Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance

16/10/2016

Women feed the world; We exclude women at our peril!

Yesterday we celebrated the International day of rural women and today is the World Food day.
Securing the welfare and the dignity of rural women and acknowledging their rights and contributions are critical to achieving that all people in the world have access to adequate nutritious food.
At the preparatory meetings for the 43rd Committee on Food Security in Rome, there was an excellent debate led by representatives from global women’s movements and other civil society organisations.
They shared experiences of women’s struggle for land and resources. Rural women, make up over a quarter of the total world population. In developing countries, rural women represent approximately 43 per cent of the agricultural labour force, and produce, process and prepare much of the food available, thereby giving them primary responsibility for food security. In Africa, women provide 70% of the food production. However, globally, their work does not receive the recognition and the value that it deserves. Women’s rights to land are denied and refuted by patriarchal legal systems.
We were also reminded of the General Recommendation on the Rights of Rural Women, adopted by CEDAW in March 2016. http://tinyurl.com/jemo39z (CEDAW is the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women)
The right to food is the right to life itself. But the human rights and gender rights can only be achieved if women 's right to land is upheld, and protected!
In countries where women have realised the full potential to ownership and inheritance, such as Norway, where, an analysis undertaken by the finance department has shown that gender equity brought more wealth to the country than the oil produced by the nation!
Today let us remember the importance of access to adequate and nutritious food for all and recognise and celebrate the role of rural woman as a vital part of our society. Let us break down the legal and cultural barriers suffocating our societies!

Solène Jetzer and Manoj Kurian

10/08/2016

For continued updates on EAA's Live the Promise HIV Campaign and Food for Life Campaign, please visit and "like" Live the Promise Campaign and Food for Life Campaign - Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance. Regular posts on the advocacy and efforts of churches together is also available at World Council of Churches, which now includes the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance. This page will no longer be updated, but we are still very active promoting justice, health and dignity for all! Join us in our campaigns!

18/05/2016

Providing space for networking, learning and advocacy among people of faith responding to HIV and AIDS. The Interfaith Pre-Conference theme for 2016 is Faith on the Fast Track. Click here for the website. The event will offer opportunities for theological reflection, sharing of good practices, skill...

22/04/2016

As the El Nino weather pattern challenges southern Africa, what is the role of churches in helping people realize their right to food and livelihood?

07/04/2016

Today is ! -Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance coordinator Dr Manoj Kurian takes the opportunity to write about the unbalanced diets and lopsided systems that have lead to a dramatic recent increase in - the topic chosen by the World Health Organization (WHO) for this year's World Health Day.

"One in eleven adults is diabetic. I happen to be one of those 422 million adults" he writes. Read more: http://blog.oikoumene.org/wccpilgrimage/posts/world-health-day

23/03/2016

In Southern Africa, around 28 million people are facing food insecurity due to drought conditions brought on by the strength of El Niño in 2015/2016. The World Council of Churches – Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance is holding a regional consultation, hosted by World Vision International, to plan coordin…

11/03/2016

Very important message from faith communities and the WCC-EAA participating organizations submitted by the Live the Promise Campaign today at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Policymakers, programme managers, and service providers — including faith communities — must use more human rights norms and standards to guide a global response to HIV, said a statement submitted by the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, an ecumenical initiative of the WCC, to the Human Rights Council o…

10/03/2016

Francesca Merico and Manoj Kurian presenting the Live the Promise Campaign and the Food for Life Campaign - Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance to the World Council of Churches Commission of the Churches on International Affairs

09/03/2016

Join us this Thursday at 5PM at the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Centre, Geneva, for a discussion on our new Live the Promise Campaign publication on HIV, AIDS, and Human Rights titled: Dignity, Freedom and Grace. We will be joined by one of the editors, Gillian Paterson, as well as contributors JP Mokgethi-Heath (Svenska kyrkan), Hendrica Okondo (World YWCA) and Sally Smith (UNAIDS).

10/02/2016

Keep up to date with WCC-EAA's Live the Promise and Food for Life Campaigns. Receive action alerts and news by email by signing up at http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/e-news/e-news-sign-up

Please fill in this form if you would like to receive free news and updates from the WCC by email.

09/02/2016

Get the latest on the Live the Promise HIV Campaigns and Food for Life Campaigns with the WCC-EAA Campaign Update, February 2016: http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/wcc-programmes/diakonia/eaa/ecumenical-advocacy-alliance-newsletter-february-2016