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COP28 Blog: Strengthening community resilience in Egypt

By Dr. Nahed Ayoub, Ph.D.

Climate change is a pressing challenge for all countries across the globe, including Egypt and the MENA region. Egypt is already suffering from water scarcity, and climate change exacerbates this problem. Rising temperatures and changing precipitation patterns lead to more frequent and severe droughts, intense heatwaves, and flooding in coastal areas. This has a devastating impact on agriculture, food security, human health and well being. Moreover, the region’s unique ecosystems, including coral reefs, mangroves, and wetlands, are under threat due to the impact of climate change on cultural heritage, natural beauty, and the economy.

The bishopric of public and ecumenical services (BLESS), the developmental arm of the Coptic orthodox church in Egypt, has two interventions related to adaptation and mitigation of climate change. The agriculture program focusses on small farmers, and the environment program targets people living in poverty in areas all over Egypt.

The rural programme empowers marginalised groups of smallscale male and female farmers. It introduces knowledge and skills about new techniques that lead to greater production, more rewarding economic returns, and that preserve environmental balance. The programme also addresses interrelated impacts on climate and fresh water. It establishes eco-friendly agricultural practices and supports smallscale farmers with machinery and supplies to ensure better land productivity, crop efficiency, lower costs, and environmental maintenance.

The environmental programme improves the conditions of communities living in poverty to develop an environment free of pollution. BLESS believes that each person has the right to live in a clean and healthy environment. This programme ensures sustainable development and preserves environmental rights such as adequate, clean water, for future generations. This is achieved through encouraging positive environmental attitudes and behaviours, developing solutions and alternatives for environmental problems and promoting the use of low-cost renewable energy technology. The programme also increases community resilience by fostering adaptation to the impact of climate change.

COP28 is crucial in addressing the effects of climate change on Egypt and other countries. Key issues include reducing greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, transitioning to low-carbon economies, and increasing adaptation finance.

Developing countries such as Egypt and others in the MENA region need significant financial and technical support to build resilience. This will require investments in water management, agriculture, and infrastructure. Decisions at COP28 can ensure a sustainable and resilient future for the region. It is essential that all countries work together to reduce emissions, support adaptation, and build a more sustainable and equitable world.

Dr Nahed Ayoub, an ACT COP28 Delegate, has a Ph.D. in water management, a master’s degree on the impact of global warming on food security, and a professorial master’s of gender and development. She is a BLESS program advisor on environmental, rural, and other development programs.

ACT Alliance’s statement on the war in Gaza and the violations of the humanitarian principle of the protection of civilians during armed conflict

The ACT Alliance expresses profound concern over the ongoing atrocities in Palestine and Israel, which have far-reaching consequences for the entire region and, indeed, the world. On October 7, 2023, Hamas killed 1200 and kidnapped hundreds of Israelis in a violent organized operation. As a reaction, the government of Israel has launched one of the most atrocious military attacks on Gaza, affecting its more than 2.2 million inhabitants.

According to UNHCR to date there are 1.7 million displaced men and women, boys and girls in Gaza. More than 14,800 men and women, boys and girls, journalists, doctors, humanitarians, and religious leaders, have been reported killed. Thousands of people are still missing, and more than 2000 are believed dead under the rubble.

The Israeli airstrikes severely damaged civilian infrastructures. This includes hospitals, places of worship, UN-led facilities, schools, and private residences. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Gaza Strip is wrestling with an intolerable situation exacerbated by airstrikes and a severe shortage of fuel, water, and food, alongside restricted access to medical facilities and supplies.

Violence has also erupted in the West Bank and southern Lebanon. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed and more than 2500 have been arrested. Our members and UN- OCHA report that episodes of violence by settlers against Palestinians are on the rise and their human rights are being violated.

ACT Alliance, a global network of more than 150 faith-based organisations operating in more than 120 countries, call for an immediate ceasefire. We call on governments believing in humanitarian law and human rights, to uphold the rights of civilians enshrined In the Geneva Conventions.

We welcome the release of women, girls, men, and boys who were captured by Hamas, as well as the Palestinian children and women prisoners held by Israel. However, we stress the urgency of stopping all arbitrary and unlawful detentions. We call for the immediate release of all unlawfully detained individuals and urge the liberation of all remaining hostages held by Hamas.

No “humanitarian pause”, unilateral “Safe zone” or partial truce are acceptable sustainable solutions. The only solution to this tragic war is a long-lasting ceasefire. Given the outrageous humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, more support to the civilian population needs to reach those in need. For this reason, we call on all governments to advocate for all borders to be open to humanitarian assistance operations. We stress that this is key for those requiring urgent medical assistance to be allowed to reach East Jerusalem’s medical facilities. Currently, more than 600 cancer patients cannot receive treatment, this includes paediatric patients.

We find solace in the solidarity shown by millions across the world to those affected by this war and we join those calls for justice.

We express our support and solidarity to our colleagues, our members and the ACT Palestine Forum who are on the frontlines of humanitarian relief operations and have lost family members, colleagues, homes, places of work and worship. We join our voices to the millions worldwide fervently calling for an immediate ceasefire and an end to the unlawful occupation of Palestine by Israel.

We call on the international community and all international relevant bodies to intervene immediately and to begin the necessary investigations to ensure that those responsible for any violation of international humanitarian law are held accountable. We also call on the international community and bodies to address the root causes of the Israeli and Palestinian conflict and we urge all stakeholders to engage in a constructive and open dialogue to ensure that long-lasting seeds of peace are sown, based on international law and relevant UN resolutions.

Declaración de ACT Alliance sobre la guerra en Gaza y las violaciones del principio humanitario de protección de civiles durante conflictos armados

La Alianza ACT expresa profunda preocupación por las atrocidades en curso en Palestina e Israel, que tienen consecuencias de gran alcance para toda la región y, de hecho, para el mundo entero. El 7 de octubre de 2023, Hamas mató a 1200 personas y secuestró a cientos de israelíes en una violenta operación organizada. Como reacción, el gobierno de Israel lanzó uno de los ataques militares más atroces en Gaza, afectando a sus más de 2.2 millones de habitantes.

Según ACNUR, hasta la fecha hay 1.7 millones de hombres y mujeres, niños y niñas desplazados en Gaza. Más de 14,800 personas, incluyendo periodistas, médicos, humanitarios y líderes religiosos, han sido reportadas como fallecidas. Miles de personas aún están desaparecidas, y se cree que más de 2000 han muerto bajo los escombros.

Los ataques aéreos israelíes dañaron gravemente infraestructuras civiles, incluyendo hospitales, lugares de culto, instalaciones dirigidas por la ONU, escuelas y residencias privadas. Según la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS), la Franja de Gaza enfrenta una situación intolerable exacerbada por los ataques aéreos y una grave escasez de combustible, agua y alimentos, junto con un acceso restringido a instalaciones y suministros médicos.

La violencia también ha estallado en Cisjordania y el sur del Líbano. Cientos de palestinos han sido asesinados y más de 2500 han sido arrestados. Nuestros miembros y la ONU-OCHA informan que los episodios de violencia de colonos contra palestinos están en aumento y se están violando sus derechos humanos.

ACT Alliance, una red global de más de 150 organizaciones basadas en la fe que operan en más de 120 países, solicitan un alto el fuego inmediato. Instamos a los gobiernos que creen en el derecho humanitario y los derechos humanos a defender los derechos de los civiles consagrados en los Convenios de Ginebra.

Aplaudimos la liberación de mujeres, niñas, hombres y niños capturados por Hamas, así como de los niños y mujeres palestinos prisioneros de Israel. Sin embargo, enfatizamos la urgencia de detener todas las detenciones arbitrarias e ilegales. Pedimos la liberación inmediata de todas las personas detenidas ilegalmente y instamos a la liberación de todos los rehenes restantes en manos de Hamas.

Ninguna “pausa humanitaria”, “zona segura” unilateral o tregua parcial son soluciones sostenibles aceptables. La única solución para esta guerra trágica es un alto el fuego duradero. Dada la impactante situación humanitaria en la Franja de Gaza, es necesario que más apoyo llegue a la población civil que lo necesita. Por esta razón, instamos a todos los gobiernos a abogar por que todas las fronteras estén abiertas a las operaciones de asistencia humanitaria. Subrayamos que esto es crucial para que aquellos que necesitan asistencia médica urgente puedan llegar a las instalaciones médicas de Jerusalén Este. Actualmente, más de 600 pacientes de cáncer no pueden recibir tratamiento, incluidos los pacientes pediátricos.

Encontramos consuelo en la solidaridad mostrada por millones en todo el mundo hacia los afectados por esta guerra y nos unimos a esos llamados a la justicia.

Expresamos nuestro apoyo y solidaridad a nuestros colegas, miembros y al Foro de Palestina de ACT que están en la primera línea de las operaciones de ayuda humanitaria y han perdido familiares, colegas, hogares, lugares de trabajo y culto. Unimos nuestras voces a las de millones en todo el mundo que claman fervientemente por un alto el fuego inmediato y el fin de la ocupación ilegal de Palestina por parte de Israel.

Instamos a la comunidad internacional y a todos los organismos internacionales pertinentes a intervenir de inmediato y comenzar las investigaciones necesarias para asegurar que quienes sean responsables de cualquier violación del derecho internacional humanitario rindan cuentas. También instamos a la comunidad internacional y a los organismos a abordar las causas fundamentales del conflicto israelí-palestino y urgimos a todas las partes interesadas a participar en un diálogo constructivo y abierto para garantizar que se siembren semillas de paz duraderas, basadas en el derecho internacional y las resoluciones pertinentes de la ONU.

Déclaration de l’ACT Alliance sur la guerre à Gaza et les violations du principe humanitaire de protection des civils pendant les conflits armés

L’ACT Alliance exprime une profonde préoccupation face aux atrocités en cours en Palestine et en Israël, qui ont des conséquences considérables pour toute la région et, en effet, pour le monde entier. Le 7 octobre 2023, le Hamas a tué 1200 personnes et kidnappé des centaines d’Israéliens lors d’une opération violente et organisée. En réaction, le gouvernement d’Israël a lancé l’une des attaques militaires les plus atroces contre Gaza, affectant ses plus de 2,2 millions d’habitants.

Selon le HCR, à ce jour, 1,7 million d’hommes et de femmes, de garçons et de filles sont déplacés à Gaza. Plus de 14 800 hommes et femmes, garçons et filles, journalistes, médecins, humanitaires et leaders religieux ont été signalés comme tués. Des milliers de personnes sont toujours portées disparues, et plus de 2000 sont présumées mortes sous les décombres.

Les frappes aériennes israéliennes ont gravement endommagé les infrastructures civiles, y compris les hôpitaux, les lieux de culte, les installations dirigées par l’ONU, les écoles et les résidences privées. Selon l’Organisation mondiale de la santé (OMS), la bande de Gaza est confrontée à une situation intolérable exacerbée par les frappes aériennes et une pénurie grave de carburant, d’eau et de nourriture, ainsi qu’un accès restreint aux installations médicales et aux fournitures.

La violence a également éclaté en Cisjordanie et dans le sud du Liban. Des centaines de Palestiniens ont été tués et plus de 2500 ont été arrêtés. Nos membres et l’ONU-OCHA rapportent que les épisodes de violence des colons contre les Palestiniens sont en augmentation et que leurs droits humains sont violés.

L’ACT Alliance, un réseau mondial de plus de 145 organisations confessionnelles opérant dans plus de 120 pays, appellent à un cessez-le-feu immédiat. Nous demandons aux gouvernements qui croient en le droit humanitaire et les droits de l’homme de défendre les droits des civils consacrés dans les Conventions de Genève.

Nous saluons la libération des femmes, des filles, des hommes et des garçons capturés par le Hamas, ainsi que des enfants palestiniens et des femmes détenus par Israël. Cependant, nous soulignons l’urgence d’arrêter toutes les détentions arbitraires et illégales. Nous appelons à la libération immédiate de toutes les personnes détenues illégalement et exhortons à la libération de tous les otages restants détenus par le Hamas.

Aucune “pause humanitaire”, “zone sûre” unilatérale ou trêve partielle n’est une solution durable acceptable. La seule solution à cette guerre tragique est un cessez-le-feu durable. Étant donné la situation humanitaire scandaleuse dans la bande de Gaza, un soutien accru à la population civile doit atteindre ceux qui en ont besoin. Pour cette raison, nous appelons tous les gouvernements à plaider pour que toutes les frontières soient ouvertes aux opérations d’aide humanitaire. Nous soulignons que cela est essentiel pour permettre aux personnes ayant besoin d’une assistance médicale urgente d’atteindre les installations médicales de Jérusalem-Est. Actuellement, plus de 600 patients atteints de cancer ne peuvent pas recevoir de traitement, y compris les patients pédiatriques.

Nous trouvons du réconfort dans la solidarité manifestée par des millions de personnes dans le monde envers ceux touchés par cette guerre, et nous nous joignons à ces appels à la justice.

Nous exprimons notre soutien et notre solidarité à nos collègues, membres et au Forum de Palestine de l’ACT qui sont en première ligne des opérations de secours humanitaires et ont perdu des membres de leur famille, des collègues, des foyers, des lieux de travail et de culte. Nous unissons nos voix à celles de millions de personnes dans le monde entier appelant avec ferveur à un cessez-le-feu immédiat et à la fin de l’occupation illégale de la Palestine par Israël.

Nous exhortons la communauté internationale et tous les organismes internationaux pertinents à intervenir immédiatement et à entreprendre les enquêtes nécessaires pour s’assurer que les responsables de toute violation du droit international humanitaire soient tenus pour responsables. Nous appelons également la communauté internationale et les organismes à aborder les causes profondes du conflit israélo-palestinien et nous exhortons toutes les parties prenantes à s’engager dans un dialogue constructif et ouvert pour garantir que des graines de paix durables soient semées, basées sur le droit international et les résolutions pertinentes de l’ONU.

MECC Statement on Creation Care addressed to COP28

ACT’s Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Climate Justice Community of Practice (CoP) played a key role in the recently released Middle East Council of Churches’ Statement on Creation Care. The Council is an ecumenical

Youth on a Season of Creation environmental celebration walk in Lebanon, 2022. Sponsored by MECC as the kickoff event for MENA Season of Creation activities. PHOTO: MECC.

faith-based organisation represents that represents 26 Protestant, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Orthodox churches in eight countries in the Middle East and North Africa, including Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Iraq and Cyprus. The statement has been released in time to influence decision-makers at this mCOP28 but will also influence the climate justice work of these churches for years to come.

The MENA CJ CoP drafted the Statement with MECC, a member of Act Alliance that also belongs to the MENA Climate Community of Practice. This grows out of the work of ACT’s Climate Justice project with the collaboration of Bread for the World. In October it was presented to Lebanon’s Ecumenical Eco-Theology Symposium. The presentation was broadcast on MENA stations by Sat-7, a local faith-based broadcaster.

The MECC Statement on Creation Care reflects on key climate issues in the MENA region and proposes solutions. These include:

Recognising the importance of long-term global commitments. The statement says that the climate emergency is a global threat requiring a global response, imagination, and long-term commitment, and that the loss and damage facility promised at COP27 is an encouraging sign. The document also says that nations of the world must commit funds to this facility and take moral responsibility for their contribution to the climate crisis.

Reiterating the need for just climate finance. Recognising that all parties must show greater ambition in reducing emissions, the statement says that “major historic and current greenhouse gas emitters” have a “heavier responsibility” globally to help with adaptation and mitigation. They should finance climate action and share expertise “so that developing nations do not have to choose between indebtedness and climate-induced poverty.”

The need to resolve regional and internal conflicts is central to progress on climate justice. The statement notes how climate justice is linked to political and economic justice and human rights. Conflicts are often linked to competition for resources such as land. Conflicts reduce food security, affect livelihoods, and interfere with people’s ability to adapt to climate change. For these reasons, the statement says, the international community should do more to resolve regional and internal conflicts in the Middle East. It notes such conflicts affect the whole planet. “Indigenous peoples are particularly harmed by conflicts, notably the Palestinian people and those who maintain a pastoralist and nomadic culture.”

In addition to these points, the document expresses a desire for a just transition away from fossil fuels while cautioning against an increase in the exploitative working conditions of extractive industries. It also notes the prophetic role of Church leadership in limiting climate change to 1.5 Degrees C. It encourages church communities to preach, pray and act on this.

The Statement also emphasizes MENA churches’ longstanding partnership with government and civil society and their role with local faith communities in responding to disasters and implementing adaptation and mitigation.

Finally, the authors of the Statement reinforce the key role of relationships and inclusion in building community response to the climate crisis. “Resilience as a society in responding to this great existential crisis of our time is built not only on infrastructure, but on relationships between people,” it notes. “The voices of vulnerable communities, including Indigenous peoples, women and youth are crucial to developing accurate and coherent responses that are accepted by all.”

Find the full MECC Statement on Creation Care here.

COP28 Blog: Building hope through action on the climate crisis

By Hanna Soldal and Sofie Ohlsson

A month ago, we sat in a room with Church of Sweden’s climate ambassadors. The group consisted of people of various ages, from different congregations and with diverse roles. But

Action: Faith groups marched to George Square in Glasgow on October 30, 2021, calling for climate justice on the eve of COP26. Photo: Simon Chambers/ACT

they all shared the will to be an active part of Church of Sweden’s roadmap for the climate.

We talked about the urgent need for a change of values within our church, for us to be able to perform the activities needed to decrease our carbon footprint and to strengthen our voice for climate justice. Some suggested more church services focussed on the climate emergency. Others highlighted the role of the clergy to prioritise Creation in their sermons. Another idea was to arrange discussion groups on the topic.

Then one of the climate ambassadors stood up and said: “You have gotten it completely wrong. We don’t change values through an engaged sermon or by a group talking about it once more. Values change through concrete actions! We gain hope, and influence the values of ourselves and others, by actually acting upon the climate crisis.”

With the words of this climate ambassador a fresh memory at COP28 it becomes very clear what is needed: ACTION.

Fossil fuels must be phased out.
Climate migrants and defenders need increased protection.
The world’s rich countries must live up to their commitment of delivering USD 100 billion per year in climate finance.
These countries must also contribute to the financing of a loss and damage fund to compensate those who have already been affected by the climate emergency.

All of this must happen in a just and inclusive way. High-emitting, rich countries must act upon their responsibility towards the most affected, least-emitting countries. Locally-led action for adaptation must be supported. Women, youth, Indigenous and local communities must have influence in both the decision-making and the implementation processes.

If the parties at COP28 manage to agree upon these urgent needs, this could inspire climate action globally. In the same way, the actions of Church of Sweden’s climate ambassadors can spread like ripples on the water in their local contexts. By acting now we create hope and a change in values and behaviour long-term. Together we can create hope in action.

Hanna Soldal is the Advocacy officer at Act Church of Sweden and Sofie Ohlsson is a Youth volunteer and climate ambassador, Act Church of Sweden and Church of Sweden Youth.

ACT ALLIANCE APPEAL UPHELD

Independent Appeal Panel upholds appeal by ACT Alliance.

Geneva, Switzerland – Following HQAI’s decision to suspend ACT Alliance’s certification and the subsequent appeal by ACT Alliance against that decision, the Appeal Panel mandated by HQAI’s Advisory and Complaint Board (ACB) has stipulated that the audit report does not provide sufficient objective evidence to support the major corrective action request (CAR) M2023-8.4 and requests the HQAI Secretariat to withdraw the major finding and lift the suspension of the certificate with immediate effect. The HQAI Secretariat has also been asked to allocate additional resources and time to the next audit so that there can be a specific focus on issues identified in the now-revoked major corrective action.

What does this decision concretely mean?

The suspension of ACT Alliance’s certificate is lifted with immediate effect. The major CAR M2023-8.4 (The ACT Alliance Secretariat does not have the management and staff capacity to deliver the effective operation of its humanitarian mechanism – Appeal and RRF – in compliance with the CHS) has been withdrawn, and the audit report is subsequently being updated.
It confirms ACT Alliance’s unwavering commitment to Quality and Accountability and the CHS, as demonstrated through its longstanding audit journey since its initial CHS Certification in 2017.
ACT Alliance is committed to addressing all CHS audit findings, and the next certification audit (maintenance audit 2025) will follow its progress on ensuring sufficient management and staff capacity to deliver its humanitarian mechanism in compliance with the CHS. Before finalising and sharing the 2025 public audit report, HQAI will report detailed findings back to the ACB.
The appeal decision clearly demonstrates the impartiality of the ACB in its decisions and corroborates HQAI’s commitment to professionalism, impartiality, and objectivity. The independent accreditation body Accredia annually assesses HQAI’s impartiality as one of its audit criteria against ISO/IEC 17065:2015.
HQAI welcomes and values complaints and appeals and will use every case as an opportunity to learn and continue offering independent, adapted quality assurance services. HQAI will embark on a meaningful reflection and comprehensive analysis of the Appeal Panel’s findings to ensure that HQAI’s interpretation of audit findings is systematically substantiated by factual and objective evidence and clearly conveyed to our partners.

Background

On August 09, 2023, HQAI’s audit report identified a major corrective action request (major CAR M2023-8.4) on ACT Alliance’s renewal audit, leading to the suspension of the CHS certificate, which was communicated to ACT Alliance on August 11, 2023. ACT Alliance appealed against the audit decision on August 24, 2023. The subsequent investigation and decision by the Executive Director of HQAI to uphold the audit findings was not accepted by ACT Alliance and motivated ACT’s request for the appeal to be escalated to the ACB of HQAI, dated September 22, 2023. An independent Appeal Panel of two ACB members was formed to conduct a review process evaluating all the documents and records submitted by both parties to the appeal. The Appeal Panel decided to uphold the appeal. The decision is binding for both parties.

It should be noted that provisional suspensions are common practice in certification schemes across various sectors and can typically last up to six months. They are used to indicate situations where the management system of a certified organisation has undergone significant changes that impact the organisation’s ability to comply with a given standard or when one or more minor CARs could not be addressed within the specified timeframe. Unfortunately, despite being a normal part of the HQAI audit process of CHS, suspensions may still cause reputational damage to audited organisations even if, like ACT Alliance, they have consistently proven their long-standing commitment to Quality and Accountability and the CHS. It is therefore acknowledged that a better sector-wide understanding of the CHS certification process, its transparency and purpose, is necessary to ensure that audited organisations’ commitments to quality and accountability are recognised and valued. HQAI is committed to furthering this understanding.

Download the Word document here

COP28 Blog: Will world leaders at COP28 care for Creation?

By Mattias Söderberg

The UN climate summit, COP28, is just beginning. Over the next two weeks world leaders will take decisions which will affect our future. As Christians, we believe that we have duty to care for Creation as we should care for our neighbors and ensure that hope is kept alive. I do hope that world leaders share our concerns, and that they take responsibility for ensuring that we can manage the climate crisis we are facing.

However, world leaders will not be alone when they meet at the climate summit in Dubai. The joint ecumenical delegation, gathering members of the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation and ACT Alliance, stand united in a strong call for climate justice. More than 50 ecumenical delegates, including faith leaders, campaigners, activists, political advocates, and communicators will follow the meeting closely. We will raise our concerns, engage with decision makers, and share our calls for action.

Firstly, we must end the global temperature increase, and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. This must be done in a fair manner so that we achieve a just transition. That means that we need a rapid phase out of all fossil fuels, supported by climate finance and a rapid scale-up of renewable energy and energy efficient solutions. It also requires a greater focus on access to energy, so that nobody is left behind when the world leapfrogs into a green and sustainable future.

Secondly, we need a drastically scaled-up focus on adaptation. UNEP has documented that the adaptation gap – the gap between current levels of adaptation efforts and the adaptation needed while accounting for the effects of climate change – is far more than USD 300 bn per year. Developed countries are currently not even delivering USD 100 bn as climate finance. The need for more attention to adaptation is therefore obvious.

Thirdly, the lack of adaptation combined with increasing global temperatures leads to climate-related disasters, and loss and damage. Last year at COP27, parties acknowledged this challenge, and it is now time to operationalize the promised loss and damage fund. While the fund seem to have been adopted, attention must now turn to filling the fund with finance. A fund without financing will have limited effect, and as an ecumenical delegation we call for adequate, predictable new and additional loss and damage finance. This should be both as allocations from parties, and from new and innovative sources built on the polluter pays principle.

Finally, and as importantly, all climate-related activities must be implemented in a fair and equitable manner, ensuring that climate justice is combined with gender justice. As an ecumenical delegation we stress that we cannot achieve climate justice without gender justice. This message will be an important part of our engagement during the coming weeks.

World leaders must not fail us again. We need to care for creation, we need climate action, and we need an ambitious outcome from this summit.

Mattias Söderberg is the co-chair of the ACT Alliance Climate Justice Reference Group and Chief Advocacy Advisor for DanChurchAid.

Countdown to COP28: ACT in the Middle East and North Africa

Rachel Luce, ACT Regional Representative, MENA.

George Majaj, ACT Humanitarian Programme Advisor, MENA. PHOTO: Simon Chambers.

As the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region prepares to host COP28, we reproduce here our 2022 Annual Report interview with Rachel Luce, ACT Alliance Regional Representative for the MENA region and George Majaj, ACT’s MENA Humanitarian Programme Advisor. The interview will give you some insight into MENA issues and how ACT and its members address these issues during peacetime.

What are some of the key issues facing the region?

Rachel: There are several protracted crises in the region. Linked to that is mass migration. Educated people are leaving, as is the Christian minority. The Christian migration is really on the hearts and minds of our local members, as this is where the historic churches are located. We also see big changes in the social fabric, and you lose the value of diversity. Migration is a big concern for all the members, along with the conflicts and ongoing wars.

George: Most of the crises are becoming protracted. There are fewer political ways to end these issues – for example in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and Palestine. There’s a lack of interest from funders and media. The political will at home and abroad is not there to solve the protracted crises in most of the countries in MENA, and that has a negative effect on communities.

How do members in the region work together?

In the Middle East, national forums meet monthly to discuss what they’re working on, joint areas of action such as training, what they’re hearing from other platforms they’re involved in, and how they might coordinate advocacy. The forums consist of country directors or their deputies. Iraq and Jerusalem have extended their forums so that faith-based agencies can join.

The MENA Communities of Practice (CoPs), such as Gender Justice and Climate Justice, are connected to the forums. Each national forum sends at least one delegate to a MENA CoP. These are usually the thematic experts. MENA CoPs meet monthly and discuss aspects of the work they want to do together. They go to in-person events, such as trainings, and then report back to their Forum.

What are the opportunities you see in the region?

The MENA Gender Justice CoP wants to influence change in Christian family law in the Middle East. For Christians, family law is governed by their church, and it covers inheritances, marriage, divorce, custody, and similar issues. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) changed their church’s family law a few years ago. The MENA Gender Justice CoP wants to see similar change across the region. They started with a study on Jordan’s church family laws. After hearing the consultant’s questions, the churches they interviewed decided to look into changing their laws. No one knew their own laws until they went to court to find out.

One of the MENA Gender Justice CoP’s goals is to ensure family inheritances are divided equally between men and women and that women aren’t pressured into signing away their inheritance rights. They also want family laws to be transparent and accessible. Changing these laws makes real, true change in the lives of people.

MENA’s Climate Justice CoP is growing every year. Season of Creation is on fire in the Middle East right now, which is amazing. ACT MENA members also invested a lot in Egypt’s COP27. Now they’re talking about how to engage after Dubai’s COP28 in 2023. They’re showing a commitment to global negotiations in the long term.

In MENA, we started by training members in country-specific multi-stakeholder dialogues where specialists reviewed adaptation, climate financing and mitigation. Once they understood climate justice at a country level, members engaged regionally because they could see the intersections. Now they’re making the link to the global level. They see how the fight at one UN COP can lead to additional financing and how they can push for climate ambition.

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A participant in the 2022 Season of Creation celebration sponsored by MECC. PHOTO: MECC.

Season of Creation “on fire” in MENA

The Season of Creation is the annual Christian celebration to pray and respond to the cry of Creation. The global ecumenical family unites to listen and care for our common home, the Oikos of God. It begins 1 September,

the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, and ends 4 October, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology. ACT Alliance has been part of the Season of Creation for many years. The Season’s initiatives encourage individual ACT members’ advocacy to influence decisions at global climate meetings such as the UNFCCC COP that follows shortly after the Celebration is completed. The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) translated the Celebration Guide into Arabic, a first, and encouraged its members to participate. In Lebanon, church youth walked in nature to “listen to the voice of creation.” Hosted by MECC, the activity inaugurated a series of celebrations throughout MENA.

Women learn sewing in Jordan. PHOTO: Paul Jeffrey/ACT

Local members advance advocacy at home

ACT Alliance welcomed a new Syrian member in 2022: GOPA-DERD (Department of Ecumenical Relations and Development of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and all the East). Local members are organisations indigenous to the region or country in which they work. “Local members engage very quickly in the CoPs. They see the value of advocacy and the ACT programmes,” says Rachel Luce, MENA Regional Representative. “They have been championing local voices here and internationally and they advance advocacy in their own country. They see this work as their long-term commitment to their country and to their people.”

Project profile: Restoring livelihoods for refugees

ACT Alliance member Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees (DSPR) established a small business startup loan programme for Syrian refugees living in Jordan but found that the refugees’ high debt levels hampered success. DSPR decided to focus instead on helping refugees graduate from poverty, an approach that had been tried with Palestinian and Syrian refugees in Gaza. Programme participants now receive cash support for necessities for the first six to eight months and then receive training in topics such as life skills and starting a small business. They can then access loans and grants to establish a small business and are more able to repay loans.

Did you know? In the multi-faith Middle East, each religion has historically had its own family law. As well, each Christian church has its own church law. In Jordan there are six different church laws governing family issues like divorce, custody and inheritances.

75 anniversary of the Genocide Convention: we must remain vigilant

ACT Alliance’s General Secretary, Rudelmar Bueno de Faria participated in a side event organized by the United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect (UNOSAPG) and the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), to commemorate the 75^th Anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention of Genocide.

The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was the first human rights treaty adopted by the General Assembly on 9 December 1948 in the wake of the Second World War and the Holocaust.

The event “A Living Force in World Society: The Legacy of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide”, aimed at highlighting the legacy and impact of the Genocide Convention and the challenges that remain in the prevention of genocide.

“With the surge in violent extremism as and when conducive to terrorism and religious intolerance in many societies and across faiths, religious leaders and faith-based organizations have an important role to play in preventing the instrumentalization of religious beliefs and promoting respect for all faiths”.

Mr de Faria said:

« The criteria outlined in the Convention offer a comprehensive and clear definition of the acts that constitute genocide. As we examine conflicts unfolding around the world today, it becomes evident that many meet the criteria outlined in the Convention. However, a disconcerting parallel narrative often emerges, driven by political and military interests, seeking to undermine the principles of the Convention. This undermines the collective responsibility we share to prevent and respond to such atrocities.

These interests sometimes distort the narrative surrounding conflicts for strategic gain, deflecting attention away from the true nature of the crimes being committed. In some instances, these interests may intentionally downplay or misrepresent the severity of actions that clearly align with the criteria for genocide. This manipulation of information not only hampers international efforts to prevent such atrocities but also obstructs justice and accountability.

In light of these challenges, it is crucial for the international community to remain vigilant and uncompromising in upholding the principles of the Genocide Convention. We must resist the distortion of narratives for political or military gain and hold those responsible for genocide accountable, regardless of their affiliations or geopolitical significance. »

ACT Alliance also produced a video contribution to mark the occasion.

Why is crucial for Faith-Based organizations to work on the intersections of economic and gender justice

A blog post by Simagaliso Hove, Lutheran Development Service (Zimbabwe) and ACT Governing Board member

Why is crucial for Faith-Based organizations to work on the intersections of economic and gender justice?

Economic inequality and injustice remain one of the major obstacles to gender justice as women in most countries continue to be disproportionately disadvantaged when it comes to equitable access and distribution of economic and financial resources and privileges. Therefore, economic gender justice issues are part of fundamental human rights. By their nature, Faith Based Organizations are in a better position to influence traditions and norms in most communities as religion plays an important role in most people’s everyday lives. FBOs are also respected by governments and other duty-bearers and participate in platforms where they can influence necessary changes in policies that continue to perpetuate discrimination. A lot of work is already happening with FBOs raising awareness and working towards the prevention of GBV, child marriages, gender pay gaps, and unjust legislation among many others. However, to be able to achieve more sustainable results, FBOs should start focusing on where gender justice and economic justice intersect rather than continue with fragmentation or compartmentalization.

What are the main learnings on this intersection, that you can share from your work in Zimbabwe?

A lot of women will continue to suffer from gender-based violence and young girls forced into early marriages if they do not have economic and financial means to survive daily. Women need to have livelihood options that provide income security to enable them to make decisions about their lives, and their bodies and escape from domestic violent relationships. Traditionally, women in Zimbabwe take more responsibility for childcare and household chores than their male partners. This may mean that mothers take less-paying or less stressful jobs than they are qualified for. Attaining their career goals is delayed due to these family responsibilities that they are neither paid for nor can they include in their curriculum vitae. In Zimbabwe paid maternity leave is 90 days only and one has to return to work and leave the child with a paid carer, at times this is someone the family doesn’t even know and as a mother it is in our nature to worry about the safety and quality of care your child gets in your absence. Women of childbearing age with young children may not perform as well as their colleagues, male or female, who have nothing to worry about hence these women may not move up the ladder as fast as their colleagues. There is a need to have programs (employer-led or government-led) to help women reach their potential and not be limited should they choose to be mothers.
Women need income to take care of their special needs like sexual and reproductive health necessities like contraceptives, menstrual hygiene, and other well-being needs. Medical care is very expensive in the country and medical insurance is a luxury that can be accessed by a privileged few. There is a need for special allowances or allocations for women either through income tax reduction (being gender-responsive in the national budget) or employer-assisted allocation or even family budget allocations for these special needs.
In rural Zimbabwe, women earn their incomes from farming activities. This implies that they need access to land. Most Zimbabwean rural women are discriminated against in land ownership, particularly, in rural areas due to customary restrictions and patriarchal culture. Although rural women work tirelessly in their fields, they are aware they may lose it once their husbands marry another wife or divorce them. Gender equality and economic justice are at the centre of land ownership for these women, it is not an either-or case but both, for them, there is a seamless connection with the land as a major economic resource and gender-inclusive laws in its allocation and ownership. If they do not own the land, they work they will continue to be under the control and influence of sometimes abusive partners or guardians.

What this has taught us is that there cannot be a real struggle for gender justice without addressing issues of economic justice.

What are the main challenges?

Inconsistencies in the law and practice; in the cities, land ownership is through title deeds and anyone (regardless of gender) can buy land, whereas in rural areas most women have access to land through their husbands, husbands’ families or their own families as land is communal owned. In rural areas, land ownership is traditionally a male privilege.
The national budgets are not gender-responsive as nothing is providing for special needs for women and girls.
Women and girls remain marginalized both in church and society as there are still practices that discriminate against their access to resources, and decision-making positions (positions of power and influence) as well as blocking their appointment to higher offices.

How economic justice and gender justice are grounded in faith, from a diaconal perspective?

The current LDS Strategy 2019 – 2023 is titled “And by our actions, we demonstrate our faith”. Faith influences a lot of the diaconal actions we do, it influences how we engage with communities and duty-bearers. It moves us into action.

Our actions are motivated by the fact that ‘every being is created in God’s image’ and is therefore equal in the eyes of the Creator. If all are equal, no one should be discriminated against in accessing opportunities and protection. Our environment should be able to listen to all voices without discrimination or preference. This is how our actions can demonstrate our faith. It is the practice of our faith through diaconal initiatives that transform us to achieving the “leaving no one behind” commitment. Our diaconal activities are supposed to work hard in promoting equal opportunities for economic empowerment – an economy where no one is left behind, responding and preventing GBV – an economy where if one member is injured all work together to repair and get rid of the hurting, empowering women to rise to higher decision-making positions (in the church, in society and in politics) – an economy where all voices are equally important, as well as advocating for more caring and inclusive economic systems that do not discriminate against gender.

Faith, climate justice and the UN General Assembly: a report

Faith groups marched against fossil fuels in NYC. PHOTO: Simon Chambers/ACT

By Rev. Fred Milligan

This year’s mid-September United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) high level opening week featured two events that allowed the world to reflect on the progress made since the adoption in 2015 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement.

The first event was the SDG Summit of September 18-19, intended to renew the commitment of the world’s nations to press forward toward the goals they had adopted eight years ago.

The second event was the Climate Ambition Summit of September 20, called by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to accelerate progress toward the goals of the Paris Agreement. This is linked to SDG 13 which urges the world to “Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.”

SDGs and Climate Justice

The linkage of the two events is particularly significant from the perspective of Climate Justice. The other sixteen SDGs address crises such as child mortality, gender discrimination and many other dimensions of human and non-human life. All the goals are complexly linked as parts of the solution to the climate crisis and vice versa. The solution to the climate crisis must include climate justice. As a student of cross-cultural theological ethics, I can attest that the 17 SDGs are congruent with visions for life on the planet which the world’s religions have long held.

Many feel it will not be possible for the global community to make the kinds of changes necessary to fight global warming and achieve climate justice without the full engagement of all our cultural resources, including those of the religious community. But, according to some observers, the religious community has not been fully engaged in the UN SDG process, particularly SDG 13 on climate change.

It was with this concern that I participated as an observer in various activities surrounding the UN high level week. With a growing sense of urgency, I listened to reports that there has been very little progress on any of the SDGs, including climate, since their adoption. In some cases, there has actually been retrenchment.

UNGA-related events

The first event was disappointing from my perspective. On Saturday, September 16th, I attended UN Mobilization Day events with Alison Kelly, ACT’s Representative to the UN. This included a forum on civil society inclusion and another on the role of youth and young adults in the SDG processes.

I listened with great anticipation to Secretary-General Guterres’s remarks. I hoped he would include an acknowledgement of the important role of the faith community in achieving the SDGs, but alas, there was none. In fact, of all the interventions, only the moderator of one panel mentioned faith. She said that she represented many identities, including activist, young adult, person of color, woman and believer. While this acknowledgement of the spiritual dimension of human culture and identity was welcome, I was, to say the least, disappointed by its exceptional rarity.

The next days, however, offered a more encouraging picture:

September 17: The ACT Alliance team participated in the March to End Fossil Fuels with representatives from the World Council of Churches and hundreds of others in the faith section. Tens of thousands of marchers focused on US climate policies and practices and the global climate crisis.
September 18: I attended Inspiring, Faith, Hope and Transformative Action to Accelerate progress Towards the SDGs, a high-level forum sponsored by the Trilateral Partnership of Regional Faith-Based Networks for the SDGs. The group represented Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean and was led in part by ACT Alliance’s Asia-Pacific Regional Representative Alwynn Javier.

My initial concerns about a disconnect between the UN’s SDG process and the faith community were confirmed when a panelist who had been part of drafting the original SDGs spoke of her disappointment that there had originally been no vision in those founding documents for how to constructively engage the faith community.

Still, the presence on one of the panels of a high-level UN official gave me hope. Perhaps if we push the UN at a local level and do not receive the kind of collaboration we would hope for, we might still have assistance from those higher up the chain of command. I was also intrigued by the presence of Ambassador Hussein, a US State Department employee who focuses on interreligious cooperation.

Wednesday, September 20: The Episcopal Denominational Stocktake presented a model for how faith communities could evaluate their own efforts and ambition on climate.
Thursday, September 21: I attended the Kofi Annan Briefing sponsored by ACT Alliance and the Multi-faith Advisory Council to the UN Interagency Taskforce on Religion and Sustainable Development. Panelists spoke on the faith community’s role in effective implementation of SDG initiatives in countries where local knowledge and trust is essential for effective outreach. Yet some concern was expressed that the relationship between the UN and faith communities be that of co-creators instead of simply implementers of solutions to social and environmental ills.
ACT Climate Justice Reference Group co-chair Mattias Soderberg of DanChurchAid organized a high-level meeting on Adaptation Finance. Sponsored by Denmark and Bangladesh, it included key decision-makers who will be at COP 28 and a member of the COP presidency.

Climate and US faith groups

In the weeks following the UNGA high-level week, two publications offered further food for thought that were important from my perspective as a US citizen.

October 4: Pope Francis released his second encyclical on climate change Laudate Deum (Glory to God). In this, his second pastoral letter on the climate crisis, the Pope says forcefully that while scientists have done their work faithfully in addressing our minds, the religious community has yet to effectively address the hearts of people. He singled out the citizens of the US for rebuke, saying that their per capita carbon footprint is twice that of Chinese citizens. While this reader would have appreciated more diligent sourcing of such statements in the document, the point is assumed to be a valid one, at least in historical cumulative terms.

October 6: According to Kristoffer Tigue in Inside Climate News two recent studies shed light on the views of Americans in relation to the climate crisis.

“A Pew Research Center survey, found that just 44 percent of American Catholics believe in human-caused climate change,” he writes. “While 29 percent believe the warming climate is due to “natural patterns” and 13 percent don’t believe Earth is warming at all.”

He further notes that “A second survey, by the Public Religion Research Institute found that ‘the higher someone values their religious beliefs, the less likely they are to believe that Earth is warming” due to human activity’.”

Ways forward

The foregoing leads me to four conclusions:

Many of the world’s religious leaders now realize that we can and should engage as a force to achieve sustainable development, climate change and climate justice goals.
While many in the UN hierarchy seem ambivalent about the value of collaborating with faith-based groups, (no doubt for very good reasons in many situations), there also seems to be a growing openness to dialogue on how each sector’s strengths can complement the other. However, there is still much work to be done to ensure the inclusion of religious leaders and faith actors across the work of the UN.
We on the faiths side have much work to do to convince people within our churches that the SDGs and Climate Justice goals align with the deepest yearnings and demands of our traditions.
Finally, we in the faith community must encourage our leaders to keep reaching out across boundaries and engage with members of the UN to forge bonds of trust and collaboration.

New York City, September 21, 2023- Fred Milligan at the Multi-Faith Advisory Council to the United Nations presentation. PHOTO: Simon Chambers/ACT.

Rev. Fred Milligan is an Act Alliance Global Climate Justice Advocacy Team member and local New York City volunteer for UNGA Week, September 17-22.