wfn.org | WCC FEATURE: Finding traction on Colombia

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World Council of Churches - Feature

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For immediate release - 23/11/2009 13:59:19

>FINDING TRACTION ON COLOMBIA

>By Mark Beach (*)
>Free photos available, see below

For nearly four hours, church activists participating in the World Council  of Churches' (WCC) United Nations Advocacy Week meetings in New York  delved deeply into the tragedies and injustices of the current bloody  conflict in Colombia.

The facts and figures were compelling and the stories personal.

Thousands have been killed. An increasing number of children are being  maimed and killed by homemade landmines disguised as toys, and by  unexploded ordnance.

Fathers and sons have been kidnapped and murdered by paramilitary groups  and guerillas. Land has been lost, people have fled and women and children  left abandoned. Colombia has the second highest rate of internally  displaced people in the world.

And across the street from the UN Advocacy Week's meetings in the Church  Center, in the broad and influential hallways of the United Nations, the  tragedy of Colombia is barely on the world body's radar screen. "Every  time we meet with folks there we ask 'what about Colombia?'," Joseph  Donnelly, Caritas Internationalis representative to the United Nations,  said to the group. "They don't want to hear it, and they say 'not Colombia  again'."

At the same time Bishop Juan Alberto Cardona, the bishop of the Methodist  Church in Colombia, told the group that while the churches in Colombia are  wrestling with the conflict and seeking peace, there is a role for  churches throughout the world to play that is not being done now. For a  group of passionate and dedicated church activists, this was a bitter  taste of reality about how far they still have to go to dismantle  injustice.

The WCC UN Advocacy Week, held in New York City, USA, from 15 to 20  November, brought together church activists from around the world to  explore several topics, including the situation of people displaced by  climate change, indigenous concerns around the world and continuing  violence in Colombia. It is also a time when the activists build contacts  and visit officials at various UN missions in the city.

>Vision of peace with justice

The passion for bringing peace with justice to Colombia was reflected in  the half-dozen presentations from church leaders and activists in and  outside Colombia to some 80 participants on the second full day of the  advocacy meetings.

Jenny Neme, director of the Christian Centre for Justice, Peace and  Nonviolent Action (JUSTAPAZ) and member of the Mennonite Church in  Colombia, told the group that more than a decade ago the churches in  Colombia realized that "we have not been either the light or the salt that  Colombia needs."

Since that time the churches have established a vision of seeking peace  with justice for Colombia by educating communities and churches at the  local level about the situation, continuing theological reflection and, in  a particularly poignant way, starting to document the suffering within the  society, particularly among Christians.

The JUSTAPAZ group has now released a fourth 100-page report documenting  in sometimes graphic detail the suffering of the Colombian Protestant  churches.

Donnelly talked about the small steps that have been made in persuading  the UN to pay attention to Colombia. The International Criminal Court is  looking increasingly toward Colombia, he said, although this may have more  to do with the fact that obtaining convictions in their current work in  the Great Lakes region of Africa is meeting with only limited success than  with anything else.

Still, when it comes to advocacy the church has to be steadfast and  persistent, Donnelly said. Today there are nearly 5,000 accredited  non-governmental organizations hovering around the UN, he added, each with  their access badges to the UN grounds. Holding his UN badge up to the  group, he said, "and even this does not guarantee you access."

But, unless the church is consistent and persistent, a few weeks after a  visit, the church is forgotten. Donnelly recalled that in the early days  of the UN the church worked hand-in-hand with world leaders to create the  Human Rights Charter, which celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2008.

Bishop Cordona said in an interview after his address that the worldwide  church has a significant role to play. "First, the church can provide the  prophetic voice," he said.

Second, "the church can announce the good news of equity in the gospel,"  he continued. "In Colombia the church permeates society and is responsible  for the prophetic point of view."

"In the case of the World Council of Churches, the WCC can carry out  advocacy at the highest level so we can find a negotiated solution to this  situation," he said.

In one sense, this brings the churches' commitment to Colombia right back  into the halls of the UN.

The Church Center, where the advocacy meetings are being held and which  houses the UN-related offices of the WCC, United Methodists, Presbyterians  and others, sits across the street from the UN. Within a few blocks around  the UN are other church agencies and offices such as Quakers and Mennonites .

Donnelly said that the church can have access to the UN, it can have an  impact, but that this takes time; and when you ask for a meeting, he  advised, "come with facts."

"What we need is to be more steadfast, to be there constantly," he said.

>[856 words]

(*) Mark Beachis WCC director of communications.

WCC member churches in Colombia:

http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/regions/latin-america/colombia. html

WCC Living Letters visit to Colombia, December 2008:
http://www.overcomingviolence.org/en/peace-convocation/living-letters-visit s/colombia.html

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

Photo gallery (high resolution versions available upon request):
http://www.oikoumene.org/en/events-sections/unaw/photos.html

Keynotes and interviews recorded at the UN Advocacy Week:
http://www.oikoumene.org/en/events-sections/unaw/audio.html

Opinions expressed in WCC Features do not necessarily reflect WCC policy.  This material may be reprinted freely, providing credit is given to the  author.

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.