OIAHR - Issues and Events

Issues and Events

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Zimbabwe

Letters to President Mbeki, President Kikwete, President Mwanawasa; LWF President’s pastoral letter to Zimbabwe church leaders

LWF Council statement and resolution, 25-30 June 2008

Statement by LWF General Secretary on arms shipment to Zimbabwe, 23 April 2008

Statement by LWF General Secretary on delayed election results in Zimbabwe, 10 April 2008

Letter from LWF General Secretary to President John Kufuor, Chairperson, African Union, 15 March 2007

Dalit Liberation

Discriminatory work practices force Dalits to do for little or no pay any jobs considered "polluting" by dominant castes, such as preparing the dead for burial. Bihar, India
© Jakob Carlsen

Over 250 million people are victims of discrimination and exclusion based on their social origin and traditional occupation. More…

Bangkok Declaration and Call from the Global Ecumenical Conference on Justice for Dalits, Bangkok, Thailand, 21-24 March 2009

LWF Council resolution on caste-based discrimination, September 2005

International Dalit Solidarity Network website

Climate Change

LWF Council resolution, 25-30 June 2008

Lutheran World Information special on Climate Change

Statement by LWF General Secretary on the UN Climate Change Conference, 5 December 2007

Food Crisis

LWF Council resolution, 25-30 June 2008

"The High Cost of Food: Familiar Refrains in a New Crisis", Thinking it over... series #19, LWF Department of Theology and Studies

For additional resources on the global food crisis:
Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance
UN Human Rights Council Special Session on the food crisis, 22 May 2008

Indigenous Issues

LWF convened the consultation “Indigenous Communion” in Karasjok, northern Norway, on 20-25 September 2006. Message (español) adopted by consultation.

Letter of support for adoption of UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Compilation of LWF 10th Assembly
decisions on indigenous issues

Inter-Faith Action For Peace In Africa

Inter-Faith Action for Peace in Africa (IFAPA) Commission was inaugurated by Pres. Paul Kagame in Kigali, Rwanda, in July 2006.

Kopanong Manifesto (français) from Second IFAPA Summit (April 2005).

Declaration (français) and Plan of Action (français) from First Inter-Faith Peace Summit in Africa (Oct. 2002)

Visit the IFAPA Web site

Illegitimate Debt

LWF, Norwegian Church Aid and Church of Sweden co-hosted an International Symposium on Illegitimate Debt on 20-23 October 2008 in Oslo, Norway.

LWF General Secretary's letter to Gordon Brown (français) (español) (Deutsch)

For more information, see the Norwegian Church Aid Report "Defining Illegitimate Debt."

60th Anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was marked on 10 December 2008.

LWF Council resolution, 25-30 June 2008

For more information see UDHR 60, the 60th anniversary commemoration Web page of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Gender Equity and Women’s Rights

Women in Church and Society

Churches Say ‘No’ to Violence Against Women

LWF Submission on Women’s Rights in Romania to UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women

LWF Submission on Women’s Rights in Venezuela to UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women

UN Human Rights Council

Advocacy paper on review of Special Procedures

Advocacy paper on Universal Periodic Review mechanism

Advocacy paper on expert advice

Read papers by Peter N. Prove on "Reform at the UN" and on the "Commission on Human Rights/Human Rights Council".

For more information on the Human Rights Council, visit the official Human Rights Council Web site. See also the Council Monitor of the International Service for Human Rights.

World Social Forum

‘Another World is Possible’. More… LWF member churches and field programs participated in the World Social Forum 2007 (Nairobi, Kenya, 20-25 January 2007).

Main WSF website