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.

Last month, the inter-faith community gathered in New York at the Church Centre of the United Nations Plaza to discuss the implementation of the Global Compact on Refugees. The event was organised by ACT Alliance, Catholic Relief Services, Islamic Relief Worldwide and the Jesuit Refugee Service/USA.

The panellists acknowledged that people move for various reasons, including seeking new economic opportunities, escaping conflict, poverty, food insecurity, gender issues and climate change amongst other factors. Speakers noted that while people have moved for many years, there is a severe lack of protection for some migrants. “Regardless of the motivation for moving, the rights of people on the move remain inadequately protected, particularly for those whose situations do not fit neatly into specific legal categories,” said Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, ACT’s General Secretary.

In 2017 alone, there were 4.4 million newly displaced refugees. Currently, there are 68.5 million displaced persons around the world. The global migration crisis has exposed the shortcomings of existing response strategies and calls for enhanced collaborative efforts across the globe to tackle it.  

The United Nations summit for Refugees and Migrants that took place in September 2016 adopted the New York Declaration as a strategy to respond to the changing landscape of migration and humanitarian assistance. The 193 signatories of the Declaration recognised that the existing protection strategies did not sufficiently protect the masses of people on the move. A two-year consultative process was thus established to develop a Global Compact on Refugees and another on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, both are expected to be adopted by the United Nations in December this year.

ACT has been working through its membership, forums and partnerships in an integrated approach to humanitarian, development and advocacy work including conflict prevention, reconciliation, peacebuilding and the delivery of humanitarian assistance to safeguard the integrity of people on the move and to ensure that vulnerabilities that are associated with migration are tackled. This work will continue to contribute to positive change during the implementation of the global compacts.

Bueno de Faria spoke on the importance of developing regular pathways of migration. “Many of the tragedies that we see today involving the exploitation of people that are crammed into unsafe boats, trucks and trains, waling hundreds of kilometres through deserts, dying in the heat, and being sold off by ruthless trafficking cartels are related to the lack of options for travelling in legal and regulated ways,” he said.

ACT Alliance intends to further develop its new multi-year strategy program work with a specific focus on migration and displacement, gender equality, climate change and peacebuilding. ACT will explore the intersectionality of these components and will raise the experiences and solutions of ACT members and partners to contribute to the implementation of the global compacts for more effective response strategies to the global migration crisis.

October 16, 2018 – This week a diverse group of organisations have come together for a forum at the Jesuit Curia in Rome where they will discuss how faith leaders can work together to end violence against children on the move.

According to UNICEF more than 28 million children around the world have been forced to flee their homes because of violence and conflict, and the violence they experience is the catalyst for the Faith Action for Children on the Move; Global Partners Forum, October 16-18. Ahead of the event, the 14 organising partners said:

“As people of faith, we are in a unique position to address the rights of children on the move.

“Across different faith backgrounds we feel a call and a responsibility to protect and give a voice to these children. Our calling has compelled us to come together, review what we do well and commit to doing more.”

The issue of children on the move has never been more pressing. Between 2005 and 2015 the number of child refugees worldwide more than doubled. The forum will bring organisations together to commit to a collective action plan on how they can work together in the future to protect, nurture and support children on the move.

“Considering that the majority (84% according to the Pew Research Center) of the world’s population identifies with a religious group, people of faith can and should be acknowledged as a powerful force in the world.

“As faith-based organisations, we believe that we are stronger together, together we can reach the most vulnerable, and together we can have a greater impact on more children.

“We recognise that partnering from different beliefs and religions enhances respect for our common values and respective contributions. We condemn xenophobic and discriminatory narratives and reaffirm the need to speak up with words of solidarity, hospitality and love.”

The role of faith in three key areas affecting children on the move will be discussed by the participants at the forum:

• Building peaceful societies and combating xenophobia
• Strengthening the continuum of protection for children on the move
• Providing spiritual support to children on the move and their caregivers, as a source of healing and resilience

“We hope to provide a way for organisations to partner in protecting children on the move and also include children in decision making and programme design processes.

“Children are the hope of humanity and must be protected and enabled to experience life in its fullness and to transform the societies in which they live.

Signed by the 14 organising partners:

ACT Alliance
ADRA
Anglican Alliance
Arigatou International
International Partnership on Religion and Sustainable Development
Islamic Relief
Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities
Mennonite World Conference
Micah Global
Seventh-Day Adventist Church
The Salvation Army
World Evangelical Alliance
World Council of Churches
World Vision

A week after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake triggered a tsunami in Indonesia, the picture of devastation slowly continues to reveal itself.  Communications infrastructure was badly damaged, and entire communities were cut off.  To date, over 1500 people are known to have died in the disaster, and over 70,000 have been displaced.

Members of the ACT Indonesia Forum, already responding to humanitarian needs after an earthquake in Lombok, immediately began to respond in Sulawesi as well.  ACT members Church World Service, Pelkesi, and YAKKUM Emergency Unit are responding.

ACT members began to provide health care in Palu, treating patients in the yard of the Palu Grand Mosque.  A truck carrying tarps, sleeping mats, blankets, bottled water, hygiene supplies and more has left South Sulawesi en route to Central Sulawesi, and another is being loaded with more hygiene and cleanup supplies. 

ACT members have provided water to about 1200 people in Sidera, a village that has received survivors from three other nearby villages.  Villages like Sidera have not yet received the assistance they need, so the ACT team was able to help meet the local needs.

A photo gallery from the ACT response can be seen here.

ACT Palestine Forum (APF) adopts the statement of his Grace Bishop Sani Ibrahin Azar of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and in the Holy Land with regard to the nation state law passed by the Knesset on 19 July 2018.

On 19 July the Israeli Knesset passed a Basic Law which enshrines Israel as the “national home of the Jewish people” and states that the “right to exercise national self-determination within the State of Israel is unique to the Jewish people”.  This action is of deep concern to me as a religious leader in the Holy Land. This new law deliberately excludes the 1.9 million citizens of Israel who identify as Arab Israeli and makes up 21% of Israel’s total population. It also ignores the presence of citizens and residents who are members of other religious groups and the significant contributions they make to Israeli society. In spite of the great diversity present in Israeli society, this law preferences one culture or ethnic group, even downgrading the Arabic language to having only “special status.”

Of even greater concern, however, is the portion of the law which states: “The state views the development of Jewish settlement as a national value and will act to encourage and promote its establishment and consolidation.” It is difficult to understand how the encouragement and promotion of segregated, mono-cultural, mono-religious communities within Israel proper (or within Palestinian territory, in the form of illegal settlements) moves the State of Israel toward a peaceful future. This stated intention to create Jewish-only communities is cause for alarm for all Christian, Muslim, Bedouin, and Druze residents, who wish to enjoy the same rights as other Israeli citizens.

As Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, I must call upon the Knesset to rescind this law.  It is fundamentally divisive, racist, and destructive. For many years, Israeli leaders have protested when the word “apartheid” has been used to describe the situation in this land. The adoption of this law, however, makes it difficult to argue against this situation having been codified into law. Declaring that Israel is no longer “home” for non-Jews, or for those citizens representing Arab culture, has officially created a sub-class of people in the nation.

I call on the many citizens of Israel and all people of goodwill to voice their objection to this law, and to stand for a future in which all the people in the land will enjoy equal rights, with equal responsibilities.

The APF would like also to draw attention to the fact that the model of the State, as presented in the Jewish Nation-State Law, goes counter to the model which speaks of the State as home to all of its citizens with equal rights and obligations. We are concerned that at a time when civil and faith based organizations are calling for states in the Middle East region to adopt the citizenship model of State, this law cast a serious question on the process of adoption of such a model across the Middle East.

The statement is available here.

The international conference on “Xenophobia, Racism and Populist Nationalism in the Context of Global Migration” held in Rome on 18- 20 September 2018, was organised by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, in collaboration with the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. ACT Alliance participated in the event, bringing to the table the experiences of members who are working with migrants and displaced people worldwide.

Together, participants adopted a Message from the Conference affirming the rights of all people on the move, calling on churches to speak out against all instances of discrimination and to promote narratives of hope and love. At the end of the conference, Pope Francis received the participants, speaking up against intolerance and emphasising the role of religious leaders in promoting respect and dignity to all people.

“We live in a time when feelings that many thought were outmoded seem to be reviving and spreading. Feelings of suspicion, fear, contempt and even hatred of individuals or groups deemed to be different because of their ethnic, national or religious affiliation, and as such considered unworthy to participate fully in the life of society,” said Pope Francis.

“Faced with the spread of new forms of xenophobia and racism, leaders of all religions also have an important mission: to spread among their faithful the principles and ethical values inscribed by God in the heart of man known as the natural law,” he continued.

The message acknowledges the rise in xenophobic and racist reactions to refugees and migrants and notes that migration, “belongs to the whole history of humanity – past, present and future – and the entire biblical narrative.” The message also notes the various drivers of forced displacement and migration including violent conflicts, poverty, insecurity, and climate change, and affirms “the institution of asylum” as well as “the rights of all people on the move, regardless of their status.”

Having engaged with the issues of xenophobia, racism, and populist nationalism, participants observed that these often result in a rejection of the other. The message further reads, “to refuse to receive and help those in need is contrary to the example and calling of Jesus Christ. Claiming to protect Christian values or communities by shutting out those who seek safe refuge from violence and suffering is unacceptable, undermines Christian witness in the world, and raises up national boundaries as idols.”

The conference further called on all to hold accountable those who “exercise power and participate directly in decisions that affect the future of the human community” and in this context expressed support for the effective implementation of the recently agreed Global Compacts for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and on Refugees, including their respective provisions for eliminating all forms of discrimination against migrants and refugees, noting that these frameworks were drafted with the active participation of churches, civil society, and other stakeholders.

Rev. Dr Katalina Tahaafe-Williams, Programme Executive, Mission & Evangelism, and lead organiser of the conference for the WCC, noted the positive signalling effect of the conference for ecumenical relations. “The implications of this are huge. Many church leaders here commented to me how this has inspired them to go home and say, if this kind of cooperation can happen here at this level, there’s no reason why we cannot do it ourselves nationally and locally. I hope that we can continue to build on that for more and more collaboration in the future.”

“Having plenty of non-European perspectives in the room aided the discussion and helped us focus on the articulation of Christian values for addressing this challenge,” she continued.

Christian Wolff, ACT Alliance’s Programme Manager for Migration and Displacement, echoed the spirit of ecumenical collaboration. “For us, this was a significant event, because it enabled us to reach a broad constituency of churches and their leadership and to anchor our principled and human rights-based approach to migration and displacement even more deeply within the ecumenical movement. Bringing together our engagement at the political level with church-based voices who can carry our concerns into their constituencies is a key part of our long-term strategy, and we are deeply grateful to the WCC and the Vatican for facilitating this collaboration.”

Tahaafe-Williams praised ACT Alliance for its fruitful ecumenical collaboration on migration issues, including and especially with the WCC. “We are encouraged by the results, which include this conference. Migration is a very complex area that no one organisation can effectively cover on its own, so we are grateful to ACT and its members for consistently monitoring developments and bringing their expertise and experiences into the ecumenical family, which helps us all engage at different levels together.”

Tahaafe-Williams agreed on the need to carry the message from the conference into church communities. “We hope that people will take it seriously, and start using it for engaging at the local level, where it matters. It should inform the way we are operating, as Christians and as people of faith, including others who share the same values. This came out strongly in our inter-religious panel. We hope that having a tool to speak to our membership ecclesiastically will be a useful starting point for our journey together.”

The full Message from the Conference is available here.

The full text of Pope Francis’ remarks is available here.

The ecumenical and faith-based organisations and members of ACT Alliance express our concern over the decisions of the Guatemalan government to not renew the mandate of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) once it ends in September 2019, and the decision to ban the CICIG Commissioner from entering the country.

As the ACT Alliance Guatemala Forum:

• We regret and reject this decision. In recent years, the CICIG has been instrumental in the progress made towards justice in Guatemala and has systematically contributed to the strengthening of institutional capacities and conditions of the Guatemalan justice system, returning hope and trust to the people of a country who have faced alarming levels of impunity. The decisions taken by Guatemala’s executive power present serious setbacks for justice and will deteriorate the rule of law, democratic institutions, respect for human rights, the pursuit of justice and the struggle against corruption and impunity in the country.
• We deeply reject the signs of the militarisation of public security demonstrated by the increase in military security, armoured vehicles and other publically visible military equipment, which deters and threatens the potential to fully exercise civil liberties. At the same time, we condemn the actions of monitoring, intimidation and criminalisation against human rights defenders, which have been reported in recent days.
• We are concerned by the Congress of the Republic’s attempts to reverse advances to justice, promoting impunity and weakening democratic institutions. In particular, we are concerned about the legal initiative of “5300” which aims to weaken the process that has been established to remove the legal immunity of public officials that are linked to cases of corruption.

The actions described above are causing an adverse and regressive environment for democratic institutions, the rule of law, justice and human rights in Guatemala, and constitute a serious threat to the fight against corruption and impunity. For these reasons, we urge:

1. The constitutional President of the Republic of Guatemala to revoke his decision regarding the CICIG mandate, and to guarantee the security and physical integrity of CICIG staff, enabling the continuation of their crucial work in supporting national institutions in the fight against impunity.
2. The State of Guatemala to guarantee the independence of the national organs of justice and to respect the roles that correspond to the Constitutional Court (CC), the Public Prosecutor (MP) and the Human Rights Ombudsman (PDH), respecting the rule of law and the human rights of the Guatemalan people.
3. Guatemala’s civil society to critically analyse the situation, to organise, and to present shared proposals for a peaceful way out of the crisis, avoiding any incitement to violence.

“Learn to do good; commit yourselves to seeking justice. Make right for the world’s most vulnerable— the oppressed.” Isaiah 1:17 (VOICE)

Geneva, September 14, 2018

Download the statement in Spanish here.
Download the statement in English here.