In a 12 May letter to the Ecumenical Forum of the Churches in El Salvador, ACT Alliance general secretary Rudelmar Bueno de Faria and World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca wrote that they are following the political developments in El Salvador with great concern.

“We echo your recent call to your membership to continue to promote peace at all levels of their lives and to cherish national democratic institutions built with so much pain and effort,” the letter reads. “El Salvador’s history and the suffering of its people attest to the critical importance of maintaining the principles and institutions that ensure that government serves the interests of the people, and that those in power do not abuse it.”

Sauca and de Faria also shared prayers that God will strengthen the churches of El Salvador in their ministry and witness, and lead El Salvador on the path to peace and justice.

“Be assured of our Christian solidarity and commitment to walking with you in this challenging time,” concludes the letter.

Read the letter in English or Spanish.

Several ACT Alliance-members have been working in Nepal for years and have strong networks in the country. Bidyanath Bhurtel, Forum Convenor and ICCO Cooperation Country director, explains how the members respond to the second COVID-wave in the country, currently facing the highest positivity and production rates in the world.  

After the first COVID-wave in 2020, people in Nepal were too optimistic and had a false sense of security as it seemed that the country would get away with a limited number of cases and a low mortality rate. “That probably was part of the problem”, states Bidyanath Bhurtel, ACT Forum’s convenor and ICCO Country director. Although it’s generally known that what happens in India usually affects Nepal with a certain delay, the steep rise of COVID-19 cases hit the country unexpectedly in mid-April. The number of newly infected persons rose from around 300 to almost 10,000 per day within a month. Besides feeling too safe and thus not being as careful as necessary due to a mild first wave, other causes might have been included a failure to avoid gatherings happening around social and political events, inadequate management of seasonal migrants coming back home to Nepal through its porous border with India, and active migration routes to the Gulf States via Nepal. At the end of April, a lockdown was imposed in most of the districts.

Exploding number of cases since mid-April

The situation is comparable to India now. The ACT Nepal Forum therefore came together and decided to join forces, issue an alert and work on an appeal, planning to reach at least 200,000 households. The members decided upon their activities according to the network of local partners and the previous experiences they had. “We want to complement each other”, says the Forum Convenor. Thus, the forum members are active in six of the seven provinces of Nepal. As there is such a strong existing network of local partners, authorities and institutions, the fact that most members have to work from home due to the lockdown does not hinder their work. “We still can be active within the areas we used to work, and get special authorizations to travel locally if needed”, explains Bidyanath Bhurtel.

Photo B. Bhurtel

Lack of health supplies

The primary focus of the joint forum activities are life-saving needs, meaning the supply and distribution of medical equipment, especially oxygen cylinders, concentrators and ventilators, followed by personal protective equipment (PPE). “In order to reassure the technical know-how, we will closely collaborate with the United Mission to Nepal (UNM) who are observers and advisors of the forum, consisting of DanChurchAid, Felm, Finn Church Aid, ICCO Cooperation and Lutheran World Federation. “Each one of us is willing to share expertise and to support each other”, says the Forum Convenor.

Making vaccines accessible for all is one of the biggest challenges in the days to come

As a second step, the forum is planning to support the vaccination of a growing number of persons. At the moment, less than ten percent of the population have received their first short. ACT’s Nepal Forum and ACT Alliance will continue to engage in national and international advocacy for equitable and efficient vaccination.

Many requirements around vaccinations

While procuring enough vaccines is one part of the challenge which is handled by the Government of Nepal reasonably well, the other one is its distribution, administration, and – most importantly – proper information about it. Bidyanath Bhurtel says: “There are all kinds of misinformation around. Therefore, awareness raising and psychosocial, behavioural change support is very important to prepare the way for the vaccination of big parts of the population, especially in rural areas”, he explains. Moreover in the past, there were conflicts among people queueing to get vaccinated, adding to risk of spread of the virus. Thus, the forum will support the national vaccination drive where necessary and possible for forum members and their partners. Of course, it will coordinate all its activities with the local governments, health institutions, local civil society organisations and faith leaders.

Targeting institutions and most vulnerable populations

Besides assisting government and communities in running health institutions to render quality and efficient health services, infected people and families of persons with special needs will be provided other much needed support, such as nutritious food, psychosocial wellbeing, livelihoods recovery among others. Referral systems should ensure their access to health facilities and vaccination centres. Migrant returnees and poor families will be supported with cash-based intervention and to create a small-scale livelihood where feasible and applicable.

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ACT’s Nepal Forum will raise an appeal in the coming days. A Global Coordination Call was organised by the ACT Secretariat on Thursday, 13 May 2021, to understand the needs and coordinate a timely and efficient ACT response. The country needs your support urgently.

Find more information on the situation in Nepal in the alert. 

Photos from top to bottom, left to right: DCA Nepal, Baburam Shrestha/FCA, SAHAS Felm, LWF Nepal.
Featured photo: Saroj Basnet for ICCO Cooperation

India is facing a unique challenge caused by a new variant of the COVID-19 virus spreading over the country in record time. Since the beginning of April 2021, the daily caseload has more than doubled to over 350,000 newly infected people a day. What’s the response of India’s ACT-Forum? We spoke with Joseph Sahayam, the Forum convenor and representative of CASA India.

“Nobody knows in which direction the situation will develop,” states Sahayam. “Therefore, we are focusing on the immediate needs.” Those immediate needs are immense. The states of Maharashtra and Gujarat in the west, Haryana in the north, and Madhya Pradesh in central India are all facing an oxygen shortage. In the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, some hospitals have put “oxygen out of stock” boards outside, and in the state capital Lucknow, hospitals have asked patients to move elsewhere. While providing hygiene equipment like masks, soap, sanitizers and gloves, the main target of the joint ACT response is to enhance the awareness of the population and break the chain of infections. In order to create a sustainable system, the Forum members will involve the communities they serve.

Target audiences

“Our priority are small scale holders: affected communities, and supporting people who are sick and have to be treated at home with cash to buy their medicines and other emergency needs,” explains Joseph Sahayam. “And there will probably be a gender aspect in the activities as well, because gender-based violence has increased. ”The forum is connecting with their partners, member churches and authorities. “We are currently in contact with the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI) and with the governments, mainly on district level”, the Forum Convenor says. “But they are too busy and at the moment just focus on the most urgent requirements as well.”

Photo: ACT Alliance

Priorities on risk communication and migrant workers

There is an urgent need to focus on prevention measures to ensure that the communities which are at risk of COVID 19 are well-educated and react properly. As the situation is so precarious, most staff are not able to move freely and follow protocols. The Forum is concentrating on enhancing the existing capacities of the communities to enable an effective community owned awareness mechanism, emphasizing the communities’ responsibility and appropriate behavior.

The interventions include information dissemination about COVID-appropriate behavior, vaccination benefits, risk mitigation, livelihoods, strengthening the working of government programs, and providing in-depth information on the economic, nutritional, physical and mental health situation.

ACT India Forum targeted internal migrant workers who lost their jobs during last year’s lockdown and provided them with food packs and technical training. The new Appeal will update the programme design based on the current context.

Campaign to get vaccinated

The fear of taking vaccinations still exists, especially in rural areas. While the country has been exporting vaccines on a grand scale, their availability in India is insufficient. The country has so far administered more than 127 million doses of a corona virus vaccine. More than 109 million people have received one dose, and over 17 million people have been fully vaccinated after receiving two doses – just a fraction of the 1.37 billion population.

Five states having more than half of all cases

For the time being, each of the nine members of the ACT India Forum is taking the same steps in their respective areas of operation. CASA India, for example, is active in 15 states, including Maharashtra which currently is one of the most affected. The other members are Christian Agency for Rural Development (CARD), Christian Aid (CA), Church of Sweden (CoS), Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA), ICCO Cooperation (ICCO), Lutheran World Service India Trust (LWSIT), United Evangelical Lutheran Churches in India (UELCI) and the Synodical Board of Social Services / Church of North India (CNI-SBSS). Of course, every member has taken the necessary steps to protect their own staff, organizing webinars to obtain medical advice, internal discussions and more.

Call for help

There is just one thing Forum convenor Joseph Sahayam emphasizes at the end of our talk: “It’s time to unite and focus on immediate needs”. The situation in India could be a warning for the rest of the world, but also lead the way to more global solidarity.

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ACT’s Forum in India is raising an appeal in the coming days. A Global Coordination Call was organised by the ACT Secretariat on Monday, 03 May 2021 to understand the needs and coordinate a timely and efficient ACT response. Please support India in this unique crisis.

For more information about the situation in India: https://actalliance.org/alerts/india-covid-19-crisis/

Photos: CASA India, SSBS-CNI 

Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, ACT’s General Secretary, has been vocal on the need for vaccine equity since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.  While many countries have ordered far more vaccine than their population calls for, and a number of developed countries are well on the road to full vaccination and recovery, other countries like India and Brazil are in the grips of the worst wave of the pandemic to date.

“None of us is safe until all of us are safe,” has become a mantra around vaccination, but it is no less true for its popularity.

This week, de Faria was named as one of the civil society representatives to the COVAX Facility Advance Market Commitment Engagement Group. In this role, he will participate in all meetings of the COVAX AMC Engagement Group, collaborate with Gavi (The Vaccine Alliance), and collaborate with civil society through the Platform for Civil Society and Community Representation to ACT-A (the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator).

“I am honoured to be part of this important work,” said de Faria. “As ACT Alliance, we know the importance of vaccination, and also the key role that faith leaders and organisations play in countering vaccine hesitancy, sharing scientific information, and encouraging communities to participate.”

Birgitte Qvist-Sørensen, Moderator of the ACT Alliance, said, “Rudelmar’s presence in this group will be very valuable, as his passion for gender justice and keeping the rights and needs of the most vulnerable at the heart of our work will help to inform and guide the vaccine equity work of the COVAX Facility.”

De Faria will work to keep the focus on the needs of the most vulnerable people, informed by ACT Alliance’s 140 members working in communities in over 120 countries. “For me, the most important thing is to address health equity for the purpose of reducing disparities among marginalized communities related to COVID-19 vaccination promotion, distribution, engagement and administration.”

It is now over one year since the COVID-19 pandemic turned the world upside down. ACT, together with Religions for Peace, issued a joint statement on COVID-19 on March 26th 2020 in the early days of the pandemic, and has continued to work on responding to COVID-19 ever since. In this article, we would like to reflect on and share what has been achieved in our global response to this unique challenge.

Appeals and Rapid Response Funds

ACT established coordination mechanisms at the global, regional and national levels by the end of March 2020, and then launched a Global Appeal with a budget target of USD 12,000,000 on 31st March 2020. The appeal incorporated both Rapid Response Funds (RRFs) and appeals to meet the needs of communities as identified by ACT members in many countries. 

First projects announced in May 2020

Over 35 national members submitted proposals to the RRF. On 7th May 2020, ACT announced funding to the first 14 projects, totaling over 1.2 million USD in programming. Through the projects, ACT members supported national health services, working with faith leaders in providing accurate and timely information to communities, and other vital responses to the first wave of the pandemic. They provided sorely needed support to the most vulnerable people in communities with a focus on gender justice. Here is the full ACT appeal.

Sub-appeals

In July 2020, ACT Alliance launched the first six sub-appeals within its overall Global COVID-19 Appeal to respond to the unique situation in each of the countries to address a variety of needs. At the beginning of September 2020, in an update the launch of a total of 16 Sub-Appeals under the Global ACT Appeal was announced. In addition, three more Rapid Response Fund proposals were approved, resulting in a total of 17 projects under the RRF. 

ACT’s impact in communities

Photo Paul Jeffrey

Africa: Malawi (Rapid Response Fund, Budget Approved USD 91,627)

In Malawi, Christian Agency for Rural Development (CARD) and Evangelical Lutheran Development Service (ELDS) provided an awareness campaign to reach 2.4 million people with accurate information about COVID-19 and its prevention. They also worked with local faith leaders to provide psychosocial support to affected families.

Besides that, the ACT Alliance Malawi Forum and the Malawi Interfaith AIDS Association (MIAA) formulated a faith platform on COVID 19 Response in Malawi to enhance coordinated response to COVID 19 among the faith actors. The platform is committed to providing support to strengthened multireligious actions and community mobilization, countering the COVID 19 pandemic and mitigating its impact.

The Forum also published the “COVID-19 Joint Faith Community Response and Adaptation Framework” with support from Christian Aid, as well as a Faith Leaders’ COVID-19 Platform Meeting Report and a Joint Press Statement.

Screenshot video CWSA

Asia: Afghanistan and Pakistan (Sub-appeal, Budget requested: USD 3,702,121)

Five ACT members are engaged in a year-long programme which will end on July 31, 2021. The objectives are to strengthen the public health system and the community engagement in selected provinces of the two countries and to prevent the spread of COVID-19. 13,000 vulnerable households received cash resp. vouchers assistance to cover all the essential needs. Over 10,643 households (74,500 individuals) and communities were enabled to practice good hygiene at individual and collective levels by using safe, appropriate and adequate water, sanitation and hygiene services. In order to strengthen their mental and emotional wellbeing and better cope with the situation, 2,500 individuals are receiving psychosocial support. 

Photo Paul Jeffrey

Europe: Greece (Sub-appeal, Budget requested USD 498,151)

The sub-appeal of the Europe Forum focused on most vulnerable Greeks and refugees living in the capital Athens over nine months (1^st July 2020 until 31 March 2021). The ACT members assured access to humanitarian assistance and protection services for refugee and local groups particularly vulnerable to the pandemic. They focused on improving essential food supplies for people in the urban areas suffering from poverty as well as on the supply of personal hygiene items for refugees living in camps. In the midst of the pandemic, refugee and migrant adults and minors were empowered with continued access to non-formal education and vocational skills to prevent school dropout, to promote integration and grant access to the labor market.

Photo Brenda Platero

Latin America: El Salvador and Nicaragua (Sub-appeal, Budget requested US$, budget received: USD 191’180)

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit El Salvador and Nicaragua hard – not just in economic, but also in social terms. They are not under lockdown, but economic indicators show a slow-down in the general economy that is mainly affecting the most vulnerable: those working in the informal sectors and the population living in high density areas. The economic gap between rich and poor people is getting wider.

The vaccination process is going on in both countries, although it is tainted by lack of access to information and complicated logistics. There are digital gaps because platforms to get information in some cases depend on internet or mobile phone access. And finally, there are no updated, reliable data on vaccines and casualties. 

The work related to mental health and psychosocial attention is not framed by these facts. It’s a vicious circle between the need of psychosocial wellness and economic stability.

In both countries,  the ACT-members between November 2020 and September 2021 are concentrating on access to clean water, hygiene and biosafety measures as well as on psychosocial support. At least 1200 people (families and vulnerable groups) are getting the necessary resources to reactivate their livelihoods or undertake new productive initiatives that allowed them to guarantee a life with dignity. 700 beneficiaries (each one representing a household) attended three workshops on psychosocial support in order to replicate the learnings in their family with the help of a promoter team. In order to prevent gender-based violence (GBV), gender justice workshops raised the awareness of nearly 300 focus persons who are now able to identify, prevent and report GBV-cases.

Photo NCA Lebanon

Middle East/Northern Africa: Lebanon (Rapid Response Fund, Budget approved: 99,933 USD)

The Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees of the Middle East Council of Churches (DSPR-MECC) targeted 440 households in four different areas of Lebanon, including Syrian families living in the camps. The project originally was carried out from October 2020 to January 2021, but later was extended to March 18 because the 2nd round of distribution was delayed due to the lockdowns in Lebanon. It consisted of cash grants for food, drinking water, medicines, hygiene kits, and rent subsidies. 

A separate RRF project launched after the disastrous bomb blast in Beirut (USD 150’000) (for both DSPR and MECC) included hygiene supplies and protective equipment in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Later the Lebanon Forum developed an appeal to continue the response. “ACT Alliance gave us our first support from their emergency funds [Rapid Response Fund] while we approached other donors for help”, said Sylvia Haddad of ACT member Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees (DSPR)’s Joint Christian Committee for Social Service in Lebanon (DSPR-JCC).

Advocacy and resources

A global action as well as regional multistakeholder meetings to address COVID-19 took place throughout 2020. The 7th Annual Symposium on the role of Religion and FBOs in International Affairs focused on accelerating Gender Equality, Equity and Justice on the background of a world changed by the pandemic. ACT was an early leader among FBOs in advocating for equitable access to vaccines (link to advocacy statement).

The COVID-19 page on the ACT website offers all kinds of news, resources and guidelines on the pandemic and its consequences. 

Outlook

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, ACT Alliance called people, governments, multilateral institutions and civil society organizations, including faith communities, to take decisive and forward-looking actions regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. ACT Alliance’s General Secretary Rudelmar Bueno de Faria says: “The battle to leave no-one behind has become more challenging. My biggest hope is that at the end of this pandemic, we can say that we found innovative and effective new partnerships and collaborated with all kinds of different stakeholders and faith-actors in order to reduce inequality and discrimination world-wide.”

Today, an important milestone was reached as the 54^th Session of the UN Commission on Population and Development, on the theme of population, food security, nutrition, and sustainable development, adopted an Agreed Resolution by consensus. This reaffirms the rights governments committed to deliver in the ICPD Programme of Action and sets out global policy guidance in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic to address the particular issues facing women and other marginalised people.

Members from across ACT Alliance, from every region, have been working together to participate in this important commission, including giving an oral statement, co-hosting a Side Event, and participating in an interactive dialogue.

Claudia Gomez, ACT Alliance Latin America and the Caribbean Gender Community of Practice, delivered our oral statement during the Commission: “We stand up for the integrity of the United Nations and the importance of multilateralism and embrace cooperation as the means to resolve global injustices… it is crucial to promote and strengthen strategies to engage faith leaders, actors and communities, in the ICPD Programme of Action.”

Our delegation included Dr. Pacis-Alarine Irambona, a young leader from Burundi, and a member of the ACT Alliance Youth Community of Practice: “For me it very critical to participate because in a world where youth are the majority, our voices should matter as well. As we love to say in my local language: Whatever you do for me, without me, is against me. It critical to engage young leaders in the UN CPD to empower them for the implementations of its resolutions.”

During CPD, ACT Alliance works with the International Sexual and Reproductive Rights Coalition, which has more than 100 organisations worldwide. Coalition members engage in CPD sessions with the purpose of information sharing and strategizing to reach progressive SRHR outcomes: “ISRRC is very pleased to see the outcome resolution has maintained the lines of previously agreed language on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). We also welcome the resolution’s strong reference linking sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights and the impacts of the COVID-19 on health systems and the need for Universal Health Coverage.” You can read the full ISRRC Statement here.

After many years where Member States have been unable to agree, we welcome and celebrate that the Commission concludes today with an Agreed Resolution. This builds on the work of the Nairobi Summit, which ACT Alliance participated in, and made strong commitments to the ICPD.

However, there remains significant work to do at every level. We remain committed to strengthen and deepen our partnerships, with UN Agencies, Member States, faith actors, and secular rights-based organisations. As Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of UNFPA, concluded the session, “It is time now to work together to build back better, stronger and greener.”

The US president, Joe Biden, has invited 40 leaders from around the world, to the Leaders Climate Summit, the 22^nd and 23^rd of April. The summit will be a good opportunity for participants to share their plans, and to present their commitments and pledges, for how to take climate action. The General Secretary of the ACT Alliance, Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, says, “Leaders, meeting on Earth Day, should remember that we, as humans, were given the responsibility to care for the creation, and the earth, by God. This commitment should now be turned into action.”

According to the Paris agreement, all countries should submit revised climate plans (NDCs). So far the compiled ambition, in the plans which have been submitted to the UN, are far from what is needed. Much bigger reductions of greenhouse gas emissions are required to make it possible to handle the climate crisis, and the Leaders Climate Summit could be the time, to make announcements. Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, continues, “The world needs climate leadership and we need countries showing the way. However, true leadership must be earned, through concrete action, and scaled up ambition. There are people living with the effects of climate change right now- farmers trying to save their yields from droughts and floods, and people rebuilding their houses after devastating cyclones. These are the people needing the support. I hope participants from developed countries, attending the summit, will acknowledge this need, and honour it through pledges of scaled up climate finance.”

The next formal UN climate talks will take place in June, as an online negotiation. Rudelmar Bueno de Faria concludes, “The UN climate talks have been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I hope announcements about scaled up climate ambition, at the Leaders  Climate Summit, can provide some positive energy into the negotiations. Climate change has not been put on hold during the pandemic, and the need for progress in the negotiations is vital.”

This article is reprinted with permission of the World Council of Churches. Read the original article here.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the ACT Alliance have announced the pilot of a “learning process” in Malawi and Cameroon that will lead to a model for strong collaboration in many other countries as well. 

At a meeting on 15 April, the WCC and ACT Alliance announced the new initiative, which is not a traditional research project that extracts data and issues a report, but is a dynamic study of existing and new collaborative efforts to examine each stage of collaboration, extract best practices and identify obstacles.

The WCC and ACT Alliance have a close collaboration on a global level, yet the two organizations together have realized that the quality of collaboration between churches and ACT Forums differs considerably on national levels.

WCC deputy general secretary Prof. Dr Isabel Phiri said that piloting an active learning process in Malawi and Cameroon is particularly timely given the challenges facing those two nations today.

“The learning process is a fulfilment of one of the resolutions of the International Consultation on the Relationship between Churches and Specialized Ministries in 2014,” explained Phiri. “The resolution stated that developing an environment for constructing a continuous learning community leads to learning from best practices.”

“The COVID-19 pandemic has presented us with real opportunities for ecumenical diaconal best practices for cooperation,” she added.

Rev. Matthew Z. Ross, WCC programme executive for Diakonia and Capacity Building, explained the choice of Malawi and Cameroon as the pilot nations. “We choose two countries where collaboration has been working well, but where people involved in collaboration see opportunities for improvement,” he said.

“These are local realisations of a global intent. In partnership, much can and must be done in these countries – particularly given the tragic impact of COVID-19—including affecting progress towards achieving the aims of the UN Sustainable Development Goals,” added Ross.

The learning process is divided into three phases: initiation, implementation and finalisation, leading to the presentation at the WCC 11th Assembly in 2022 of a learning tool that will be replicable and scalable to ACT Forums and churches in other countries. 

Elizabeth Kisiigha Zimba, ACT Alliance regional representative for Africa, said: “We have witnessed very good interactions and experience of the great joint work by the ACT Forums and WCC member churches in Malawi and Cameroon, with great interest and passion ready to undertake the learning process.”

Dr. Thorsten Göbel, ACT Alliance director of programs, expressed his appreciation that participants already have been able to put the difficulties on the table. “There is indeed fear of competition, or existence of competition, whereas there is so much potential in the collective approach,” said Göbel. “From the perspective of ACT Alliance, a joint response to the global challenges, including the pandemic, is really important.  Joint efforts of churches and specialized ministries are a credible witness of our faith.”

On 26th March, the 65th UN Commission on the Status of Women concluded with the adoption by UN Member States of the Agreed Conclusions. During a global pandemic, the Commission was able to bring together Member States, UN Agencies, and civil society virtually. ACT Alliance worked with a delegation of 50+ global gender advocates, who contributed to Official Sessions, Side and Parallel Events, amplifying strong faith voices for gender justice throughout the two week commission.

The Agreed Conclusions renew the commitment of Member States to accelerate action to enable women and girls’ full and effective participation in leadership and decision-making in public life, and the elimination of sexual and gender-based violence. 

In the concluding session, the Executive Director of UN Women, Phimzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, said: “The women of the world have made it very clear that the past and the status quo have not met their need for gender equality.”  

One area of progress in the Agreed Conclusions is targeted action to enable young women and girls to contribute to public life. ACT delegate and CASA representative, Vrushali Kadam, followed the discussions on youth at CSW: “Youth form one quarter of the world’s population, therefore our pragmatic inclusion in major local, regional and international agreements, alliances and policies is imperative. We can bring our lived experiences, perspectives, observations and ever evolving ideas to the table, while also building making intersectional, safe spaces for others to join us and provide solutions.”

As ACT delegate and Fundação Luterana de Diaconia representative, Renate Gierus, argues: “In Brazil, during the pandemic, femicide grows every day. At the UN Commission on the Status of Women, we have been advocating for stronger action on gender-based violence. Misogynistic attitudes that have legitimised these behaviours must be tackled at every level, to ensure that the autonomy, equality and freedom of women is respected.” As Chile noted in their concluding remarks, it is important that femicide is recognised in the Agreed Conclusions. 

On the final day, ACT delegate and Community World Service Asia representative, Palwashay Arbab, delivered an Oral Statement: “Religion and culture have a strong influence on the definition of social norms, including those relating to gender. Religious leaders and faith communities must therefore be included as critical actors to engage in transforming harmful norms.” ACT celebrates that Faith-Based Organisations are included in the Agreed Conclusions as a relevant stakeholder. This was a key advocacy message amplified throughout our participation. 

While there are some reasons to celebrate, the UN Commission on the Status of Women 65 also serves as an awakening on how fundamentalist approaches and ideas are gaining strength. A few Member States were able to monopolise and derail progress made. This has a direct impact on people claiming their human rights and on gender-based discrimination around the world. 

We witnessed the pushback against and subsequent erasure of the phrase ‘Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights’ in the negotiations around the Agreed Conclusions. As ACT delegate and ACT Ubumbano representative, Zanele Makombe states: “It is vital that we continue to advocate for SRHR. Recognising SRHR in local to global agreements provides opportunities for people to better understand and make informed choices about their sexual health, sexual rights, reproductive health and reproductive rights. As we have shown at CSW in our events and advocacy, our faith and our beliefs have a way of affirming our SRHR choices.” 

ACT was advocating for more ambitious language in the document, in particular, giving recognition to women and girls ‘in all their diversity’ and recognising the diversity of families. The pushback during CSW65 may be identified as a pause, rather than progress, on our road to gender equality. ACT will continue to advocate with members, civil society, UN Agencies and Member States, for the fulfilment of all human rights. Working with critical stakeholders to accelerate action for gender justice at every level.

Beginning on March 29, 2021, a smaller ACT delegation will be participating in the Generation Equality Forum in Mexico. This will be an opportunity for civil society to lead the conversations with critical stakeholders, to develop blueprints for the full and effective implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. 

The pushback encountered only makes us more determined to organise, strategize and mobilise for gender justice. The Road to Equality continues.

This week the UK government will host the “Climate and Development Ministerial,” a global meeting to address some of the most difficult, and at the same time most important, matters in the climate debate – including climate finance for the most vulnerable people of the world.

The UK will host the ministerial as they will also host the UN Climate Summit, COP26, this November. COP26 will only be called a success if all parties agree and if the outcome is ambitous, and as presidency the UK is therefore sending their diplomats around the world.

One of the main concerns for developing countries is the current lack of climate finance, and in particular support for adaptation. Many poor and vulnerable communities are already facing the severe effects of climate change, and their future is at stake. For example, people in South Sudan right now are struggling to handle major floods, which are threatening their livelihoods. South Sudan is one of the Least Developed Countries, where many local communities are extremely vulnerable to climate related disasters. The current floods will eventually recede, but climate science has stressed that there will be more floods coming, and that the coming decades may get even worse. The people of South Sudan need urgent support to adapt to this new reality.

Developed countries have promised to “balance” their climate support to developing countries. However, recent reports indicate that only a fifth of the pledged climate finance is allocated for adaptation. That is far from the 50% developing countries expect. Obviously, the support for adaptation should be scaled up.

However, this is not enough to achieve climate justice.  The funds should not only be scaled up, they should also be channelled to those most in need. Experience shows that the vast majority of climate finance is spent on international, regional and national level, and that few funds actually reach the local communities, such as those affected by flooding in South Sudan.

When the UK hosts the ministerial this week, they are aware of the challenge, and that it must be addressed, in order to enable success at COP26. I agree, it is important to address the difficult matters. However, it is even more important to find the money which is needed. If the ministerial will only deliver speeches, and a conclusion stating that there is need for more climate finance for the most vulnerable people, it will not make any difference. Such conclusions have already been made, many times before.

Instead, I hope this ministerial will conclude with strong statements from the developed countries which are present, confirming that they will scale up climate finance, increase the focus on adaptation, and ensure that funds will reach the local level, improving the resilience of the most vulnerable people. With such an outcome the Climate and Development Minstieral may become a turning point, which actually can contribute to a successful outcome of the UN summit in November.

We must put our money where our mouth is, lest our promises continue to be hollow rhetoric. There is no need for more speeches. There is now time for action.

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Mattias Söderberg, Senior advocacy advisor in DanChurchAid. He currently serves as co-chair of ACT Alliance’s Climate Justice Reference Group. Mattias is originally from Sweden, but live in Denmark.