wfn.org | WCC NEWS: WCC makes new call for peace in Darfur

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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 - 01/09/2009 16:21:41

>WCC MAKES NEW CALL FOR PEACE IN DARFUR

The World Council of Churches central committee again took up
the issue of Sudan at meetings in Geneva this week, issuing a
“Statement on the Darfur crisis in the context of Sudan”.
Since early 2003, the statement says, “the conflict in Darfur has
unleashed an overwhelming wave of violence resulting in the death
of hundreds of thousands of civilians and an immense humanitarian
crisis”.

The central committee and its executive committee have spoken
several times previously on Sudan and the conflict in the
nation’s Darfur region. In September 2006, the central
committee requested that staff study whether “the use of the term
genocidewith regard to the crisis in Darfur is appropriate in
light of the internationally agreed conventions on this issue,
and to offer counsel to the churches”.

A progress report on that study was attached to this latest
statement as background, referring to the conflict in Darfur as
“a moral challenge for the international community”. 

The new statement adopted by central committee delegates on 1
September “condemns the mass atrocities committed against
innocent civilians in Darfur”. It further urges the government of
Sudan “to assume full responsibility for the protection of its
citizens” regardless of ethnicity or other affiliation and to
“allow uninterrupted humanitarian assistance to reach all
suffering people in Darfur”.

It also appeals to the government of Sudan to honour all
statements and agreements it has signed, most notably the
Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed with the Sudan People’s
Liberation Movement/Army in 2005 in the country’s south. It urges
the nations of Africa and the international community to continue
to support the peace process “through constructive dialogue with
all parties involved in the conflict”.

The statement goes on to express appreciation for the assistance
provided by the United Nations/African Union (UNAMID)
peacekeeping force in Darfur and acknowledges the “significant
role of the churches in Sudan in promoting interreligious
dialogue and advocating for peace, justice, reconciliation and
respect for the dignity and well being of all the people of
Sudan”.

It ends by encouraging Christians everywhere to pray “for an end
to the hostilities in Darfur and for a lasting peace in Sudan”.

>Full text of the stagtement:
>http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=7166

WCC member churches in Sudan:

http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/regions/africa/sudan.html

More information on the Central Committee meeting:
http://www.oikoumene.org/cc2009

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.