wfn.org | WCC NEWS: Haiti: International ecumenical delegation to pay solidarity visit

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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 - 20/11/2008 14:48:33

INTERNATIONAL ECUMENICAL DELEGATION TO VISIT HAITI

An international ecumenical delegation of church representatives
will pay a solidarity visit to churches, ecumenical organizations
and civil society movements in Haiti from 24 to 28 November. The
team will visit the capital Port-au-Prince and areas affected by
recent hurricanes.

The visit aims to express solidarity with the Haitian people and
listen to the churches in the country. Through visits to local
Christian communities, civil society organizations, humanitarian
agencies and political representatives, the international
ecumenical representatives will learn about their concerns and
hopes.

Even for Haiti, a country that has known few good years in its
convulsed history, but 2008 could fairly be called an 'annus
horribilis'. Facing endemic corruption problems and ranking as
one of the most violent countries in the world, Haiti has seen
further deterioration in its political stability as the increase
in food prices caused a popular revolt last April. Then
hurricanes Fay, Gustav, Hanna, and most recently Ike, brought
about serious flooding in many areas, leaving as many as one
million Haitian homeless, more than 500 dead and further
weakening the country's agricultural capacity.

The ecumenical team will gather first-hand experience through
field visits to hurricane-affected areas and by meeting
representatives from organizations which are grappling with
violence and conflict in the country. It will also get to know
initiatives dealing with violence against most vulnerable sectors
like street children and women. 

Organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC), the visit is
hosted by the Protestant Federation of Haiti in collaboration
with ecumenical and church agencies based in the country. 

The members of the ecumenical delegation are:

- Ms. Geneviève Jacques, former WCC director of programmes and
former general secretary of CIMADE, France (leader). 
- Ms. Els Hortensius, programme officer, Department of
Democratisation and Peace Building, ICCO, The Netherlands. 
- Ms. Marie Claude Julsaint, executive secretary for Latin
American and the Caribbean of the World YWCA, Haiti/Switzerland 
- Ms. Elsy Wakil, Middle East regional secretary of the World
Student Christian Federation, Lebanon. 
- Mr. Michael Burke, executive minister, Ministry and Employment
Policies and Services, United Church of Canada, Canada. 
- Mr. Manuel Quintero, director of Frontier Internship in
Mission, Cuba. 

The international ecumenical solidarity visit to Haiti is part
of the WCC Living Letters project. Until 2010, several Living
Letters visits take place each year throughout the world in the
context of the WCC's Decade to Overcome Violence in order to
prepare for the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation to be
held in Jamaica in 2011.

>WCC member churches in Haiti:
>http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=4691

Additional information:

Juan Michel +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@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.