Climate change experts from the ACT Alliance network have published a report assessing the threats posed by climate change on the sustainable development goals (SDG) and disaster risk reduction. The report finds that warming of 1.5°C will severely impact climate-vulnerable developing countries, and urges more ambitious climate action. The report also identifies policy recommendations to maintain the possibility of staying at 1.5°C global warming.

Titled ‘Enhanced Climate Action in Response to 1.5°C Global Warming: Scaling up Nationally Determined Contributions,’ the research focuses on climate impacts in particularly climate-sensitive regions in which ACT members and partners are present. The report features case studies from the Marshall Islands, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Jordan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Central America (including El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua), and the European Union. 

Bold climate commitments are needed by 2020 to respond to the risks of 1.5°C warming, as highlighted in the IPCC Special Report earlier this year. The authors state that climate change is affecting the most vulnerable populations and is hindering progress made towards the SDGs, particularly the goals related to poverty, health, water and sanitation.

“We are running out of time. As caretakers of creation, we need to hold governments to account and we must take action to prevent any further risk to human life and dignity. Commitments and messages of solidarity must be transformed into concrete climate action so that support is provided to those most in need,” said Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, General Secretary of ACT Alliance.

Africa and Asia are projected to experience 75 per cent of the global risks associated with increased temperatures, putting a tremendous burden on governments to achieve the SDGs.

“Without effectively aligning 1.5°C-consistent national mitigation and adaptation action with SDGs and disaster risk reduction goals, sustainable development will remain an illusion, leaving behind hundreds of millions of people,” the report reads.

ACT’s call for action is further rooted in the experiences of ACT members who note that climate change is depriving poor and vulnerable people of their fundamental human right to be free from hunger and extreme poverty. The report notes that scaled-up climate action to reduce climate impacts around the world is a humanitarian, human rights, development and justice imperative.

The report provides a ten-step plan of action for all governments to respond to the risks of 1.5°C global warming including; undertaking a gap analysis; ratcheting up mitigation; fostering climate resilience, and scaling up climate finance to name a few.

The next round of climate negotiations (COP24) is less than one week away and provides governments with another opportunity to increase their climate commitments towards the 1.5°C temperature target. ACT Alliance will present the report to government and civil society alike at a side event at COP24.

‘Enhanced Climate Action in Response to 1.5°C Global Warming’ was commissioned by the ACT Alliance Secretariat under its Global Climate Justice Project, To date, the report has been launched in Bangladesh for the Asia region and San Salvador for the Latin America and Caribbean region.

For media inquiries, please contact Joanna Patouris, ACT’s Climate Change Communications Coordinator joanna.patouris@actalliance.org, +1-647-971-5360.

“God gave us light to see the beauty of creation. God gave us love to live in fellowship with creation, and God gave us strength to care for creation,” said ACT’s Climate Justice Ambassador Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of Cape Town.

Today, leaders from around the world have gathered for the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), in the form of a zero-emissions (virtual) summit to champion climate action and to amplify the voices and efforts of communities on the frontlines of climate change.

The summit is hosted by the current presidency of the CVF, the Republic of the Marshall Islands- one of the world’s most vocal yet vulnerable countries to climate change. Suitably, the theme of the forum is ‘Stepping up climate action to survive and thrive’.

As global commitments to address climate change fall drastically short of achieving the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C temperature target, the findings of the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming further emphasises the urgency for more ambitious nationally determined contributions, including emissions reduction targets.

“We know that our current way of life is not sustainable in the long-term. We know that our extraction of the earth’s resources and related emissions are capable of destroying creation,” said Archbishop Makgoba.

“The world is heating up, and we are seeing frightening effects.  Lives of poor and vulnerable people have already been lost,” said Birgitte QvistSørensen, Moderator of ACT Alliance.

With COP24 only ten days away, the summit presents a political moment for leaders to amplify the alarm on the urgency for more ambitious climate commitments. It will also provide an opportunity for parties to share on their innovative climate initiatives as an expression of solidarity with the climate vulnerable.

“Countries, communities and people who are affected by climate change today need our support. Not only to deal with the immediate challenges, but also for long-term transformation towards a sustainable way of life,” said Archbishop Makgoba.

ACT members and forums are implementing disaster risk reduction and adaptation initiatives in particularly vulnerable communities. ACT is also mobilising communities at the local, national and international levels, investing in capacity building for advocacy on climate justice.

ACT commends the efforts and leadership of climate-vulnerable countries and urges other parties to follow suit.

“I hope that we will see climate champions leading the way, announcing their commitments to take bold and ambitious action. I hope they will inspire us and I hope that they will join ACT Alliance in our call for more ambitious climate action,” continued QvistSørensen.

For media inquiries, please contact Joanna Patouris, ACT’s Climate Change Communications Coordinator joanna.patouris@actalliance.org , +1-647-971-5360.

ACT Alliance, The Lutheran World Federation (LWF), World Council of Churches (WCC) and Bread for the World are appealing to world leaders to take swift and coordinated action to limit global warming to 1.5°C degrees as a humanitarian and ethical obligation.

“As faith-based organizations we are very concerned that marginalized, vulnerable, and poor people are affected by climate change impacts that are increasingly exposing them to emergencies and humanitarian crises,” the four organizations warn in their publication, “Limiting Global Warming.” Released today, the publication comes less than two weeks before the United Nations climate talks (COP24) to be hosted in Katowice, Poland.

Reiterating their sustained advocacy on climate change at the annual United Nations conference and other fora, the four organizations insist that sound financial, technological, and political solutions are possible.

“If we fail to address climate change and to increase efforts to protect the affected communities now, we will bear the incalculable risks to future generations,” they state in the preface.

They also argue that increased efforts towards protecting the poorest and most vulnerable to climate change will be a significant step towards ensuring that future generations are protected.

“ACT Alliance members around the world are responding to severe humanitarian catastrophes that are increasingly related to climate change. Committing to ambitious climate action today is not only a commitment to fulfilling our prophetic and moral responsibility as communities of faith, it is also a commitment to a more resilient and sustainable future for all,” said ACT Alliance’s General Secretary Rudelmar Bueno de Faria.

The publication was written by a team of climate experts and development practitioners from Africa, Europe and Oceania, who studied scientific literature and grassroots reports.

The publication acknowledges the findings of the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which confirms the convictions of partners and members of groups in the Global South who note that even a small rise in temperature will profoundly affect lives and livelihoods.

Despite the Paris Agreement’s goal to keep global warming at 1.5°C, the authors note that the world is “off-track” to meet this target. They further note that overshooting the goal would “severely jeopardize” the achievements of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The publication identifies Small Island Developing States, Least Developing States, South Asia, Southern Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Central America and Northeast Brazil as climate change “hot spots”.

If global temperatures rise above 1.5°C, agriculture, water health, coastal communities and cities, marine and tropical marine and (coral) ecosystems are most at risk. There would be heatwaves, erratic rainfall, storms, floods, droughts and rising sea levels.

“This is not the future we want,” the authors write, urging countries to “fulfil their responsibilities and ratchet up their Nationally Determined Contributions now.”

“Limiting Global Warming” recommends: deep and fast reductions in CO₂ emissions; multilateral cooperation; shifting investments to “green” or sustainable ones; addressing equity justice and climate justice to overcome the root causes of vulnerability; sustainable consumption; low population growth; and low energy and food demands.

For media inquiries, please contact Joanna Patouris: Joanna.patouris@actalliance.org Climate Change Communications Coordinator, ACT Alliance

Mrs. Yustriani, a 68 year-old resident of Ngatabaru village in the Sigi district of Indonesia, was very glad to get back to dancing when her Poco Poco group met again for the first time in over a month.  They hadn’t gathered to dance together since the 7.5 magnitude earthquake devastated their community and so many others in Central Sulawesi.                                                             

120 of the 351 houses in Ngatabaru were destroyed in the disaster, forcing families to erect tents to live on their property or in tent villages.  Mrs. Yustriani has moved out of her own house into a tent on her property “because I was scared to sleep inside,” she said. 

Slowly she is overcoming the fear. “I have slept five nights in a row back in the house.”  When asked what she would do if another aftershock happened, she quickly laughed and replied, “I would run out of the house!”

Mrs. Yustriani lost her husband last year, and is now living with and supporting four of her fifteen grandchildren.  Her roots in Ngatabaru run deep- she has lived there for 35 years, helping deliver babies in the community, and for eight years her husband was the village leader.

“Life is hard in this village,” she said.  “Often what we get in the afternoon is what we eat in the evening.”  She supports her own family by collecting plastic bottles, which she sells for 55,000 rupiahs ($3.75USD) per 20kg bag.  Since the earthquake she has received support in the form of a tent, blankets, food, soap, and clothing. 

ACT member Yakkum Emergency Unit (YEU) provides a mobile clinic and health and nutrition support to Ngatabaru as part of the ACT Indonesia Forum’s response to the earthquake.  The full appeal can be found here.

“I am old and I need to take care of myself,” Mrs. Yustriani said.  The dance group helps her to do this.

The group met regularly before the earthquake to dance and share fellowship together.  They competed in a competition in Palu, winning matching shirts for the members of the group that read “Healthy is Amazing”.

The dance finished with a talk by YEU staff on the importance of good nutrition as the villagers had a healthy snack together.  Then the mobile clinic opened, and Mrs. Yustriani was able to consult with a doctor and other health staff, receive medication, and other health support.

“I dance for my health,” she said.  “It’s good to sweat again!”

“There was a rumbling sound, and then an explosion.  I looked up and a tsunami wave was towering over my small fishing boat,” said Mr. Mushki, a 57 year-old fisherman from Pantoloan village near Palu, Indonesia.  “The wave picked up my boat and tossed it in the air, then it landed back on the water, with me still inside.  I blacked out.”

The explosion he experienced was the tsunami wave splitting at the estuary near his village, with one part of the wave travelling inland, the other racing down the bay to Palu.

When he woke, his boat had been tossed ashore, broken in two, near the wreckage of homes that used to be his village.  The impact had given him a few injuries, but he was able to go and look for his family- his wife, eight children and eleven grandchildren.

They had sought shelter further inland.  This was the good news.  The bad was that not only his boat had been destroyed, but his home as well.  There weren’t two stones left standing on each other.  Mr. Mushki’s family now lives split between two tent communities in Pantoloan, and he is contemplating what to do next.

“Some of my children are working, but they only earn enough to support their own families,” he said.  “I’ve been a fisherman all my life.  I want to get back to fishing, but can’t do that without a boat.”

Mr. Mushki’s injuries were treated by medical staff from ACT member Pelkesi, whose mobile clinics visit affected communities like Pantoloan, bringing health care to remote people who cannot easily access a hospital.

Three members of the ACT Indonesia Forum have joined in an appeal for relief efforts after the devastating 7.5 magnitude earthquake that triggered the tsunami, which killed over 2,000 and displaced over 200,000.  The ACT appeal will benefit 100,000 people affected by the earthquake, tsunami, and liquefaction that followed in their wake.  The full appeal can be found here.

Mr. Mushki remains positive in his outlook.  “I’m lucky,” Mr. Mushki concluded, “I survived.  And so did my family.”

An important step was taken this week in New York, where the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) was adopted by the Third Committee of the General Assembly. The GCR was developed over an 18-month consultation period that involved a variety of stakeholders, including member states, UNHCR, and non-state actors such as ACT Alliance and its members. Refugees and host communities around the world are now looking towards all of us to make the Compact a reality. In this regard, and as an active member of the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA), ACT Alliance supports the below statement from ICVA released today.

Global Compact on Refugees – a step forward in translating words into collective action

Geneva, 16 November 2018 – This week marked an important step in the process of developing the Global Compact on Refugees. At the General Assembly in New York, UN Member States showed decisive support for the Compact. Looking ahead, ICVA now calls for all stakeholders to translate words into collective action. “Refugees worldwide and the communities that host them deserve solidarity from us all,” says ICVA’s Executive Director Ignacio Packer.

The Compact was developed in a truly inclusive and collective manner. Member States, UNHCR and other stakeholders – including NGOs and refugees – came together in a historic 18-month process to forge a Compact, outlining a common vision to address the challenges of forced displacement. The final text is a prime example of what functioning multilateralism can achieve, despite the inherent compromises.

“The development of the Compact has opened up a historic opportunity to reinvigorate the refugee regime as it provides a framework to catalyse international solidarity with refugees and host States,” commented Ignacio Packer. Despite having to balance the interests of various stakeholders, the Compact managed to retain this strong ambition. It particularly highlights that all actors stand to benefit from more predictable, equitable and sustainable responsibility-sharing.

In this perspective, broadening the base of support beyond traditional donors and host countries, while engaging in a multi-stakeholder approach will be key. Partnerships can have the multiplier effect required to expand our collective capacity to respond to refugee crises.

The implementation of the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework over the past two years has already demonstrated the potential of new approaches. “We have witnessed the mobilization of new political will and partnerships in many corners of the world, geared towards improving the daily realities of refugees. We now need to build on this positive momentum,” added ICVA’s Executive Director.

In doing so, it will be fundamental to keep the principle of non-refoulement at the center of the Global Compact on Refugees. In addition to being the cornerstone of the refugee protection regime, nonrefoulement is also the foundation of responsibility-sharing, the first act of solidarity being to allow entry for those in need of protection.

NGOs are already working to operationalise the ideals of the Global Compact on Refugee, suggesting ways they can contribute to its implementation. “We are eager to collaborate with UNHCR, Members States and other stakeholders to make the Global Compact on Refugees a game changer in refugee response,” concluded Ignacio Packer.

The statement is available for download here.

ACT Alliance members issued an Assembly Message at ACT’s third General Assembly. The message is indicative of ACT’s prophetic calling and reflection and presents an urgent call for action and commitment to addressing some of the most pressing issues of our time.  Here is a summary of the commitments and calls made by the Assembly:

a. Human rights, human dignity and human rights-based approach

Every person is created in the image of God. We will adhere to the fundamental principles of a human rights-based approach and will be accountable and transparent in our work. We will also map ACT’s commitments and experience with disability inclusion to facilitate an alliance-wide understanding. We will develop policy guidelines to achieve ACT’s Global Strategy and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

We call on governments to:

• Respect, protect and defend human rights and human rights defenders and to reverse policies and practices that hinder civil society organisations (CSOs), including churches and faith-based organisations, and peoples’ movements from their work.
• Fulfil human rights obligations and adhere to global commitments, international humanitarian law.

b. Emergency preparedness and humanitarian response

We reaffirm our commitments to the World Humanitarian Summit and the Grand Bargain and commit to increasing the proportion of ACT members’ humanitarian spend that goes directly to southern members, partners for resilience, disaster risk reduction and preparedness. We will leverage our position in communities to address psychosocial and spiritual needs and to develop survivor, and community-led crisis response approaches.

We call for:

• A re-designed, flexible and coherent humanitarian system that integrates development, humanitarian and disaster risk reduction needs in parallel and puts local and community-led approaches at the centre.

We call on the international community to:

• Recognise the integral role of faith-based organisations for their ability to respond in hard to reach crisis-affected areas.

Ensure that humanitarian work is based on humanitarian principles, international humanitarian law.

c. Sustainable and transformational development

We commit to promoting an integrated response in our humanitarian, development and advocacy work in line with the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs. We will cooperate with various partners and organisations of the UN system to challenge policies and practices that perpetuate vulnerabilities, environmental destruction, and inequalities.

We call on UN member states:

• To maximise their efforts and international cooperation to realise the SDGs and all human rights based on international agreements.

d. Protection of people on the move

Noting that the needs and rights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are badly-served by current international frameworks, we commit to facilitating effective connections between all levels of our members’ engagement on human mobility to improve protection and access to justice for people on the move.

We call on UN member states:

• To address the adverse drivers of migration and for the creation of conditions so that migration happens out of choice and not necessity.

We call on the international community and other duty bearers:

• To give greater priority to IDPs in future agreements, funding and programmes.

We call on Governments:

• To ensure that asylum, refugee and immigration policies are in line with human rights and dignity.

e. Gender justice

Gender justice ensures that all people have the power to shape societies, faith communities and their own lives. We commit to uphold the rights of all human beings, giving greater attention and support to those where gender intersects with other vulnerabilities. We also commit to examining our work and organisational structures so that they are inclusive of women’s leadership and incorporate a gender justice lens.

We call on Governments and CSOs:

• To recognise and uphold gender justice and equality, as a priority and a pre-condition for sustainable development and to promote gender equality in their programs, at all levels.

f. Human security and promoting peace

We commit to strive for peace with justice and human security. We will engage with National Councils of Churches, interfaith networks and CSOs to prevent violence by addressing the root causes of conflict and to strengthen our robustness to manage potential future conflicts. We will also join our members and churches in peacebuilding, conflict transformation and reconciliation initiatives.

We call on the international community:

• To increase efforts towards addressing and preventing violent conflicts and to ensure that women and men participate in decision-making processes, post-conflict reconstruction and transitional justice processes.

g. Climate justice

We commit to advocate and mobilise for climate and ecological justice, engaging faith communities and leaders in our work. We will foster policies and practices that increase resilience and ensure that our operations adhere to the highest standards of care for creation.

We call on Governments:

• To implement the Paris Agreement in a manner that is ambitious and equitable
• To meet their commitments under the Paris Agreement based on their contribution to climate change and their economic capabilities
  

We call on the UNFCCC:

• To provide financial resources and leadership in emissions reduction

h. Collaboration, ecumenical and interfaith relationship and action

We will prioritise and support churches, councils of churches and other ecumenical organisations in their ministries and will work with other faith-based organisations, networks and initiatives. We will also support the protection of space for civil society.

We call on the ecumenical family:

• To engage in dialogue, shared reflection and joint initiatives towards responding to the challenges of the world, in a spirit of ecumenical diakonia.

Our Hope in action: putting people first!

We commit to work together in accord with our Christian values to defend and advocate for the human rights, agency and dignity of all human beings. We commit to speaking out against injustice and to fighting for climate justice, gender justice, the rights of people on the move, peace and human security, and protection of people affected by emergencies.

We recognise the importance of investing in ACT forums to enable them to represent and do the work of the alliance at their level.

We recognise the unique capabilities and contributions of youth and will facilitate their meaningful participation within our alliance.

We celebrate the successes and contributions of the ecumenical family to social justice, humanitarian crises, and extreme poverty eradication.

A summary of the commitments and calls made by the Assembly is available for download in English, Spanish, French. 

The full Assembly Message is available in all three languages here.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam launches extraordinary chair together with ICCO and ACT Alliance.

For a few years, global challenges like poverty and climate change have been approached within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Until now, however,  scarce attention has been paid to the role of religion in achieving the SDGs, even though the vast majority of people worldwide are religious. More insight is essential for international cooperation and sustainable development, and western secular countries and organisations need that knowledge. For this reason, the Faculty of Religion and Theology at Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam and development organisations ICCO and ACT Alliance are launching the extraordinary chair in Religion and Sustainable Development on Jan 1, 2019. Dr. Azza Karam, a leading United Nations Advisor in this field, will hold the chair for the next five years.

Dr. Karam is widely known for her expertise in religion and development. She is the chairperson of the UN interagency taskforce for cooperation with faith-based organisations. She is delighted by the launch of this globally important chair: “It is a strange thing that until now religions have played a relatively understated role in the work around the Sustainable Development Goals, especially when over 80% of the world’s population is religious. The VU is wisely acknowledging this fact by establishing this Chair. It is the right start, precisely because religion plays a major role in all developmental issues, including around gender, education, peacebuilding, poverty and climate change – to name but a few”.

Sustainable Development Goals

The SDG’s are increasingly important in governments’ policies, who face the global challenge to meet these goals by 2030. Like other countries, the Netherlands compiles a yearly report on its progress. Aligned to this, the new chair and the VU Centre for Religion and Sustainable Development will organise roundtables on religion and SDG’s in the coming years, together with NGO’s and government representatives. Ruard Ganzevoort, dean of the Faculty of Religion and Theology said, “During these roundtables, we will focus on issues like the impact of religion on the position of women or our response to climate change. Human acts are not isolated behaviour, but deeply influenced by underlying views of humankind, nature, and the world. Taking responsibility for tackling poverty and climate change is about more than technological solutions, but also about the underlying value patterns and world views, both religious and secular.”

Religious communities

Besides these cultural and religious value patterns, the research programme will focus on the role of the many religiously inspired NGOs.  Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, General Secretary of the ACT Alliance, said, “Networks of churches, mosques, synagogues, temples and other faith-based groups are among the grassroots everywhere in the world.  Because of this, faith-based organisations can be found in many places that are hard to reach for governments, as well as multilateral organisations like the UN.” In the Netherlands and worldwide, churches and other religious communities are active in promoting sustainability, social justice, and peacebuilding. To ensure lasting change, this network of religious communities is an important ally, while always requiring a critical perspective.

About Azza Karam

Dr. Azza Karam is senior Advisor on Culture at the United Nations Population Fund and Chair of the UN Interagency Taskforce on Religion. She has an Egyptian and Dutch background and earned her PhD from the University of Amsterdam for her research into religion, governance, and gender. She has taught at several academic institutions and has worked for many years at various UN-organisations around the intersections of culture, religion, and development.

Information for journalists

For more information about the chair Religion and Sustainable Development, please contact prof. Ruard Ganzevoort via +31-6-23080850 or r.r.ganzevoort@vu.nl

The announcement of the Austrian government that it has decided not to sign the recently agreed UN Global Compact for safe, orderly and regular migration (GCM) has caused consternation among many organizations working with and for migrants, including ACT Alliance, a coalition of 150 churches and church-related organisations working together in humanitarian aid, development and advocacy, and Austrian ACT member Diakonie Austria.

The text of the Global Compact was agreed between member states during negotiations at the UN in the first half of this year, and will be formally adopted at an intergovernmental conference in Morocco on 10-11 December. Many civil society organizations, including ACT and its members, have been actively involved in drafting the agreement.

“Throughout the negotiations, Austria has been proactively engaged, reaffirming a legacy of positive engagement with global governance frameworks.  We deeply regret the fact that the government is now announcing its pull out, which isolates it from the community of states in addressing one of the most important issues of our time, which can only be adequately addressed as a global issue at global level,” said Maria Moser, Diakonie Director.

Diakonie Austria has been at the forefront of delivering assistance and support to people on the move in Austria and abroad. Last year alone, the organization provided housing, legal counselling and psychosocial support to a total of about 45,000 arrivals in Austria, in addition to cooperating with other ACT members in meeting the humanitarian needs and strengthening the rights of people on the move in Southeastern Europe, the Middle East and South Asia.

The GCM addresses many aspects of migration that are touched by ACT´s work – from the negative conditions that lead to migration, to better protection for migrants in transit and destination countries, to access to social services, to sustainable reintegration, to international cooperation for implementing the GCM commitments. The GCM is not legally binding on any state, but encourages cooperation, emphasizing the human rights of all migrants.  Because it is non-binding, it preserves the prerogatives of state sovereignty that states like Austria claim to be so worried about.

“As a global church-based alliance working to protect and defend the rights of people in over 125 countries, we are worried about any country that uses arguments of national sovereignty as an excuse to act in isolation,” said ACT Alliance General Secretary Rudelmar Bueno de Faria. “Migration is a global phenomenon. States are increasingly realizing that they cannot address it on their own, as well effectively protect the human rights of people on the move – including their own citizens – without international cooperation.”

ACT Alliance and its members met in Uppsala, Sweden, October 28 – November 1 at their General Assembly, and have just adopted their new global strategy, which includes a dedicated focus on migration as one of its key thematic pillars.

“Migration is one of the great opportunities and challenges of our time. We have committed ourselves to taking the long view on this, and working together with our members, with governments, UN agencies, and civil society everywhere. We encourage others to do the same, and for member states to stay the course – we have nothing to lose and much to gain from adopting the Compact.”

Read the statement in German here.

The work of the third session of the ACT Alliance General Assembly completed on November 1^st in Uppsala, Sweden. The General Assembly is the highest governance body of the Alliance and brings together the 145+ ACT members every four years. The work of the General Assembly aims to enable members to strengthen their commitment to one another, celebrate their mutual achievements as an alliance and to endorse the future direction of the alliance.

Ecumenical Cooperation 

ACT Alliance is committed to working in a spirit of ecumenical diakonia (serving together). The General Assembly presented various opportunities to strengthen ecumenical collaboration within the alliance. 

A Joint Day on Ecumenical Diakonia
Celebrating History, Planning the Future
The role of FBOs in achieving Agenda 2030
An Evening of Reflection and Worship
Ecumenical Diakonia in the time of inequality
Migration is not a crime; it’s a right

Youth Participation

Youth participation is important to ACT Alliance. The Community of Practice on Youth Participation hosted a two-day pre-assembly meeting and were engaged throughout the period of the Alliance. The General Assembly brought together over 30 youth representatives (aged 18-30) from youth organisations associated with the Alliance from around the world.

We want to talk with you
ACT youth discuss their ambitions and concerns ahead of the Assembly
Without young people, there is no democracy (SP)
#youthinaction
Involvement of Youth in Strengthening the Alliance
Enabling youth participation across the alliance

Gender Justice

ACT has a commitment to gender justice throughout the work and life of the alliance. The opening session of ACT’s General Assembly highlighted the significance of gender justice, which remained an interconnected and important topic throughout the week. 

Gender justice “a win-win concept for everybody”, says Swedish church leader
The theological responsibility to promote Gender Justice
“Gender justice: one of the reasons why I wanted to become Moderator.”
Call for gender justice in the challenging context of Latin America and the Caribbean
Perspectives from Father Evangelos on gender justice (video)

Governance

Four main governance items for decision making took place at ACT’s third General Assembly, including elections (for members of the Governing Board, the Officers and the Membership and Nominations Committee); the approval of a revised global strategy (2019-2016); a new engagement model for ACT membership; and a revision of the ACT statutes.

Members of the Governing Board
ACT’s new Governance Members
Interview with ACT’s new Moderator, Birgitte Qvist Sørensen
Interview with ACT’s outgoing Moderator, Dr Sushant Agrawal

Revised global strategy
ACT’s new Global Strategy (2019-2026)
ACT affirms new Global Strategy  

New Membership Model
Forum strengthening
Excitement about ACT’s new Membership Model

Member Conversations and Awards

Member conversations brought together ACT members from all over the world to discuss critical issues facing the alliance relating to topical, and sometimes controversial, issues and how the alliance can move forward together.
Story on member conversations
Strengthening the nexus between ACT’s humanitarian, development & advocacy work (video)
ACT Ethiopia Forum takes home ACT’s Forum Award

Exhibition Hall 

The Exhibition hall consisted of over 20 displays from ACT members, forums, advisory groups, communities of practice, and external partners. Exhibits reflected the work of ACT Alliance from all over the world, showcasing the theme of the Assembly; Hope in Action and Putting People First.

Regional Celebrations 

Meal times at the Assembly included opportunities for conversation, networking, and fellowship. Each region of the alliance had an opportunity to highlight the work and culture of their home with participants.

Newsletters 

Newsletters were distributed through the week to keep the alliance up to date on the ongoings and discussions of the Assembly. The newsletters are available here.  
ACT General Assembly Newsletter 03 
ACT General Assembly Newsletter 02
ACT General Assembly Newsletter 01

In case you missed it

Visit the General Assembly webpage for news, blogs, stories, and more from the Assembly. The Assembly photo gallery is available to all ACT members and is accessible here. Other multimedia including videos and links to the recorded sessions from the Assembly are available here.