wfn.org | A summit of contrasts World Council of Churches

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

For Immediate Use
1 October 2002
A Summit of contrasts
By Mirjam Schubert

There are two sides to Johannesburg. One is Sandton City with its high-rise 
towers, up-market hotels, luxury shopping mall and a conference centre 
whose corridors, from 22 August, were filled with delegates hurrying to the 
United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). The other 
side, only six kilometres away as the crow flies, is Alexandra Township, 
the tin sheds of its slums leaning against each other. Many township 
residents don't know whether they will have anything to eat tomorrow.

Alexandra, not Sandton, was where an ecumenical team attending the WSSD 
prepared for the Summit. Led by South African Council of Churches (SACC) 
general secretary Dr Molefe Tsele and coordinated by the World Council of 
Churches (WCC), the team included over 60 people from all continents and a 
wide range of churches and persuasions. Some had participated in all the 
preparatory meetings (prepcoms). In visiting South Africa's oldest 
township, the team was giving a clear sign: "The residents of Alexandra are 
the people this Summit must concern itself with," explained Dr Martin Robra 
of the WCC.

At an ecumenical service in Alexandra, members of the local Presbyterian 
Church congregation greeted their overseas guests with song and dance. "I 
was overcome by the joyfulness and positive atmosphere in an area that 
seems so hopeless," said team member Miragh Addis from Canada. "We are here 
to ensure that the voice of those who have no voice can be heard at the 
Summit," said Rev. Dr Alan Boesak in his sermon.

This was the task the ecumenical team set itself.  "We have firm faith that 
there is still hope to change the world," said Shanti Sachithanandam from 
Sri Lanka.  But the reality of the negotiating table is often complex, and 
some team members arrived with lower expectations.  Said Demba Moussa 
Dembele from Senegal: "I had no illusions about the result of this Summit."

"Recognition of the sacred nature of creation and the spiritual 
interrelationship among all its parts" is how a team policy statement 
describes the basis of its commitment. That involved upholding an ethic 
that defends and fulfils life.

"Such an ethic," the statement continues, "involves respect for the 
integrity of the cosmos and commitment to respecting the dignity and 
promoting the wellbeing with, and of, all members of the Earth community. "

This faith-based ethic, and the images of Alexandra Township, shaped the 
team's efforts in Johannesburg. Many team members joined non-governmental 
organization work groups - on women, energy, water, or particular regions - 
where the NGOs shared information and prepared their lobbying. In the 
official negotiations, that were open to NGOs, and in the conference 
building, team members put their message directly across to politicians: 
sustainable development cannot be contemplated without justice.  "NGO 
pressure on the delegates had considerable impact on the negotiations," 
reported Henrik Grape from Sweden. "Many delegates were pleased if they 
could refer to civil society and so give their arguments more weight."

Team members also interacted with other participants and participated in 
the events at the "Global People's Forum". The NGO summit was sited in the 
Nasrec exhibition centre, a long way from Sandton.  "For me, the 
opportunity for real exchange was here rather than in the negotiations at 
the conference centre,"  said Jackie Moreau from the USA.  "Nasrec was a 
place to get inspiration and inspire others, a place to build up networks 
for your work at home."

The ecumenical team also organized two meetings: one on the ecological debt 
of rich countries, and the other on corporate accountability. In that 
setting, NGO, government and business representatives responded to 
questions from the audience and press. During a podium discussion on "A 
climate for justice", Karen Lexhn from Sweden introduced an appeal, 
co-sponsored by the WCC and development and aid organizations from the USA, 
Canada, Aotearoa-New Zealand and Europe. "The development organizations 
have woken up and recognized that they too must take a clear position on 
climate change," said Lexhn. "Together, we're on the side of the poorest 
and weakest, who are most affected by climate change...Together we want to 
call on governments to tackle the causes of climate change faster and more 
effectively."

While in Johannesburg, the ecumenical team made a special effort to meet 
people beyond the WSSD. One opportunity was a worship service on HIV/AIDS 
at Christ the King Anglican Church in Sophiatown at which one of the team 
members, Hellen Wangusa from Uganda, preached the sermon. After the 
service, parish youth led team members through a neighbourhood from which, 
under apartheid, thousands of people had been sent to settle in faraway 
townships. Eyewitnesses and the young people told the story of that 
turbulent past in word and song.

At the end of an exhausting week, the ecumencial team returned to Alexandra 
where the SACC, the Global People's Forum and other NGOs had organized a 
demonstration in solidarity with the township's inhabitants and deprived 
people all over the world.	

 From Alexandra Stadium, demonstrators marched and danced their way in the 
sweltering heat through the narrow township streets to the wide boulevards 
of Sandton nine kilometres away. "On this march people could at last bridge 
the gap between Sandton and Nasrec, "commented Sipho Mtetwa from South 
Africa. "In the poor area, people gathered to wave, touch and greet us," 
said David Hallman from Canada. "After that, just a few people watched the 
demonstration from behind a police barrier." And Miragh Addis reported that 
a small boy from Alexandra thanked her "for demonstrating for me".

The outcome of the WSSD was unsatisfactory in many respects. The ecumenical 
team was particularly disappointed at the negotiating parties' inability to 
set any goals or timetable on energy. But, says Larisa Skuratovskaya from 
Russia "we could also celebrate some victories". "Canada, Russia and China 
ratified the Kyoto protocol. We no longer expected that. Now it can come 
into force. Also, as a result of the massive protests by women, the 
stipulation of 'human rights and basic freedoms' was included in the 
paragraphs on health care. This means that we can prevent genital 
mutilation, for example, from being interpreted as legitimate."

Such accomplishments are modest. Yet what can be celebrated goes beyond 
changes and openings in the language of agreed texts. As David Hallman, WCC 
Climate Change programme coordinator and programme officer with the United 
Church of Canada, notes in his WSSD report, "Beyond small victories within 
the formal agreements, the network and capacity-building that occurred 
among civil society groups will reinforce the justice movements of 
resistance and the modelling of alternative approaches that could genuinely 
lead to sustainable community."

Mirjam Schubert, a German journalist, accompanied the WCC ecumenical team 
during the World Summit on Sustainable development in Johannesburg, South 
Africa, from 26 August-4 September 2002.

For further information, please contact the Media Relations Office,  tel: 
+41 (0)22 791 64 21

**********

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a fellowship of churches, now 342, 
in more than 100 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, The Netherlands. Its staff is headed by 
general secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church in Germany.

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