Thursdays in Black was started by the WCC in the 1980s as a form of peaceful protest against rape and violence – especially taking place during wars and conflicts - and was revived at the 2013 WCC assembly. The campaign focuses on ways in which individuals may challenge attitudes that cause rape and violence.

The Lutheran World Federation is pleased to support this initiative and encourages congregants of member churches to dress in black in Thursday to mark their support for gender justice the world over.

According to UN Women, one third of women globally have experienced physical or sexual violence at some point in their lives. More than 125 million girls and women alive today have been subjected to female genital mutilation across countries in Africa and the Middle East.

Thursdays in Black - WCC site

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LWF News

Burundi: Together on the road to resilience 7 June 2022 CANKUZO, Burundi/GENEVA Tanzania: new program on theology, gender and leadership 31 May 2022 ARUSHA, Tanzania/GENEVA Venezuelan church prioritizes women’s needs on path toward livelihood recovery 30 May 2022 CARABOBO, Venezuela /GENEVA Americas: “God breathed life unto dry bones” 10 May 2022 SANTIAGO, Chile/GENEVA

Side Event on the Occasion of the fourth review of the human rights situation in Colombia by the Human Rights Council Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR)

The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) invites you to attend a debriefing side-event on the nexus between human rights and peacebuilding in Colombia. The event will feature a distinguished panel of human rights defenders (HRDs) from Colombia, who will shed light on this topic in the context of CESCR process, and the priority thematic human rights issues identified in an alternative report they have submitted to the Committee.

Moderator:

Michael French, Regional Program Coordinator, Latin America and Caribbean, LWF Geneva

Panelists:

• Mr Gabriel Urbano (Corporación de Desarrollo Solidario de Montes de María), a local organization that works with campesino population on protection of land rights

• Ms Claudia Patricia Ortiz (Movimiento Rios Vivos - Caso Hidrosogamoso), an organization that works on protection of rivers, and promotion of human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation

• Mr Jaime Tocora (Comités Ambiental de Tolima, caso Piedras), an organization that works on environmental protection against gold mining companies

• Ms Katrine Ringhus, Advocacy Officer, LWF Colombia

A training for young people from LWF member churches around the world. 

The primary objective of this LWF Youth program is capacity building for youth to become well equipped “Peace Messengers”. This will be accomplished in three ways. The first is to equip them to serve as advocates for peace, as mediators, and as leaders in their communities. The second is to provide spaces for inter-group dialogue and discussion in order to foster understanding. Lastly, the project will involve the community’s senior leadership, to both encourage intergenerational dialogue and to provide positive role models for peace building.

The five-day workshop includes sessions on understanding peace and conflict, conflict analysis and conflict resolution. The peace messenger training moreover includes an additional part which aims to enable participants to plan and facilitate trainings in their own communities.

The training is designed to include participants from different communities and different faiths.

The "Peace Messengers Training Kit" will be published by December 2017 to be used by LWF member churches.

Peace Messengers

Launched in 2014, the RBA L2G initiative now involves people from 10 different countries working on human rights and advocacy in a variety of contexts, and this workshop is the opportunity for them to discuss, share and learn from their experiences. The workshop will focus on gathering feedback from colleagues and partners, as well as planning the way forward for this initiative.

Participants will be invited to present the main highlights and challenges they have faced so far, and group discussions will be set up to allow for more in-depth discussions on specific themes and regions.  The results of the discussions will help LWF clarify the potential for RBA L2G and start planning and designing future projects.

The LWF is developing an ecumenical strategy. It will provide a framework for the LWF’s future engagement in bilateral dialogues and the wider ecumenical movement.

The ecumenical strategy document will be developed in close cooperation between the Department for Theology and Public Witness and an advisory group representing the seven LWF regions, plus a staff member from the Institute for Ecumenical Research in Strasbourg. It is expected to be presented to the LWF Council in June 2018.

As it is very crucial that future LWF ecumenical dialogues are linked to the ecumenical work and challenges of the member churches, they received a questionnaire on the ecumenical relations of the member churches. The results of this survey will serve the advisory group when developing the LWF ecumenical strategy.

Read the Program

Access to quality education and health services plays a pivotal role in reducing extreme poverty and boosting economic growth. However, women and children are often left behind.

The workshop uses the perspectives of gender justice and child rights to focus on health and education. The participants will be equipped with contemporary skills to enable churches in Africa to engage more effectively in education and health provision. This especially means ensuring equal access to these basic services and guaranteeing the rights of the vulnerable and marginalized people. Diaconal actors, women, youth and church leaders will be encouraged to work with government and civil society in a meaningful way when it comes to implementing the Sustainable Development Goals focusing on health, education and gender equality.

The event will be in English with whispering interpretation in French.

Hosted by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania.

Download the agenda

Public Theology in Global Intercontextual Dialogue

In recent time, nationalist populist movements have become highly influential, endorsing exclusionary strategies that fragment societies and marginalize people. Churches are called to respond by strengthening respect and equal participation, and by widening the civil society discourse through exchange between different contexts and social locations.

The conference has several aims: examining the mechanics of exclusionary populist movements, clarifying theological arguments against divisive politics, and – thereby – encouraging participatory processes that strengthen people’s agency in church and society.

The Evangelical Academy in Berlin, Bread for the World, the Church of Sweden, and The Lutheran World Federation bring together theologians, church leaders and political scientists from different parts of the world to further initiatives for inclusion, justice and religious pluralism. The speakers and participants of the conference come from over 25 countries, and will introduce perspectives from church leadership, political science and theology.

Event Agenda

The Commission on the Status of Women is the world’s single largest human rights body dedicated to women. It is the UN’s principal inter-governmental body for promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment. By documenting the reality of women’s lives throughout the world, CSW helps shape global standards on gender equality.

Participation of NGOs is important.

LWF has long taken part in CSW and monitored proceedings. Women in Church and Society enables the voice of strong activists in member churches to access this global platform. This year, it has two delegates: LWF council member Ranjita Borgoary, from India, and El Salvadoran theologian Larry José Madrigal.

• Borgoary brings her experience as women's desk secretary for the United Evangelical Lutheran Churches in India, where she develops programs on women’s empowerment and leadership.
• Madrigal’s organization, Centro Bartolomé de las Casas, works alongside WICAS networks and World Service programs in several Central American countries in rural and indigenous areas to foster women’s leadership in grassroots organizations and to prevent gender-based violence.

LWF has also submitted an oral statement to the CSW putting forward the message that faith entity promotes gender justice and that faith, religion and spirituality matter to a large number of people.

Program

      10 March - Ecumenical Women’s panel “Prophetic Vision, Experiential Change: How can faith-rooted partners mobilize to empower rural women and girls?” with Ranjita Borgoary as a panellist.

      11 March - Lutheran day. Delegates from ELCA young adults in Global Mission program, ELCA staff and LWF delegates share contextual and global experiences on gender justice.

      15 March - 16h30 at the Social Hall, Manhattan, LWF parallel event with Islamic Relief Worldwide, Finn Church Aid and the World Council of Churches, sponsored by the Canadian government and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), highlighting the role of faith-based organizations in working toward achieving the SDGs (particularly SDG 5 promoting women’s empowerment).

The panel will showcase good practices and ways in which partner organizations have streamed gender into their programs and helped realise women’s human rights from a faith perspective. Panellists: Larry José Madrigal (Centro Bartolomé de las Casas), Eva-Marita Rinne-Koistinen (FCA), Iman Sandra Pertek (IRW), Terrie Robinson (Side by Side), Cristina Rendón, (LWF). Moderator: Dr Azza Karam, senior advisor on culture at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Final remarks: UN Women.

Colombia has made important achievements in incorporating a human rights approach in various stages of the peace process with the FARC: the negotiation, the contents of the Peace Agreement and the implementation. The third cycle of the UPR is an opportunity to evaluate and share this experience with other states - the good practices and the lessons learned - and also to exchange opinions on how the the third cycle recommendations can be a way for international community to continue contributing to peace building in the country.

The UPR also provides an opportunity to look at the advances and challenges in those aspects of the human rights situation that keep affecting the Colombian population despite signing the Peace agreement, such as the violence against the human rights defenders, inequality or impunity, among others.

Panel:

• Silvia Irene Berrocal, Leader who has worked with the vulnerable sectors in Apartadó (Urabá, Antioquia), member of Forjando Futuros and COMUPAZ
• Jomary Ortegon Osorio, Vicepresident of the Colectivo de Abogados José Alvear Restrepo
• Gustavo Gallón Giraldo, Director of the Colombian Commission of Jurists

Event Information:

• Friday 16th of March, 11:30 am to 1:00 pm
• Palais des Nations, room XXII
• Interpretation in Spanish and English will be provided.

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Film & Discussion

LWF’s work in Angola

Angola is a country rich in natural resources, such as diamonds and oil. When the oil price dropped, the government decreed a diversification of the economy, encouraging investment in agriculture from foreign as well as local companies. A new land law was passed to protect small-scale farmers and rural communities. But often the legal procedure is not respected and farmers lose the land on which their livelihood depends.

The video shows how LWF is working with rural communities, village chiefs, local and national administration to raise awareness and to support people in claiming their legal rights.

An LWF production. Funded by Bread for the World/ Brot für die Welt, Germany.

Find more information about the LWF's work in Angola

Read more MORE INFORMATION LAND GRABBING IN ANGOLA – A GROWING THREAT...

Angola

Please come and join us. Bring your own food.