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A unique, broadly ecumenical body launched in Geneva has pledged itself to tackle issues of global trade and HIV/AIDS. For each issue, the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance will develop an educational approach as well as a specific strategy.
In his opening address to the founding meeting convened by the World Council of Churches (WCC) on December 7, WCC general secretary Rev. Dr. Konrad Raiser said the time has come to take a courageous new step together to promote justice, peace and the integrity of creation.
Speaking to representatives from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, North America and the Pacific, Raiser said that "Advocacy" is a relatively new name for what earlier generations would have called the churches' prophetic ministry. The Alliance is designed to strengthen the prophetic voice and impact of ecumenical witness on the crucial social, political and economic issues of the day. It will do this by pooling the resources and experience of its partner bodies. It is also expected to depart from "the institutional logic of most ecumenical organizations, based on church or community membership and, instead, seek to encourage voluntary participation based on commitment to certain issues."
From a list of 170 suggested issues, the meeting selected the following two for attention over the next four years:
Participants noted in their final communiqué that the Alliance "will be a flexible and open instrument enabling participating organizations from the broad ecumenical family to work strategically on priorities identified as common to our witness and work."
The communique noted that global trade is dominated by a few economic powers: transnational corporations, governments and multilateral institutions. This makes it extremely difficult for many countries to access world markets equitably. "Advocacy work [...] is particularly needed at the level of the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the European Union," participants said.
The communique identified the HIV/AIDS pandemic as one of the gravest challenges to health and also "to prospects of social and economic development and global security." HIV/AIDS' impact is a symptom of "systematic economic problems such as under-investment in health and unequal access to effective treatment." It is thus a particularly appropriate issue for churches, the communiqué said; while governments and private companies need to be involved, "churches need to speak out on causes, prevention, treatment and consequences."
The final communique states, "The Christ we follow tells us that when we minister to the sick, the hungry, the stranger and the prisoner, we are ministering to Christ himself. His identification with the marginalized, his rage at the moneylenders and his willingness to challenge established social boundaries in view of the Kingdom of God lead us to a life of confronting unjust structures of power in solidarity with the excluded. With this conviction and with trust in the grace of God, we launch this Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance,"
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To support Advance #982345-7, "Global HIV/AIDS Program Development," you may give by check through your local United Methodist church. Gifts may also be sent to: To make a credit card donation, call (800) 554-8583. One hundred percent of your gift goes to this emergency. |
The full text of the Alliance document, "A Covenant for Action", as well as of this communique is available by request, from e-alliance@wcc-coe.org. The communique is also on the WCC website at http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/news/press/00/communique.html .
AIDS in Africa: Heartbreak and Hope
Adapted from World Council of Churches press release. E-mail: ka@wcc-coe.org; Web: http://www.wcc-coe.org; World Council of Churches, PO Box 2100, 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland.