the free trade myth and put forward
alternatives.

http://www.april2005.org

> Debate on military intervention for humanitarian purposes
> 21-23 April, Geneva, Switzerland

Different Christian approaches to war and criteria for military intervention for humanitarian purposes will be discussed in a seminar on "The
Responsibility to Protect". On invitation from the WCC Commission of the
Churches on International Affairs (CCIA), experts from different backgrounds, politicians, jurists, ethicists, theologians, and researchers will
assess the actual state of the debate, highlighting the international and
political as well as ethical and theological perspectives. Participants
include Cornelio Sommaruga, former president of the International
Committee of the Red Cross, and Dr Bertrand Ramcharan, former deputy high
commissioner for Human Rights.
Gareth Evans, former Australian foreign minister, and Rev. Dr Konrad
Raiser, former general secretary of the WCC, will speak in a public
session on Thursday, 21 April, 1pm, at the Ecumenical Centre.

http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/international/index-e.html

> Major WCC events coming up:

Conference on World Mission and Evangelism
9-16 May 2005, Athens, Greece

International interreligious conference hosted by WCC
6-10 June, 2005, Geneva, Switzerland

International Day of Prayer for Peace
21 September, worldwide

WCC 9th Assembly (2006)
14-23 February 2006, Porto Alegre, Brazil

For further information, visit the WCC media calendar at:
http://www2.wcc-coe.org/wcccalendar.nsf

Unless noted otherwise, events are by invitation only and not open to the
press or general public. The information above may change without
notice.

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.