ACT, WCC, LWF and other ecumenical bodies joined tens of thousands in marching through the streets of New York City in the Climate Strike in 2019, demanding climate justice now. Photo: Simon Chambers/ACT
The UN climate summit (COP25) in Madrid ended on the 15th of December, 2019. At that time nobody knew it would be almost one and a half years until negotiations would continue. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has not only challenged people and communities around the world, it has also hindered important talks about the future of our species, and our planet. This week negotiations are back, and hopefully on track towards an ambitious outcome at the upcoming climate summit- COP26- in Glasgow, Scotland in November.
Since the summit in Madrid a number of worrying climate reports have been published. The latest, from the World Meteorological Organization, shows that the the global temperature may pass the critical 1.5 degree threshold already by 2026. That is horrific news as scientists predict that temperatures above this limit will have irreversible, dramatic effects on millions of poor and vulnerable communities around the world.
But we do not have to look at science to be alarmed. We can just look out the proverbial window. Since COP25 in Madrid, we have seen heat waves, devastating cyclones, droughts, flooding, forest fires, and melting glacial ice.
We have seen these climate related disasters, and people on the frontline of climate change have felt the effects on their bodies, and in their homes and their livelihoods. There is no doubt. The need for climate action has become even more urgent.
So, what can we expect from the UN negotiations? Will they provide the solutions we need? Well, negotiations right now will certainly not deliver the solutions. Because of the corona virus negotiations will, for the first time, take place online. This setting is uncertain, and it has been agreed that no formal decisions will be taken.
So no, negotiations right now will not provide solutions.
However, they will, or maybe I should say, could, pave the way, so that decisions and agreements can be formally reach at the summit in Scotland in November.
Negotiators will address a number of key topics, which all are important to address if we want to deal with the climate crisis we are facing: rules about climate finance, carbon trading, agriculture and the “global stock take” which is the five year ambitions mechanism in the Paris agreement, designed to ensure that ambition- and action- can be scaled up.
For poor and vulnerable communities, at the forefront of climate change, time is rapidly running out. Droughts and floods will continue to affect the most vulnerable, but without progress in the UN climate cooperation it is difficult to see how the global ambition will be scaled up.
I am happy UN talks about climate change are back, and I hope they will help us to get on track, towards the resilient and green transition we all need.
Mattias Söderberg, Senior advocacy advisor in DanChurchAid. Mattias serves as co-chair of the ACT Climate Justice Reference Group.
People of faith organise to put pressure on COP26
Even in the midst of a global pandemic, there is perhaps no greater issue facing humanity than the climate crisis. Although each year, representatives of states, the private sector, and civil society gather at the UN Climate Conference known as COP to negotiate about the global response to this existential emergency, little progress has been made to address the root causes of climate change.
As part of the Global Prayer and Action Chain for Climate Justice, ACT Alliance helped host a webinar Raise your Voice in Faith for Climate Justice in mid-May which saw well over 100 people of faith from around the world gather to learn and chare together on how they can influence their countries’ contributions to COP26 later this year.
COP26 was scheduled to be held in Glasgow in November 2020, but was postponed by a year by the pandemic. An important part of nations leading to COP26 will be the ramping up of ambition in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), the plans by each country of how they will decrease their emissions to reach the goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5C.
A wide variety of speakers from climate experts to archbishops to youth activists talked about the NDCs, the actions they take towards climate justice in their homes and churches and at the COPs. Athena Peralta, programme executive for economic and ecological justice of the World Council of Churches, gave an overview of the current state of the NDCs in mid-2021 after a panel discussion on What are the NDCs and COP26 and why are they important? which featured climate activists from Africa, Latin America, and the Pacific.
Archbishop Mark MacDonald, National Indigenous Bishop of the Anglican Church of Canada, talked about the experience of indigenous people. “There is no livable future of the planet in which Indigenous peoples’ rights are not respected,” he said. The fight for indigenous people’s authority over the mineral and other resources on their land is “one of the most effective ways of slowing down the greed that blinds people to the rate of development that is destroying our planet.”
Bino Makhalanyane, youth coordinator at Green Anglicans, talked of how people of faith in Namibia stood up to a foreign extractive company in the Kavango Basin. After a local newspaper was sued for breaking the story about the oil drilling project, he explained, Anglican bishops around the world joined a campaign to stop the drilling. “We have seen media houses now amplifying this message, taking it out to the people… People should be given that opportunity to express themselves and not be frightened when they speak about what they believe is not correct.”
Helena Funk, a young Lutheran from Germany, spoke about her work in climate justice from COPs to engaging at the local parish. “I think it is very important to record what is happening at the UN climate conferences, and even what we are doing in our home churches for caring for the environment, to inspire more people and to gain attention to this topic,” she said.
The webinar wrapped up with break out groups on topics ranging from how to engage local churches in climate justice to how to organize a COVID-safe protest to effective use of media and social media, to engaging politicians. These sessions presented concrete examples of how people of faith can get more involved in the global fight for climate justice at the local level. Notes from the break out groups will be shared on here, along with other materials from the webinar.
The Global Prayer and Action Chain for Climate Justice will continue to work to bring people of faith together towards COP26. You can sign their petition to COP26 here, as well as other ways to act and pray for climate justice on their website.
Situation in Tigray is volatile and humanitarian needs are growing: we must scale up our response
The humanitarian situation of the Tigray region in Ethiopia is proving to be a real challenge for humanitarian international organizations and NGOs. Access remains unpredictable while the humanitarian needs are rising.
Food aid is the top priority at the moment. In Mekelle, the capital city of the Tigray region, churches and host communities are doing their best to accommodate the needs of those in need, but their efforts are not enough. Schools used as IDPs centres are packed with people who live on top of each other. This is concerning from a health and hygiene point of view, but it is also insufferable for those living there.
“There is no privacy and no dignity”, says Elizabeth Zimba, ACT Alliance’s Regional Representative for Africa.
The constant influx of IDPs from the rural areas, where the conflict is intense, to the urban areas poses a massive WASH challenge to the humanitarian relief operations. Water points have been damaged and need to be restored as a matter of urgency.
Transport of supplies, particularly from Addis, is difficult and complicated by the rainy season which is also a deterrent for IDPs to move to the resettlement camps.
To complicate matters further, elections are imminent, and this could negatively impact the humanitarian response and hinder access to the concerned areas even more.
ACT members are currently involved in providing cash transfers to thousands of IDPs along with food distribution, water, sanitation and hygiene, psychosocial support, and protection. Protection remains a major area of concern in the region. A key aspect of the protection work undertaken by members of ACT involves the prevention of gender-based violence.
ACT members the Ethiopia Evangelical Church of Mekane Yesus Development and Social Services Commission (DASSC) and Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) have provided training to IDP committees, elders and religious leaders on prevention of gender-based violence and how to protect IDPs and to support survivors of SGBV. Religious leaders, both in host communities and IDP communities, are sharing their learnings with their communities on issues related to SGBV.
ACT Alliance has launched an appeal in January 2021. The appeal is currently only 28% funded.
“It is imperative that we look at helping the Tigray region by financially supporting our appeal” says Niall ORouke, Head of Humanitarian Affairs at ACT Alliance. “The humanitarian needs are growing and we must scale up our response to help the millions of men, women and children who are in dire need, and restore their dignity and hope”.
International church-based organizations urge Colombian president to stop spiral of violence
The ACT Alliance, World Council of Churches, Lutheran World Federation, World Communion of Reformed Churches, Anglican Communion, World Methodist Council, Latin American Episcopal Council and World Association for Christian Communication, in a letter sent 18 May, urged Colombian president Iván Duque Marquéz to stop the spiral of violence that is doing terrible harm to the civilian population.
“While we acknowledge that the government is dealing with a very complex situation, we believe the focus now must not be on repressing popular protests, but rather to listen to the people’s voices with empathy and without resorting to violence, and to begin to seriously address the root causes of the mass mobilisation of the Colombian people,” the letter reads.
Colombia has now entered a third week of national protests. More than 40 people have been killed, hundreds have gone missing and thousands have been injured as a result of the security response.
“We believe that as head of government you will call the Colombian authorities to remember and fulfil their primary responsibility which is the protection of the Colombian people,” reads the letter. “We pray that you will resist and reject the calls for more violence and greater use of force against activists.”
The signatories added that they will continue to monitor the situation in Colombia closely and with great concern, praying for a just and peaceful resolution to the current crisis, and remain committed to supporting dialogue between the different stakeholders as the only path to such a resolution.
“We look forward to your response, and wish you grace and peace in the fulfilment of your responsibilities,” the letter concludes.
ACT Alliance, WCC echo call from churches in El Salvador to promote peace
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.
ACT-Forum Nepal: joint commitment to fight the second COVID-wave
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
ACT Alliance members in India unite to face the disastrous second COVID-wave
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.
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.
ACT Alliance General Secretary named to the COVAX Facility
ACT General Secretary Rudelmar Bueno de Faria speaking during the Commission on Population and Development at the United Nations. Photo: Simon Chambers/ACT
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.”
ACT’s COVID-response – one year in
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.
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.
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.
The sub-appeal of the Europe Forum focused on most vulnerable Greeks and refugees living in the capital Athens over nine months (1st 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.
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).
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.”
Featured photo: ELCT Tanzania presiding Bishop Dr. Fredrick O Shoo/ELCT
Renewed Hope at the 54th UN Commission on Population and Development
Today, an important milestone was reached as the 54th 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.”
Even in the midst of a global pandemic, there is perhaps no greater issue facing humanity than the climate crisis. Although each year, representatives of states, the private sector, and civil society gather at the UN Climate Conference known as COP to negotiate about the global response to this existential emergency, little progress has been made to address the root causes of climate change.
