PRESS RELEASE

Sara and Palig Sarkisian are refugees from Syria living in Amman, Jordan, where ACT members support Syrian refugee families. Photo: Paul Jeffrey

The ACT Alliance, a network of 144 members in 100 countries, today joined the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), in calling for a reversal of the US Presidential Executive Order “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States”, which suspended the US resettlement programme for refugees and introduced visa bans on nationals from seven Muslim majority countries. This statement by ecumenical organisations comes in a context where the world is experiencing the largest forced displacement crisis since World War II and 86% of the world’s refugees are being hosted by  developing countries.

“Our faith calls us and all Christians to love and welcome the stranger, the refugee, the internally displaced person, the other“ the statement reads. “We are called to treat him or her as we would like to be treated. Scripture and the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ are abundantly clear on this matter.”

“Both hosting countries and regions of refugee origin need to foster and support mutual respect and unity, especially when members of particular religions are being singled out and discriminated against. In times like these there is nothing more urgent than to message love and acceptance and to build a culture which promotes love over fear. There is no fear in love. Perfect love drives out fear. We are called to serve one another and this applies particularly to those that are affected by disasters, violations of rights and war.” says John Nduna, General Secretary of ACT Alliance.

The expected impact of the Executive Order on refugees will be significant. This risks sending a potential fatal signal for refugee protection worldwide. ACT Alliance members engage in refugee response globally.

The WCC, ACT Alliance and Lutheran World Federation call in the joint statement upon the United States to continue to welcome refugees and offer them international protection, in accordance with its obligations under international law, regardless of race, religion or country of origin.

Click here to read the ACT/LWF/WCC Statement on the US Presidential Executive Order “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States.”

Several people, mostly women and children, lost their lives due to a bomb blast at the Cairo’s main Coptic cathedral during the Sunday morning Mass. “Such an attack on innocent worshippers and the church property is despicable, immoral and shameful”, said John Nduna, General Secretary of ACT Alliance in a message to the Rt Rev. Bishop Yolios, Bishop and Director of ACT member, Bishopric of Public, Ecumenical and Social Services (BLESS).

“It is a trying moment, for the church and Christians in Egypt, and indeed the global church. Our thoughts and prayers are with you. We remember today those whose innocent lives have been lost, their families and friends who are seeking answers to this wicked destruction; the injured and those struggling for their lives in hospitals, the Coptic Church in Egypt and the broader faith community as we seek answers and understanding”, said Nduna.

ACT Alliance members belong to the communities they serve in Egypt, Iraq, Syria and many other places where different types of violence seek to fuel hatred and division. The interview with Dr. Riad Hani, Executive Director of Bless, presents his own experience after the bomb blast in Cairo and expresses the common values that bring together the ACT members to find the strength to continue to serve the most vulnerable people, despite the adversities. Listen below:

“As long as women’s and girls’ bodies aren’t safe when walking on the streets then it is difficult to live”. I know this, but when meeting with Mozn Hassan, human rights defender and Director of Nazra for Feminist Studies, and hearing her way of describing the importance of mobilization and education for women’s rights and protection it shook me deeply.

In Egypt, the situation for women and girls is very difficult, and the promised measures from 2015 to protect them, have failed to be implemented. Two of the worst examples are female genital mutilation and child marriage – practices that are overly frequent. Therefore, implementation of laws at national, regional and global levels are crucial to guarantee a life free from violence, exploitation, discrimination and fear, including ending impunity for all forms of gender-based violence (GBV) and strengthening judicial systems’ capacity to handle cases on sexual GBV.

Mozn says that the Arabic Spring changed the soul of the country, gave hope and a sense of freedom to women; how they saw opportunities of changing their own situation. ”But we are now paying a very high price.”

Human rights defenders focusing women’s rights and protection are among those who are the most threatened in the world, together with environmental activists. Mozn Hassan is subjected to restrictions in her freedom of movement, sharing of information and networking in Egypt. It is dangerous to try to assert equality and rights of women, especially when women and girls are subject to ongoing violence, abuse and discrimination.

It is with pride I can say that we as a global faith-based alliance emphasize equal access to an enabling environment for civil society organizations in general and specifically those addressing the issues regarding equal rights and participation of women. Meeting with women like Mozn Hassan, there couldn’t be any other way forward than to continue to work for protection of women who are active as human rights defenders in the area of economic, social and cultural rights.

Practical material and ideological approaches need to be combined. Liberties and freedoms tend to be irrelevant if not rights are realized. Freedom of speech will not be exercised as long as all time and strength are spent on organizing food for today.

As a global faith-based alliance, we call for an end to gender inequality and injustice; gender-based discrimination and violence; to bridge the gender gap and address unequal power relationships for the promotion of human dignity for all.

__________

Gunilla Hallonsten, Senior Advisor on Gender Justice.

When the world’s states convened at the climate summit in Marrakesh, Morocco, a few weeks ago, 47 of the most vulnerable countries in the world stood up and made a pledge. They want to switch to 100 % renewable energy. A total transformation of their economies and development, pushing coal, oil and gas out of the energy market. This is wonderful news for the climate, and a great leadership in a world where most countries are starting to look for pathways towards a green and resilient future.

But when the pledge is made, the next question is posted. How will this be done? And how can it be done in a responsible manner? I have one important recommendation.

Governments and investors must respect human rights
Energy projects tend to be big. A new solar power station in Morocco, called Ouarzazate, will cover more than 2500 Hectares of land. The almost completed wind power project at Lake Turkana, Kenya, with a large number of big windmills, will drastically change the local scenery.

When large energy projects are produced in developing countries, there are high risks involved. In most local communities, there are already people living on the land, and they have fundamental rights. Sadly, experience show that many of these rights may be violated when big investments are made. People are forced to leave their land, and investments may have effect on traditions, production and livelihoods. Human rights are universal, and they must be respected by governments, investors and businesses.

Actually, there is already a set of UN Guidelines for businesses and human rights, which set out the legal framework for governments and businesses to ensure that investments, such as wind and solar power projects, are developed without having negative impacts on local communities. Doing no harm is a prerequisite for doing good, and governments and investors must show responsibility to ensure this.

Cooperation and dialog is the way forward
Human rights and green transition are often seen as two clashing agendas, but they are in fact complimentary. Human rights protection is an enabling factor for good investments. Everyone in the world, including the poorest people, should have access to renewable energy in the future. This is important; to make sure their human rights are fulfilled. However, this will only be possible if large-scale investments are made in the coming years. The vulnerable countries, who stood up in Marrakesh and called for a full switch to renewable energy, have a big task ahead of them, and they will invite donors and businesses to invest. When they do this, they should take this historic opportunity to combine the call for green transition with a call for responsible investments.

One important principle is to consult, include and engage local communities in the process of developing new energy projects. If people are included from the beginning and exhaustive consultations and dialogue between public and private actors conducted – including governments, companies, investors and civil society – success will be more likely.

The green transition do not need to challenge human rights. On the contrary, green transition should be based on human rights.

_____________

Mattias Söderberg, Senior advocacy advisor in DanChurchAid. 

There are still some people out there who believe that faith and Christianity are in complete contradiction with human rights. I don’t. In fact, most faith-based justice and rights proponents believe that faith values and principles support human rights.

For example, according to James Wood[1]  ‘The creation of humankind in the image of God is, in fact, the foundation  of  all  human  rights,  for  human  rights  are  located  in  the  nature  of  God’.

The understanding that human beings irrespective of their race, gender, age, nationality, social economic status or any other categorization are bearers of the imagine of God, and therefore deserving of justice, dignity and rights.

As the world commemorates tomorrow the Human Rights day, two things come to mind: the increasing recognition of faith based actors as contributors towards the full enjoyment of human rights throughout the world, and the equally increasing vulnerability of communities and people to violation of their fundamental human rights as a result of violent conflicts, climate change and other causes.

The two scenarios above present opportunities and challenges. It is quite clear that our faith resources including narrative, leadership, constituency and our influence towards the economic and political life of society could contribute significantly to achieving human rights. It is absolutely critical for faith-based networks like ACT Alliance to raise their voices in opposition to human rights violations. In addition, churches and church based networks should increase their efforts of solidarity and support for the people would are affected by human rights violation.

With the unbelievable pain and suffering affecting millions of people fleeing war and conflict for example in Syria, Iraq and South Sudan and other places; the millions of women affected by gender based violence; and the many communities denied rights and livelihoods as a result of the impacts of climate change, the voice of churches and faith based organizations should rise higher and higher, until no one is left behind.

In addition to raising voices in support of human rights and justice, real and concrete action is required in order to challenge those in power and to support the most vulnerable. On this year’s human rights day, we celebrate the heroes of faith who work daily at community and international levels, fighting for the rights of the most vulnerable. We also celebrate human rights defenders who remain steadfast in their mission in spite of the threat they face.

_____________

Isaiah Toroitich, ACT Alliance Global Advocacy and Policy Coordinator 

[1] James E Wood: Baptists and Human Rights Baptist World Alliance 1997

From 30 November to 1 December the High Level Forum for Effective Development (HLM2) will take place in Nairobi. The event is organized by the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC) is a great opportunity to demand multistakeholder platform in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to demand the continuation of the fulfillment of a stand-alone development effectiveness agenda

The last 15 years, civil society has been engaging in making the aid effectiveness agenda more inclusive, based on human rights, gender equality and sustainable development, in order to make sure development delivers to people, without leaving no-one behind.

A network of ACT Alliance members coordinates the faith based sector of the Civil Society Organisations (CSO) Partnership for Development Effectivness, to continue the strive for the partnership to be a true multistakeholder platform and that civil society organizations are recognized as development actors in their own right.

The event in Nairobi will be key in determining this multistakeholder and democratic space in the implementation of the Sustainable Development goals and other international commitments like the financing for development and climate justice. The ACT Alliance participants, together with an interfaith delegation, is lobbying for the human dignity for all through some key asks.

_______

Official hashtags: #HLM2 (event) #ACT@HLM2 (ACT)

PRESS RELEASE

As the two-week long UN climate talks in Marrakech, COP22, reach their final hours, international faith based humanitarian and development network ACT Alliance said that the transition to a green and resilient future has taken strides forward but urged governments to keep up and grow the momentum.

Commenting on the two-week deliberations the alliance welcomed the bold and ambitious move from the Climate Vulnerability Forum, an alliance of poor and vulnerable countries.

The head of the ACT alliance delegation to COP22, Dinesh Vyas, said: “Forum members  committed to switch to 100 percent renewable energy as soon as possible and to review their national climate plans before 2020, while having not contributed to climate change. These are the true climate leaders and they send a clear signal to historical and big carbon emitting countries.”

Additionally, the alliance highlighted that COP22 responded positively to the importance of reinforcing the work on Loss and Damage and its mechanism, and said that much work is yet to be done, including clear decisions about future mobilisation of climate finance.

At the meeting developing countries, backed up by the ACT Alliance, criticised existing climate finance plans from developed countries for its failure to acknowledge of previous climate agreements, in particular the lack of priority given to measures to address adaptation needs.

Vyas, said: “The Paris Agreement has been called a success, but the coming couple of years will show us if it will deliver the promise of a just, sustainable and resilient future. The conference in Marrakech has started a journey, and we look forward to seeing the ambitious agreements from Paris turned into action. We want to see vulnerable people and communities receiving support. We want to see coal mines closed and fossil fuels subsidies stopped. We want to see renewable energy reaching remote communities that are currently surviving without energy.”

“As people of faith, we believe that necessary action is possible and urgently required,” he continued. “This is our message to leaders of the world. We need them to take action, and to turn the ambitious words from the Paris Agreement, into projects and activities that will help us transition towards a green and resilient future.”

PRESS RELEASE

Today, as ministers attending the UN climate talks in Marrakech, COP22, meet to discuss climate finance, ACT Alliance is calling for more funds and support towards urgent climate action in developing countries.

Acknowledging the road map on climate finance that developed countries recently presented on how they want to deliver on their commitment to mobilise USD 100 bn per year from 2020, ACT Alliance raised critical concerns.

Dinesh Vyas, co-chair of the ACT alliance delegation at COP22, said: “On the ground where our members are active, we see an increasing need for climate action. Farmers need to prepare for long lasting droughts, fishermen along vulnerable coastlines need to reconstruct their livelihoods as they face flooding. The need for adaptation is growing. We know how to deal with it, but there is need for financial support to make it happen.”

“While we appreciate developed countries for the roadmap,” he continued, “we must also make clear that this roadmap is a political position, and not an agreed plan. There is no global agreement about how to account for climate finance, or what kind of resources we should accept. This is one of the most important points on the agenda of the UN climate talks, and these negotiations must continue now with a concrete input from developed countries.”

The alliance also urged countries to respect existing agreements about climate finance, such as ensuring a balance between mitigation and adaptation.

Martin Vogel, policy advisor for Church of Sweden and member of the ACT Alliance delegation at COP22, said: “We are sad to see that only 20 percent of climate finance in 2020 is expected to be allocated to adaptation. This is not good enough, and developed countries must take concrete action to scale up their support to developing countries wanting to adapt to the effects of climate change.”

Commenting on the emergence of climate finance due to global warming as an additional challenge in the provision of development aid to vulnerable nations, Vogel said: “Climate finance should be additional to existing commitments by developed countries to provide development aid to poor nations. This is not a principle developed countries have respected in their roadmap. A big part of the funds included in the roadmap are also reported as development aid, meaning that they are counted twice.”

ENDS

As we are gather in Marrakech for COP22, let us remember the innumerable women who are climate  refugees or displaced, and the women who have lost their livelihoods and lives due to climate change. Gender justice is central to climate justice. And women’s leadership is central and crucial to climate justice as they are more vulnerable and affected, and least involved in deciding the future of the globe. We call the leaders of every country to include women in every step of this urgent work.

The mandate of action plan on gender  created at the COP in Lima has been extended. This calls for mainstreaming gender and human rights in all of the processes. Therefore, let us lobby for the appointment of national gender focal points. Let us also work on nationally defined contributions (NDCs) to ensure they include gender and human rights as the NDCs of only 62 countries do not reflect this position.

Let us not see women as only a vulnerable group but also as key partners in our endeavours to confront climate change. We need to  advocate to override gender based injustice reinforced by cultural practices at all levels – grassroot to international level. Let the climate justice issue not be confined to the negotiation tables as only a technical issue beyond the knowledge of the grassroot women. It is important to ensure that the legal document reflects the everyday experience of those suffering the impacts of climate change.

______

Joycia Thorat works for Church’s Auxiliary for social Action in India.

PRESS RELEASE

Leaders from various faiths today came together to hand an interfaith statement to the UNFCCC Executive Secretary calling for clear action to move from polluting fossil fuel use towards clean renewable energy sources.

Representatives from Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist communities among others showed their united support for the full and ambitious implementation of the 2015 Paris climate agreement to keep the temperature rise below 1.5C, and in their statement urged governments to accelerate climate action before 2020 including greatly increasing the level of ambition of the future Nationally-Determined Contributions.

Reverend Henrik Grape of Church of Sweden said: “As people of faith, we stand united in the care for the creation. God has given us the task to look after the earth, and he has trust in our commitment. This belief is strong in many religions, and it is a call for action.”

Dinesh Vyas, co-Chair of the ACT Alliance advisory group on climate advocacy said: “To make the Paris commitments happen, urgent action is needed. The human rights of people are fundamental, and must be protected. When countries increase their efforts to combat climate change, they should never forget people and communities who are affected.”

ENDS