February 7, 2005

Ecumenical agencies and churches working in the field of relief and development have called for the creation of a new international alliance of church-related organizations to address issues of poverty and injustice, provisionally named "ACT Global."

The consensus on the new international ecumenical initiative, which would eventually cover humanitarian relief, development cooperation and advocacy work, was elaborated during a consultation convened by the World Council of Churches (WCC) at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, near Geneva, 4-5 February 2005.

Concluding the meeting, WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia underlined the historic nature of the agreement. "This meeting is a turning point in ushering in a new era of collaboration between churches, ecumenical agencies and the WCC," he stated.

The gathering proposed that the establishment of the new alliance later in 2005 should be a first stage towards bringing together international ecumenical work for justice under a common umbrella, probably using the name of ACT (Action by Churches Together), which is already used for ecumenical work in emergencies. According to Dr Daleep Mukarji, director of Christian Aid (UK), the hope is for "a common instrument bringing together relief, advocacy and development which can act quickly and flexibly."

WCC member churches and agencies have struggled for years to find new ways of working together to face global problems of injustice and poverty, but have sometimes differed in their approaches. For those present, the Bossey meeting offered a breakthrough in defining a common vision. "This meeting affirms the role of WCC in helping all partners find a more effective and common way of working," said Dr Baffour Amoa from the church fellowship FECCIWA in West Africa.

Participants affirmed the central role of the WCC in taking the proposal forward, and appointed a steering group charged with developing a provisional structure and negotiating with other ecumenical organizations already involved in these areas. The steering group may already initiate ecumenical pilot projects among potential alliance members, for example in post-tsunami development work.

Among those represented at the meeting were several major church agencies; members of WCC's governing bodies; representatives of WCC-related ACT International and the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance; and partners from several regions working at the local level in diakonia and development.

The full statement of the meeting: http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/statements/20050205consultation_diakonia.html.

World Council of Churches