wfn.org | WCC NEWS: Bangkok conference to affirm solidarity with Dalits

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World Council of Churches - News Release

Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org

>For immediate release - 19/03/2009 10:22:18

HISTORIC ECUMENICAL CONFERENCE SEEKS TO AFFIRM SOLIDARITY AND
GLOBAL JUSTICE FOR DALITS

>Jointly issued by LWF and WCC

"The suffering and injustice experienced by millions of Dalit
people and communities is a challenge to the credibility of the
churches' affirmations of faith in India and worldwide,"
according to Rev. Deenabandhu Manchala who heads the World
Council of Churches (WCC) Just and Inclusive Communities
Programme. Manchala was speaking on the eve of the "Global
Ecumenical Conference on Justice for Dalits" which will take
place from 21 to 24 March 2009 in Bangkok, Thailand, at the joint
initiative of the WCC and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF).

Hosted by the Christian Conference of Asia, the conference will
bring together over 100 representatives of churches and
church-related organizations from all over the world, with a
significant representation from Indian churches and members of
affected communities. 

The first of its kind, this global ecumenical event is intended
to gather up experiences and perspectives on the challenge of
securing justice for Dalits and similarly affected communities.
It will also provide a forum for articulating theological and
ethical responses to the struggles of Dalits for survival and
identity, focusing on the role of the global church family in
relation to these struggles.

An estimated 250 million people in South Asia are Dalits, who
are traditionally regarded as "untouchable". This type of social
convention can also be found in communities in many other parts
of the world. It goes against every Christian, ethical and human
rights perspective. "Untouchability and discrimination based on
caste affect a significant proportion of the world's people, and
are a direct contradiction of the God-given dignity of every
human being," noted LWF deputy general secretary Rev. Chandran
Paul Martin. 

The Bangkok conference comes just one month before the United
Nations' Durban Review Conference, to be convened in Geneva from
20 to 24 April 2009, to review the implementation of the plan of
action adopted by the 2001 World Conference against Racism,
Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance – in
which the problem of caste discrimination was not mentioned. 

"The entire international community turned a blind eye to the
plight of the world's Dalits when they met in Durban, and they
are set to do so again in Geneva in April," said Peter Prove of
the LWF Office for International Affairs and Human Rights. The
Bangkok conference organizers expect the churches of the world to
take up the challenge that the governments of the world have
refused to confront.

The churches in India have taken the issue of justice for Dalits
as a core priority for their ongoing mission, and have been
supported by the National Council of Churches in India, the WCC
and LWF. These organizations have actively promoted the
empowerment of Dalits in church and society by providing
theological and ethical responses to the Dalit struggle, and in
advocating the elimination of the centuries-old discrimination on
the basis of caste. 

These ecumenical initiatives have also been instrumental in
initiating many community-based programmes for Dalit empowerment.
Recent years have also seen a growing mobilization of civil
society in India and elsewhere for Dalit human rights.

Representatives of Dalit social movements, national and
international coalitions are also attending the Bangkok
conference. The principal aim of this historic event is to affirm
and strengthen the solidarity of the global ecumenical movement
with the Indian churches and other organizations that are
committed to the cause of justice for the Dalits.

Additional information about the conference on the LWF website:
http://www.lutheranworld.org/What_We_Do/OIahr/OIAHR-Dalit_Justice.html

Read more about WCC work in solidarity with Dalits: 
http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=3249

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

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith,
witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical
fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings
together 349 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches
representing more than 560 million Christians in over 110
countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic
Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, from
the Methodist Church in Kenya. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.