wfn.org | WCC NEWS: Climate change displacement, indigenous peoples and Colombia on churches' UN advocacy agen

["WCC Media" <Media@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches - News Release

Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org
For immediate release - 10/11/2009 17:21:59

CLIMATE CHANGE DISPLACEMENT, INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND COLOMBIA ON
CHURCHES' UN ADVOCACY AGENDA

Church representatives from around the world will gather in New
York City 15-20 November to press three issues within the agenda
of the United Nations: peoples being displaced by climate change,
indigenous people's rights and Colombia's protracted internal
conflict.

The United Nations Advocacy Week ( http://unaw.oikoumene.org/
)(UNAW) is organized annually by the United Nations Liaison
Office of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in New York. It
brings together over 80 people from more than 40 countries
working on advocacy issues in churches, national councils of
churches, specialized agencies, regional ecumenical organizations
and regional advocacy networks.

"As churches we are pushing for an ambitious, fair and binding
deal on climate change at the COP15 December meeting in
Copenhagen, with a component that addresses climate displaced
peoples. We want to bring this message forcefully into the UN
system during the advocacy week," says Dr Guillermo Kerber, WCC
programme executive for Climate Change (
http://www.oikoumene.org/climatechange ).

Within the theme of climate change displacement two regions will
be highlighted: the Pacific and Africa. "Pacific islands like
Tuvalu and Kiribati will probably disappear in the coming decades
because of rising sea levels. So churches in the region are
already addressing the issue of resettlement," says Kerber. "In
the Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes region, population
displacement is a growing problem as changing weather conditions
affect farming communities," he adds.

Sessions on indigenous peoples (

http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=3247 )will focus on the United
Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and how
churches can engage with indigenous people's struggles,
recognizing the churches' historic involvement in colonization
and violence against indigenous peoples.

And the voices of Colombian people will enrich sessions on the
conflict in this country and the churches' response to it. In
Colombia, a long-running conflict has seen tens of thousands of
civilians killed and more than two million Colombians driven from
their homes.

>Praying, speaking out and acting together

"The UNAW is a call to ecumenical advocacy in the global arena,"
says Rev. Christopher Ferguson, WCC representative to the United
Nations in New York. "The Advocacy Week is a crucial moment for
the churches to come together to speak to these burning issues.
The UN in New York is the new ‘public square’ in a world in
crisis. The voice of the church, standing with those whose life
and being is threatened, must be heard."

This year the UNAW is being run in partnership with the Global
Platform for Theological Reflection (
http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=3092 ), a meeting of members of
churches, specialized ministries, ecumenical organizations and
theological institutions taking place 20-22 November in New York.

The Global Platform's meeting will be held immediately after the
UNAW, with the theme "Praying, speaking out and acting together –
Theological reflection on advocacy". 

The 20 Global Platform participants will attend the UNAW,
helping to ensure that the advocacy efforts of the churches are
based on sound theological foundations. And the practical
experiences of these participants at the UNAW will inform
discussions at the Global Platform.

"These two events together will attempt to articulate a new
rationale for churches' active engagement in the public sphere
particularly in the context of massive abuse and destruction of
life in the world today," says Rev. Dr Deenbandhu Manchala,
programme executive for Just and Inclusive Communities and
convener of the Global Platform. 

"What is heard and learned during the week will help to discern
what needs to be said to the churches and the ecumenical
community about the vocation of speaking truth to power and of
being in the vanguard of justice and life," notes Manchala.

Launched in 2007, the Global Platform is a space for
stakeholders of the WCC to address issues of critical importance
to the life and work of the ecumenical community. 

Media contact in New York: Mark Beach, +41 (0)79 507 6363
(mobile)

More on the United Nations Advocacy Week of the WCC:
http://unaw.oikoumene.org ( http://unaw.oikoumene.org/ )

More on the Global Platform for Theological Reflection:
http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=3092

>WCC work on climate change:
>http://www.oikoumene.org/climatechange

WCC programme on Public Witness: Addressing Power and Affirming
Peace:
http://www.oikoumene.org/en/programmes/public-witness-addressing-power-affirming-peace.html

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.