wfn.org | WCC NEWS: Human rights commitment by African churches

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>World Council of Churches - News

CHURCHES IN THE GREAT LAKES REGION COMMIT TO PROMOTE HUMAN RIGHTS

>For immediate release: 29 April 2010

Church leaders from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi  and
Rwanda have made a "firm commitment to work together in promoting  human
dignity and fundamental human rights".

This commitment is one of the main outcomes of a five-day workshop  on human
rights that took place in the DRC capital city Kinshasa, 13-17 April.
Hosted by the World Council of Churches (WCC) member churches in  the DRC,
the workshop was organized by the WCC in cooperation with the Lutheran
World Federation and the Protestant German aid agency Bread for  the World,
and was funded by the European Commission.

The participants at the workshop – some 45 heads of churches,  leaders of
ecumenical organizations, representatives of national and international
NGOs and UN agencies – issued a Declaration of Commitment  pledging to
work together with human rights NGOs and to accompany their respective
states "in the fight against corruption, impunity and poverty".

The Bishop David Yemba Kekumba, from the United Methodist Church  in the
DRC, expressed satisfaction about the outcomes. "The workshop went  very
well", he said, "and participants had very good debates." Yemba,  who is a
vice-president of the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) and  chaired
the church coordination committee which hosted the workshop, expects  it to
have a wider beneficial impact on the ecumenical landscape in the  DRC.

According to the DRC Minister of Justice and Human Rights Luzolo  Bambi,
churches should become agents of awareness-raising and education  on human
rights. In a message read at the workshop by his chief of staff,  the
minister suggested that by playing such a role, churches can contribute  to
form true citizens.

"The Congolese people have been suffering for much too long from  a series
of human rights violations," stated in a written message to the  workshop
the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit. "Despite significant
efforts made by the Government to improve the promotion and protection  of
human rights, the situation today unfortunately remains serious".

Tveit encouraged the churches in Congo, which are "among the strongest
advocates for the promotion and protection of human rights", to  continue
their struggle in this regard: "We will carry the cross together,  working
faithfully together for a better future."

"The most remarkable feature of this workshop was the depth of commitment
and enthusiasm shown by the heads of churches who attended it",  said WCC
programme executive for human rights Christina Papazoglou.

"Church leaders were supposed to participate the first two days  only and
appoint a proxy afterwards, but they decided to stay until the end,
engaging in lively, even passionate discussions with every speaker,
including those who addressed issues of a more technical nature",
Papazoglou added. "They did not back off from difficult issues either,
like violence against women, among others."

As a result, in the Declaration of Commitment issued at the end  of the
workshop the heads of churches pledged to work in a coordinated  manner on
human rights issues. "This is a first", highlighted Papazoglou,  "and we
expect to follow up on this commitment in the coming months."

On the other hand, she said, "constructive synergies between the  churches
and human rights NGOs can be mutually beneficial, given the NGOs  technical
expertise and the churches’ broad access to the grassroots  level. Such
cooperation can considerably enhance the promotion and protection  of human
rights in the region."

The workshop participants requested the support of the organizers  to
strengthen the capacity of churches with regard to human rights  as well as
in the areas of education for environmental protection, prevention  of HIV
and AIDS, advocacy and lobby.

Full text of the workshop participants' "Declaration of Commitment"
(Link: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=9720592ba025fd4fed2d  )

Greetings sent by the WCC general secretary (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=b53befe263b967475b6a )

WCC 2009 Central Committee "Statement on sexual violence against  women in
the Democratic Republic of Congo" (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=ad543adc88a2f0c43abe )

WCC work on human rights (Link:

http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=62054f2d8d5801694f4c )

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 Olav Fykse  Tveit, from 
the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.