Remembering Past Massacres: Honoring the Legacy & Resilience of the Victims

Dear ecumenical friends,

The WCC/CCIA (Commission of the Churches on International Affairs) series of regional webinars focussing on REMEMBERING PAST MASSACRES: HONORING THE LEGACY AND RESILIENCE OF THE VICTIMS will take us this time to the Pacific. We hope you’ll join us! Please share in your networks.

Date: Monday 18 October 2021

Time: 9:00 – 10:30 AM CEST (i.e. 8AM Lagos, Nigeria / 2PM Bangkok, Thailand / 7 PM Suva, Fiji / 8PM Nakualofa, Tonga)

Speakers:

Rev. James Bhagwan, General Secretary, Pacific Conference of Churches
Danity Laukon, University of the South Pacific Marshall Islands
Taaitulagi Tuioti, Methodist Church in Samoa
Rev. Billy Wetewea, Protestant Church of Kanaky New Caledonia

Register here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_auNIo99OSg2-BSipSLGTMA

Learn more via Twitter or Facebook.

Objectives of the webinar:

This series of regional webinars is organized by the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in collaboration with the WCC Spiritual Life. It is part of the many virtual events organised this year to mark the 75th anniversary of the CCIA. Realizing that several of these massacres have lost relevance over the years, or are simply forgotten, the purpose of these regional webinars is to reflect on how these fallen heroes and heroines are remembered and honoured today. Each webinar will be a moment of lament and will explore among others, the following questions:

How do we recognised these tragedies, and celebrate the survival, resistance, resilience, and heroes of these communities?
How do we honour their martyrdom?
What is done to prevent them from falling into amnesia or denial?
How do we memorialise these tragedies?
How do we transcend these past massacres and move towards healing?
How do we ensure that future generations learn from the past, ensuring that history will not be repeated?
What of reparations to descendants of these victims?
Are monuments sufficient even though they can be perceived as a reminder of trauma, and as memorials of symbolic reparations?

We offer these regional webinars in the hope that we will be empowered to elicit a promise and a pledge to ensure the non-recurrence of such human atrocities even as we celebrate the legacy of those who have survived these massacres.

Dates of regional webinars:

27 August 2021: Africa
27 September 2021: Spanish-speaking Americas
11 October 2021: Asia
18 October 2021: Pacific
18 November 2021: Middle-East
6 December 2021: Europe

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP.

Improving Civil Society’s Limited Access to The Green Climate Fund

Following the launch of the paper “Improving Civil Society’s Limited Access to The Green Climate Fund” on 28 April 2021, CIDSE is pleased to invite you to the CSO engagement webinar on the topic, to be held on 05 May 2021. The online seminar will present the findings of this report, which include policy recommendations based on an analysis of GCF policies and lessons learned from five case studies.

Please find more information below:

We are excited to have you join us! As a reminder, this is an opportunity for CSOs big and small, including those in countries where GCF projects may happen.

More info & registration:

https://www.cidse.org/2021/04/28/new-study-cidse-publishes-a-report-on-csos-access-to-the-green-climate-fund-an-analysis-of-policies-and-experiences-from-case-studies/

Agenda:

15:00 Welcome & Introduction

15:10-15:30 Keynote by Thomas Hirsch (Climate and Development Advice) on the results of a new CIDSE report on “improving civil society’s limited access to the green climate fund”, along with policy recommendations. This research is based on an analysis of GCF policies and lessons learned from five case studies

15:30 Introducing the Panel for comments

15:35 Lessons from development finance to strengthen climate finance – Leia Achampong, Senior Policy & Advocacy Officer – Climate Finance, Eurodad – Brussels

15:45 Expanding on experiences from Global South partner – Julius Ng’oma, CISONECC – Civil Society Network on Climate Change, Malawi

15:55 Policy perspective from a former GCF board member or expert interviewees (tbc)

16:05 Q&As from the floor to all speakers

16:25 Conclusion

Press contact: Valentina Pavarotti, CIDSE Communications Manager: pavarotti(at)cidse.org

For those of you who don’t know CIDSE, we are an international family of Catholic social justice organizations working for transformational change to end poverty and inequalities, challenging systemic injustice, inequity, destruction of nature and promoting just and environmentally sustainable alternatives.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com.

The Human Face of the Migration Crisis: A Faith-Based Response

The scale of human migration can be overwhelming—estimates are that more people are on the move in our time than at any time in human history. To each “number” there is a human face, a person made in the image of God.

How can people of faith respond to this crisis in tangible ways? How can the Bible inform our response? To look at these and other questions related to the migration crisis we will be joined by a panel from across North America with a variety of experiences and perspectives on migration.

Register here!

Speakers:

vănThanh Nguyễn, S.V.D., is the author of the new book What Does the Bible Say About Strangers, Migrants and Refugees?. Nguyễn came to the United States as a refugee from Vietnam in 1975 and he is today Professor of New Testament Studies and the holder of the Francis X. Ford, M.M., Chair of Catholic Missiology at Catholic Theological Union.

Dannia and Aida Pena were born in San Salvador, El Salvador. In the 1990s they fled the Civil War in El Salvador and came to Los Angeles, California. Today, Dannia serves as an Accounting Manager at a Mental Health Center in San Antonio and Aida works just outside San Antonio in Bilingual Education. Both sisters are married with children and are active in the Focolare Movement.

Sean Ryan and Monica Nugent are university students living in Vancouver, British Columbia. As an outgrowth of their Catholic faith, both are both active in Dignity Inherent, a group working to raise awareness about human trafficking and Canada’s laws on prostitution.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Migration, please visit ngo-migration.org. For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values, and Global Concerns-NY, please visit csvgc-ny.org.

River Missionaries, Deforestation, and COVID-19

Rodrigo Pedroso is a Brazilian journalist who reports for CNN. As part of the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Journalism Fund, his project “River Missionaries: The Catholic Counteroffensive in the Amazon” explores the dynamics and work of Catholic missionaries in an area where evangelical Christians and the theology of prosperity are booming alongside deforestation.

In this conversation, Pedroso will share the stories of parishes struggling to survive and missionaries who serve hard-to-reach villages in the Amazon region. He will be joined by Niyanta Spelman, founder and CEO of Rainforest Partnership, and the two will discuss the role of religious communities in combatting deforestation, as well as how Catholic, Indigenous, and local communities in the Amazon have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The dialogue will be moderated by Rev. Fletcher Harper, executive director of GreenFaith.

This event is part of the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs collaboration with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

Register here: https://georgetown.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_kY_8mGHbTz6K3KNAEX3kYQ

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP.

Identity at the Intersection of Indigeneity and Christianity: An Indigenous Dilemma

You are invited to a virtual side event on the margins of the 20th Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues: Identity at the intersection of Indigeneity and Christianity: An Indigenous Dilemma

Indigenous Christians are an important group with a distinct voice that must be represented on the global stage. Reconciliation processes between Christianity and indigeneity have already begun, within churches and with indigenous people at the centre. As Christian networks and organizations, we are hosting this event in an effort to facilitate these difficult conversations in an open forum, giving all participants an opportunity to contribute their stories and lived experiences.

This conversation aims to make room for the voices of Indigenous Christians at the UNPFII and to engage in a dialogue with partners and other stakeholders, fostering mutual respect and enhance collaboration on the most important issues facing indigenous communities today.

Organized by:

Anglican Communion, Lutheran World Federation, United Methodist Church – General Board of Church & Society, the Episcopal Church, and the World Council of Churches

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP. For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com.

Christianity