October 13, 2008
By Frank Jomo, Malawi

A week-long World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) Congress ended 10 October with a call by General Secretary Randy Naylor to give peace a chance.

"War has had enough time. We have given war enough space in our publications, but as Christian communicators, the time has come that we give peace a chance. We should start writing about peace–peace that builds viable communities, inclusive communities," said Naylor.

The Congress – whose theme was "Communication is peace: Building viable communities" – began on 4 October and is the fourth since WACC came into being in 1975. This is the first time that it has taken place in Africa.

Participants interviewed after the congress spoke highly of its organization and the events that characterized the week. Doreen Spence from Canada, who has been promoting the rights of indigenous people across the world for a long time, said the Congress was very educational and that it has given her hope that people in the world can work together.

"This Congress gave me the opportunity to have my voice heard," she said. "But I had the chance to also listen to other people's stories. I hope this is not just one of those meetings and that people, when they go back to their countries, will practice and communicate peace."

Among the highlights of the Congress was the appointment of the association's new president, Dennis Smith from Guatemala, who will serve for the next three years.

In his acceptance speech, Smith said WACC provides a unique space where, as a people of faith, we can call on people of goodwill to build community and to ensure the full participation of the silenced, of those who have been made invisible. It is also a place to challenge systems of impunity and violence by speaking prophetically to power and to stand with processes of liberation and wholeness in human history.

"We are bearers of a proud tradition in defence of communication rights," Smith said. "We will continue to be present in the struggle to have the right to communicate recognized as a basic human right."

WACC promotes communication for social change. It believes that communication is a basic human right that defines people's common humanity, strengthens cultures, enables participation, creates community and challenges tyranny and oppression.

World Association for Christian Communication