On Monday, December 2nd, governments will gather for a new round of UN climate talks at the 25^th Conference of the Parties (COP25) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The meeting which was moved from Santiago de Chile to Madrid has a heavy agenda and is expected to deliver on decisions that are important for international cooperation on tackling climate change.

“When parties meet in Madrid, they should not forget the people, families, and communities who have suffered due to cyclones such as Idai and Kenneth in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe, heatwaves across India, droughts in the horn of Africa, and other disasters throughout the year,” says Birgitte Qvist-Sørensen, ACT Alliance Moderator.

“It is the very future of these people that governments will talk about, and their concerns must be at the centre of the talks in Madrid,” continues Qvist-Sørensen.

One of the most important issues to be addressed at COP25 is loss and damage. This refers to situations where people are no longer able to adapt to climate impacts, and as a result, are at risk of losing their property, livelihoods, or even their lives.

“COP25 must not be another business-as-usual session. It must come up with credible solutions to the lack of finance available to support people and communities affected by climate-induced loss and damage,” says Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, ACT’s General Secretary.

The debate on climate change has for a long time focused on how to mitigate global warming, and how to adapt to its impacts. “Although these areas are crucial, we should not forget the urgent need to address situations where disasters are already striking. Loss and damage is a pillar of the climate debate, the summit in Madrid should make that clear,” says Qvist-Sørensen.

COP25 is also expected to review the work program on gender and climate change, another priority for ACT Alliance. As women in many countries are the ones who are most affected by climate change, all development and climate-related efforts must be guided by principles of gender equality and human rights. “Nobody must be left behind when we take action on climate change,” says Qvist-Sørensen.

The third topic of interest for ACT is around international cooperation on market-based initiatives as a means to combat climate change. Unfortunately, experience from existing market-based initiatives under the Kyoto Protocol has shown that such initiatives can in fact be problematic. “If the rules on this issue are weak, the international community could seriously undermine global commitments to reduce global emissions,” says Bueno de Faria.

ACT’s delegation will follow the talks AT COP25 closely and will call for strict rules and high ambition. 

For further questions, please contact:

Mattias Söderberg, head of delegation, ACT Alliance – +45 – 29700609

Leia Achampong, climate change advisor, ACT Alliance EU – leia.achampong@actalliance.eu

As ACT Alliance members around the world continue to respond to extreme weather events, it is increasingly clear that climate change threatens to wipe out significant gains that countries have made towards sustainable development and poverty alleviation. 

“Unchecked climate change is running rampant, and certain developing countries and climate-vulnerable communities are being hit the hardest,” says Isaiah Toroitich, ACT’s Head of Advocacy and Development Policy.

While many communities have tried to adapt to climate change, the reality is that sometimes adaptation efforts are not enough to prevent communities from severe climate impacts, and there will be situations where losses and damages will occur.

In a recent report titled Climate Finance for Addressing Loss and Damage: How to Mobilize Support for Developing Countries to Tackle Loss and Damage ACT Alliance, Bread for the World, the World Council of Churches and the Lutheran World Federation acknowledge the injustices posed by climate change on the climate-vulnerable.

The report notes that existing financial support mechanisms and climate actions are not enough to prevent loss and damage and examines various criteria that could be applied to develop an architecture to finance loss and damage in an ethical, just, and effective way.

“Poor and vulnerable countries should not have to pay for the climate-induced loss and damages that they face. Loss and damage finance must be put at the top of the agenda of the climate summit in Madrid,” says Mattias Söderberg, co-chair of ACT Alliance’s Climate Change Working Group.

“It’s incumbent on developed countries to play their part in radically confronting the climate crisis and to make support available to the most vulnerable people. Failing to do so, will demonstrate a lack of solidarity with front-line communities and the life-threatening realities that they face as climate change intensifies,” says Toroitich.

CSO equity review report

As ACT Alliance prepares for COP25, issues around loss and damage remain a key priority. ACT has joined nearly 100 civil society organizations to endorse the 2019 CSO Equity Review Report Can Climate Change-Fuelled Loss and Damage Ever Be Fair? The report highlights the inequalities faced by developing countries as a result of climate change and identifies the responsibility that wealthy countries must take for its devastating impacts.

“The people who have contributed the least to climate change in terms of emissions, are facing severe losses and damages, while developed countries who have a disproportionate historical responsibility for contributing to global warming, are hesitating to scale up their climate ambition. This is unfair,” says Söderberg.

The report provides evidence-based contributions on why tackling loss and damage in an equitable manner is a ‘must issue’ and notes that the level of effort needed by all countries to adequately tackle climate change is inconsistent with what is being delivered by developed countries.

“Although equity is at the core of the climate debate, it is not evident in the international community’s response to tackling loss and damage. It is unfair that vulnerable communities who have limited responsibility for contributing to global warming, are finding themselves even further in debt because they have to rebuild their homes after climate-related disasters,” concluded Söderberg.

World leaders must not fail to deliver on climate finance for loss and damage. If adequate resources are not mobilized, the worsening climate and debt crises will make it extremely difficult for developing countries to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.

The World gathered in Nairobi last week to review the global commitment on population and development that was made 25 years, at a conference in Cairo where 179 governments adopted a Programme of Action, recognizing that reproductive health, women’s empowerment and gender equality are the pathway to sustainable development.

Under the theme; ‘’accelerating the promise’’, The faith leaders from many religions, including Hindu, Christian and Muslim  had a moment to reflect on their role, challenges  and opportunities they have to accelerate the promise around three main zeros; Zero maternal Deaths, Zero unmet family planning needs, and Zero GBV.

The faith actors recognized that there is an increase in adolescent pregnancy and maternal child death, harmful practices and gender-based violence, with statistics being cited from different countries; of course, with Africa leading in reverse. Religious leaders found this a disturbing trend and presented a need for faith actors to question death out of these three areas.

“African Women die at childbirth and at the funeral service, the faith leaders who are called to celebrate the life of the departed 25-year-old says, The Lord gives and takes! The Big question is; Is God or Allah only interested in Africana Women that He calls them to glory faster than their counterparts in developed countries? We need to raise our liturgy, we cannot keep preaching only, we must condemn and question this situation.” said one of the faith leaders.

The faith institutions have structures and institutions that can accelerate access to services and should engage more in policy dialogues to strengthen public healthcare services, to make it more responsive and equitable to healthcare needs of women, children, men and youth. “ICPD1 to 25 mean nothing if we don’t translate the global process in local context that can transform lives of the rural person especially women. We shall Come back for ICPD30 and still be talking about statistics instead of transformation. A death of one mother is a death of a community”, said another faith leader.

While the ICPD aims to achieve the SDGs that are central to universal sexual and reproductive health by 2030, and in the SDG spirit of ‘leaving no one behind’, there has been a sharp division between some faith actors and the UNFPA constituency in the ICPD+25. These faith actors allege that ICPD+25 that is being hosted in Kenya is advancing the agenda of same sex marriage, calling for abortion (Safe abortion) and promoting LGBTQI. Many faith-based institutions and persons didn’t get accredited to participate in the conference and the Catholic community is cited to have pulled out of the ICPD+25 process.  This creates uncertainties if we are indeed on course to achieve the global commitments of the SDGs when some stakeholders question or misinterpret the objectives of the global communities 25 years later.

Patriciah Roy Akullo works for ACT member DCA as the Advocacy Officer for the Uganda Forum.  She engages in national and regional level advocacy on gender justice, climate change, and DRR among other advocacy issues pertinent to the forum.

For the first time, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is presented with the agenda of gender policies and human rights from the perspective of the advances of fundamentalism in Latin America and the Caribbean.

On November 11, 2019, in Quito, Ecuador, the organizations Peace and Hope and IPRODES, Peru, and Koinonia Ecumenical Presence and Service, member of the ACT Brazil Ecumenical Forum, presented at a public hearing of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) a report denouncing the danger of anti-rights and hate speech on the Human Rights agenda and the advance of public policies.

The fallacy of gender, called “gender ideology” and the appropriation by fundamentalist discourses, with attention to religious narratives, continues to promote aggravated and advanced setbacks throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Such as recently in Bolivia, where the Bible and weapons are used to seize the power of a democratically elected government.

Representation in the IACHR was not just from these organizations, but from dozens more, from these and other countries in the region to expose the setbacks that have threatened and violated human rights for several years.

As stated in the presented document, “on recent years, several conservative churches, collectives and religious organizations have made speeches rejecting the concept of gender as a category of analysis, opting to classify it as a mere “ideology”. In this sense, we face a new terminology used by this sector of society to avoid incorporating the gender approach in public laws and policies.”

The aim was to lead and promote reflection on the challenges, norms of good practices in promoting and protecting the rights to education, health and the right to life free from violence, in particular with regard to women, LGBTI + population, children and adolescents; and on issues of gender rights, such as sexual and reproductive rights, in a context in which the political defence of religious fundamentalists is contrary to the rights of these populations.

The request for speech during the IACHR Public Hearing was presented by the Peruvian and Brazilian organizations which were represented by Ronald Gamarra, Sofía Carpio of IPRODES, Peru; Marilia Schüller de Koinonia and ACT Brazil Ecumenical Forum; and Germán Vargas of Peace and Hope, Peru.

The public hearing was chaired by Joel Hernandez Garcia (Mexico), member of the IACHR. The following members of the Commission were also present: Margarette May Macaulay (Jamaica), Luis Ernesto Vargas (Colombia), Soledad Garcia Muñoz (Argentina), María Claudia Pulido (Colombia). Regrettably, Brazil’s representation on the Commission was not designated to be present on this Public Hearing.

Marilia Schüller, KOINONIA’s advisor on the institutional and international relations of the Ecumenism and Gender Justice agenda, reports that the Commission welcomed the report presented and expressed that with words of thanks.

“The importance of the right to education of girls, boys and adolescents, and especially of sex education in schools, as part of training for life, was very clear; Also, the continuity of public policies that favour women, children and LGBTI + population that are vulnerable segments in our societies”.

In denouncing and opposing religious fundamentalism, which in our Latin American and Caribbean contexts has been propagated by conservative Christian sectors, Marilia adds: “We emphasized the importance of faith-based organizations contributing to the reflection from a human rights perspective and the affirmation of the secular state”.

The presentation by the organizations’ delegation sought to demonstrate that the region’s scenario cannot be understood from simple observations. It is complex, paradoxical and crossed by several elements. In which conservative discourses use democratic languages, symbols, values and institutions to deny and oppose the human rights that underpin these same institutions.

Which elements are these?

– Opposition to the gender approach through discourse creation and the development of activism based on the fanciful concept of “gender ideology”;
– The new forms of religious participation in the public sphere;
– The tensions between religious-conservative discourse and the approach to rights;
– The impact of the civil-religious agenda on public norms and policies related to human rights;
– Instrumentalization of the right to freedom of belief;
– The insertion of the religious phenomenon in a wider scenario of global de-democratization since the second decade of the 21st century.

Finally, the delegation submitted the following petitions to the Commission:

1. To develop a regional report on the “impact of religious fundamentalism on the human rights agenda, especially on the rights of children and adolescents”, establishing minimum standards that countries must ensure in these cases of human rights protection.
2. That the IACHR urge states to guarantee the right to sexual and reproductive education and to the health of children and adolescents by establishing procedures that guarantee their right to participate and respect their autonomy.
3. That the IACHR remind States of their obligation to take specific measures to modify sociocultural patterns of heteronormative behaviour, including the design of formal and non-formal education programs to combat prejudice and customs, and all other practices based on the premise of inferiority of women and children and adolescents.
4. That the IACHR remind states of their obligation to guarantee freedom of belief, without affecting other rights, and to guarantee the functioning of services whose denial may endanger the health and life of people.

The organizations that supported the advocacy action were:

1) Peace and Hope Association;

2) Institute for the Promotion of Social Development – IPRODES;

3) KOINONIA Ecumenical Presence and Service;

4) ACT Alliance;

5) Ecumenical Forum ACT Brazil – FEACT Brazil;

6) National Council of Christian Churches of Brazil – CONIC;

7) Ecumenical Service Coordination – CESE;

8) Lutheran Foundation of Diaconia – FLD;

9) PAD – Articulation and Dialogue;

10) Human Rights Monitoring in Brazil;

11) Articulation of Brazilian Women – AMB;

12) Eastern Amazon Forum – FAOR

13) Platform of Social Movements for Political System Reform;

12) SOS BODY – Feminist Institute for Democracy;

13) Brazilian Association of Civil Society Organizations – Abong.

Access the full report document here (Spanish)-> Informe – CIDH 11.11.19

* The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is a principal and autonomous organ of the Organization of American States (OAS), whose mission is to promote, protect, monitor, and analyse all human rights-related issues in the 35 member countries of the continent. It is made up of seven independent members who act in person and is headquartered in Washington, DC. It was created by the OAS in 1959 and, together with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Corte IDH), established in 1979, is an institution of the Inter-American System of human rights protection (IACHR)

Writer: Natália Blanco/ Koinonia

Translation to English: Marilia A. Schüller/Koinonia

This story originally appeared on the Koinonia website.

ACT Palestine Forum is deeply concerned about the latest development in the Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, since 12 November, 34 Palestinians have been killed and another 111 injured . Eight of those killed were children and three were women. Among those injured are 46 children and 20 women.

Violence escalated after Israeli forces killed the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, in an air raid targeting his home in Gaza City.

We in ACT Palestine forum condemn the indiscriminate attacks by the Israeli Military Forces on civilians. “While we do not condone the firing of rockets on populated areas, we see this latest exchange of fire as a result of targeted killings in the absence of a credible political process between Palestinians and Israelis that would  see an end to the ongoing siege of the Gaza Strip and to the human and basic rights infractions suffered by the civilian population in the Gaza Strip.”

According to ACT members working in Gaza, the latest violence has further deteriorated the already dire humanitarian situation on the ground.

The ACT Palestine Forum is closely monitoring the situation, and stand ready to activate the Forum’s Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan while continuing the implementation of the current ACT Appeal

ACT Alliance is weighing in on issues of sexual and reproductive health and rights in the Global Summit on Population and Development, ICPD, being held in Nairobi from 12^th to 14^th of November.

ICPD is an important moment, coming 25 years after the Cairo Summit introduced the UN Population Fund’s Programme of Action.  In Nairobi, ACT will be continuing its work towards achieving gender justice, women’s rights, protection of LGBTQI people, the right to contraception, prevention of HIV and of gender-based violence.

ACT has worked with the Associated Press to produce the first of a series of short documentaries on these issues, telling stories from the slums of Nairobi, and looking at how faith-based groups contribute to tackling endemic gender-based violence and toxic masculinity. The short documentary was produced in coordination with ACT member LWR/IMA and with support from UNFPA.

The movie highlights the DREAMS project in Nairobi, a programme that provides education and support to young women who are subject to gender-based violence and who have little or no access to critical health education and services. The video introduces characters who are mentors in a scheme that is supported by ACT member LWR/IMA. Many of the people being mentored are in their early teens. The mentors themselves have been beneficiaries of the program that promotes access to services that empower young women and girls to take ownership of their reproductive health.

“The DREAMS program uses a proven, community engagement approach for reducing HIV infection among adolescents and young women,” IMA VP for Health Programs, Allyson Bear said. “We know young women in informal settlements are particularly vulnerable to HIV infection and other threats.” 

General Secretary of the ACT Alliance, Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, said that ‘Through projects like DREAMS, ACT members are working around the world to advance gender justice, to work against gender-based violence, and to live into our commitments to the ICPD, fighting for the rights of all people, and in particular for women and the LGBTQI community whose rights are still a long way from being respected.‘

Read ACT’s commitments to ICPD.

Watch the DREAMS video.

The status of gender justice in Africa evokes both discomfort and optimism. The discomfort arises from the ever-present and growing hand of patriarchy, the push back on human rights– especially women’s rights– and the impunity with which acts of violence against women and girls are normalized and accepted by society.

However, all hope is not lost on those advancing gender equality given the bold “push back on the pushback,” coming from some faith communities as well as a gradual increase in political will and commitments from governments across Africa to address such injustices. These efforts are coupled with a shift in male engagement models in the spirit of leaving no one behind, including stakeholders like faith actors who have power and influence to create the desired change.

Inspired by such an environment, ACT Alliance members in Africa formed a regional Gender Justice Community of Practice in October, with an overarching need to transform society, building on the space created by ACT Forums across Africa and leveraging from the networks and partnerships nurtured by over 155 ACT members around the world.

The Africa CoP brings together countries including Uganda, South Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Ethiopia among others. The common denominator of these countries is that they rank as the most religious with more than 80% of these populations aligning to a specific religion (The Global Attitudes 2015 Survey). However, the irony is that they also rank highest in gender disparities including discrimination against women and girls.  It’s no wonder that the Africa Gender CoP is prioritizing sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), economic justice, and transformative masculinities – the CoP is keenly aware of the linkages between these areas and the multiple layers of vulnerabilities faced by women and girls.

These themes resonate with the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and the consensus built through the Programme for Action 25 years ago focusing on individual dignity and human rights. In achieving the PoA, strengthening the role of faith-based organizations, religious leaders and faith communities in advancing gender justice is key, as human rights and theology complement each other. ICPD +25, the Nairobi Summit, is a build-up to high-level global discussions and engagements spearheaded by UNFPA on maternal health, SGBV, HIV/AIDS with calls to faith communities to boldly advance issues of sexual and reproductive health and rights and to challenge harmful traditional practices which are facing a strong push back from society, including some faith circles.

The Nairobi Summit is significant to the Africa Gender Justice CoP beyond it being hosted in an African Country which will encourage the participation of many actors from the region. It is an opportunity for faith actors to continue advancing the positive role of faith in achieving gender justice. It is also a forum for faith actors in the region (and beyond) to understand the urgency in realizing gender equality, re-affirm their commitment to gender justice and raise their voice in solidarity with many actors working tirelessly to challenge the push back which has been experienced across Africa. The different forms of gender injustice are a sad reality across Africa, however, there is an ever-increasing space to rally support within the region and to advocate for more progressive legislative frameworks and more tangible commitments such as financing for gender equality from African governments.

The Africa Gender Justice CoP, through the ACT network, is already engaged in gender justice work. An added value of the CoP is the adoption of a theological approach which promotes the unfolding of affirmations of gender justice and reflection on sacred texts (which are sometimes used to promote gender injustices). It also promotes joint advocacy, particularly using the Africa Regional Human Rights Frameworks and spaces which have continuously registered limited faith actors. This has the potential to enhance grassroots, national, regional and global linkages and reap the benefits of working together.

The CoP is also cognizant that faith actors are important in the spiritual nourishment of their faith communities but equally important for their capacity to reach the unreachable and to provide physical nourishment as well. The CoP will use its prophetic voice to address gender injustices and to contribute to the legal and institutional frameworks at various levels.

ACT Alliance members across the world, who are also members of the various Gender Justice CoPs have actively engaged with the ICPD +25 country processes in the lead up to the Nairobi Summit. Specific actions taken by ACT’s network include a faith-based position paper with commitments to the ICPD, mobilizing progressive faith voices, participating in the UNFPA’s thematic technical groups, providing input to the CSO country position papers and taking the lead on key thematic areas.

ACT’s Gender Justice CoP members in Uganda are leading the CoP on issues related to Gender-Based Violence and Harmful Practices.  In Nairobi, the Alliance has been instrumental in shaping faith conversations in the ICPD +25 process and will convene a Pre-Summit Conference for FBOs.

ACT Alliance is at the center of advancing discussions which reaffirm the positive role of faith actors in advancing SRHR as a fundamental human right. ACT will host a session at ICPD on,  “Keeping the Faith in SRHR” and in light of the push back on this topic, will provide a safe space for dialogue and will stand in solidarity with those advancing the faith-based values of dignity, justice and peace.

True to a reflection during the gathering of the Africa Gender Justice CoP ‘the harvest is huge, yet laborers are few!’ There is no such thing as oversubscription when talking about actors for gender justice.  We need more laborers, particularly from faith circles and faith communities, to speak on these issues. Only then will we see a world where everyone lives in dignity and all people, irrespective of their diversity realize their full potential.

Blog written by Gladys Nairuba, DanChurchAid (Uganda).

Statement of Support and Solidarity with the National Council of Churches in the Philippines

We have learned with great concern of the emerging development in the Philippines where the ACT Alliance member, the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) has been included on the list of ‘front organisations of local communist terrorist groups’ presented by the Department of National Defense. We are very disturbed by this depiction and find it to be completely out of touch with what we know the NCCP to represent.

ACT Alliance (Action by Churches Together) is a global network of churches and faith-based organisations working in collaboration to support people and communities affected by disasters and poverty. NCCP, as a member of our Alliance, has been instrumental in supporting church-led emergency responses in many natural disaster events and in community-based development programmes, which includes in recent years significant emergency response for Typhoon Haiyan, Typhoon Mangkhut, and the Marawi Siege. NCCP is an active member of the Philippine Faith-Based Organizations (FBO) Forum and an active participant in humanitarian coordination platforms that are led by the NDRRMC and various government and UN agencies. We are extremely grateful for and proud of this work and we know that the lives and dignity of the people and communities served through the ministry of NCCP are better as a result.

We strongly associate ourselves with the identity of NCCP as a fellowship of churches following God’s call to serve the people of the Philippines through service, ecumenical education and Christian unity. This work does not imply any association with terrorist organisations. NCCP has undertaken this work with grace, integrity and exemplary servant leadership.

We stand in solidarity with the NCCP and other partners who have wrongfully been included on the above-mentioned list. We call on the Government of the Philippines to remove NCCP from the list, in view of its unverified nature and the security and operational threats it poses. We call on the Government of the Philippines to ensure the safety and security of all its citizens and to uphold the important role of civil society and social service organisations such as the NCCP. We believe that the Government of the Philippines shares our commitment to serve the needs of communities and address the root causes of poverty and disasters, with a strong recognition of international human rights and humanitarian law, and God’s call to service and unity.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the ACT Alliance, in a joint letter to Burkina Faso president Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, expressed concern for developments affecting the security and human rights of many of the nation’s people.

“We are aware that over the last five years, Burkina Faso has been increasingly afflicted by extremist violence,” the letter reads. “In addition to the deaths of hundreds of people, a spate of kidnappings, and the closure of many schools and churches, this violence has led to a massive and continuous displacement of populations from the affected regions.”

According to the latest UN information, in early October 486,360 internally displaced people were registered, more than twice as many as in July. “Since July, the number of people receiving food assistance has doubled to around 735,000,” notes the letter. “Our churches and partners are already on the ground assisting the affected communities, and we are exploring ways in which we can scale up our support and accompaniment.”

Through this letter WCC and ACT Alliance particularly highlight an urgent and immediate situation in the vicinity of Kongoussi town in northern-central Burkina Faso, where in one church compound of the Association of Evangelical Reformed Churches of Burkina Faso more than 200 people who have fled from attacks on nearby villages – the majority of them children – are taking refuge.

The letter continues: “We join in urgently appealing to the Government of Burkina Faso to do its utmost to project a stronger military presence in this region, in order to protect people who are in imminent fear for their lives, against an advancing wave of extremist attacks.”

WCC and ACT also offered prayers for resolve and wisdom in Kaboré‘s efforts to confront the threat to the nation as a whole, to preserve all Burkinabé people from sectarian violence and divisions, to arrest the worsening humanitarian emergency resulting from these attacks, and to meet the immediate humanitarian needs of so many affected people. “We join you in calling on the international community to provide the necessary support for your government to rise to these critical challenges,” the letter concludes.

See the letter below:

S.E. Roch Marc Christian Kaboré
Président
Burkina Faso

Votre Excellence,

Au nom du Conseil œcuménique des Églises et de l’Alliance ACT, nous vous écrivons pour vous exprimer notre préoccupation devant les développements qui affectent la sécurité et les droits de la personne de beaucoup de vos citoyens, en particulier dans les régions du Sahel, du Nord, du Centre-Nord et de l’Est.

Nous savons qu’au cours des cinq dernières années, le Burkina Faso a été de plus en plus frappé par la violence extrémiste. Ces attaques violentes, qui visaient initialement l’armée et les institutions étatiques, ont pris un caractère religieux et sectaire de plus en plus marqué et affecté gravement les civils.

Nous avons également à l’esprit l’appel, en septembre 2018, du Gouvernement du Burkina Faso à la communauté internationale, demandant son appui face à l’émergence des menaces à la sécurité et au développement de la région.

Causant la mort de centaines de personnes, une vague de kidnappings et la fermeture de nombreuses écoles et églises, cette violence a également provoqué un déplacement massif et continu des populations venues des régions affectées.

Selon les dernières informations venues des agences onusiennes, on comptait 486 360 déplacés internes au début du mois d’octobre, ce qui représente le double des chiffres enregistrés en juillet. Depuis juillet, le nombre de personnes recevant de la nourriture et de l’assistance a doublé, pour atteindre 735 000 personnes. 71 centres de santé demeurent fermés et 75 autres n’offrent que des services minimaux, laissant plus de 880 000 personnes sans accès aux soins de santé. Selon un Plan d’action humanitaire révisé, 187 millions de dollars sont nécessaires pour l’aide humanitaire, mais, à la date du 29 octobre, seuls 37% des fonds avaient été reçus.

Nos Églises et partenaires sont déjà sur le terrain pour soutenir les communautés affectées et nous cherchons les moyens d’augmenter notre soutien pour les accompagner. Nous soutenons le Gouvernement du Burkina Faso dans ses efforts pour garantir l’aide nécessaire aux besoins humanitaires immédiats autant qu’à la coopération sécuritaire face à la menace extrémiste.  

En même temps, nous souhaitons tout particulièrement attirer votre attention sur une situation immédiate et urgente dans les environs de Kongoussi qui a été portée à notre attention. Les attaques les plus dramatiques dans cette province ont eu lieu le 28 septembre, dans un village (Komsilga) situé à une vingtaine de kilomètres de Kongoussi, où 9 personnes ont été tuées. Le même jour, dans l’après-midi, 9 autres personnes ont été tuées dans un autre village (Deneon) à environ 27 km de Kongoussi. Ce soir-là, les gens ont commencé à fuir ces villages et bien d’autres de la région vers Kongoussi. Le nombre de personnes déplacées a continué d’augmenter au cours des jours suivants, et plus de 45 000 personnes déplacées ont été enregistrées à Kongoussi.

Dimanche 6 octobre, 2 personnes ont été tuées dans un autre village (Darbiti) à 6 km de Kongoussi. Dimanche 20 octobre, dans la soirée, 9 autres personnes ont été tuées dans un village (Zoura) situé à seulement 8 km de Kongoussi.

Selon les messages que nous avons reçus du pasteur Tegwende Leonard Kinda de l’Association des Églises évangéliques réformées du Burkina Faso – membre du COE et de l’Alliance ACT – un total de 242 personnes de 32 foyers, dont 141 enfants, 63 adultes et 38 personnes âgées, qui ont fui face à cette vague d’attaques meurtrières, sont actuellement réfugiées dans son église à Kongoussi.

Nous nous associons à l’appel pressant lancé au Gouvernement du Burkina Faso pour qu’il fasse tout ce qui est en son pouvoir pour projeter une présence militaire plus forte dans cette région, afin de protéger les personnes qui craignent pour leur vie contre une vague croissante d’attaques extrémistes.

Nous prions pour que la détermination et la sagesse vous guident dans vos efforts pour faire face à cette menace qui pèse sur l’ensemble de la nation, pour préserver tous les Burkinabés de la violence et des divisions sectaires, pour arrêter l’aggravation de l’urgence humanitaire résultant de ces attaques et pour répondre aux besoins humanitaires immédiats de tant de personnes touchées. Nous nous joignons à vous pour demander à la communauté internationale d’apporter le soutien nécessaire à votre gouvernement pour qu’il puisse relever ces défis cruciaux.

Veuillez agréer, Votre Excellence, l’expression de notre respectueuse considération