wfn.org | Global Conflict Tops Agenda for Peace Delegation to Ottawa

["Broadhurst, Tom" <tbroadhu@united-church.ca>]

News Release -- Sunday, May 3, 2009

Global Conflict Tops Agenda for Peace Delegation to Ottaw a

Toronto:   Canada needs to be an ally for peace.

That message will echo through the House of Commons thi s week as a
United Church delegation, along with church partners from  Colombia, the
Philippines, Palestine/Israel, and Canada, begins knocking on  doors.
They will ask the Canadian government to use its influe nce to push for
dialogue, rather than military action, in all conflict si tuations.

"Canada's global reputation for diplomacy and reconciliation  in conflict
situations has been eroded," says Nora Sanders, General S ecretary of the
General Council. "We believe Canada could play a more u seful role as a
potential mediator."

That is why the strategy for the May 4-6 visit is t o engage
parliamentarians in frank conversations about Canada's foreig n affairs
policy. The United Church hopes this will help convince  the government
to commit itself to being more of an advocate of peac e by promoting an
activist approach to reconciliation, diplomacy, and developme nt.

Members of the delegation, although they are travelling f rom different
parts of the world, share a passionate longing for peac e. The message
they will bring is that Canada should strive to be an  architect for
peace throughout the world even when the feuding parties  don't agree or
when the Canadian government is opposed to one or more  parties in the
conflict.

Because this message is sometimes challenging to communicat e,
particularly to individuals who have never experienced the  absence of
peace, the United Church invited its global and First N ations partners
to travel to Ottawa. The church hopes that the official s and politicians
they meet will listen with a keen ear to the experien ces of people whose
lives are challenged every day by violence and human ri ghts abuses.

In addition to asking the Canadian government to review  its approach to
foreign affairs, the delegation will urge the government  to address our
own "made in Canada" peace issues with First Nations pe oples. The
emphasis here will be on encouraging the government to  sign the United
Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

>Members of the delegation include

* Carmencita Karagdag (Coordinator of Peace for Life and  member of the
World Council of Churches Central Committee)
* Rifat Kassis (General Director, Defence for Children
International-Palestine Section, Bethlehem)
* Lilia Solano (human rights defender and President of  the Justice and
Life Project in Colombia)
* Maggie McLeod (member of the Saugeen First Nation)
* Nora Sanders, The United Church of Canada's General S ecretary of the
General Council
* staff of KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives  and the
United Church's General Council Office

To arrange media interviews with the delegation while the y are in
Ottawa, please contact:

>Mary-Frances Denis
>Communications Officer
>The United Church of Canada
>416-231-7680 ext. 2016 (office)
>1-800-268-3781 ext. 2016 (toll-free)
>mdenis@united-church.ca

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