WCC NEWS: Women’s human rights advocacy training helps hone strategies

The annual Ecumenical Partners Women’s Human Rights Advocacy Training took place 15-18 October at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva.  Photo: WCC 25 October 2024 Participants from around the world explored strategies that lay and religious leaders and other civil society actors can use to increase the impact of faith-based advocacy for women’s human rights. Participants discussed faith-based approaches to gender justice, reporting on human rights in context, and advocacy principles and strategies. The training also touched upon theological and faith-based approaches to gender, as well as an introduction to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, and gave participants practical tools for engaging with UN mechanisms. Participants came from South Sudan, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Burundi, Kenya Norway, Poland, Germany, Switzerland, the US, Indonesia, India, and Chile. During the week, participants explored different approaches to advocacy, including theological discussions and practical sessions. They shared their concerns for women’s human rights in their own countries, outlining concerns about gender discrimination, violence against women, trafficking of women and girls, concerns for internally displaced women, child and forced marriage, and many other issues. They were taken through the steps needed to prepare submissions to UN bodies – particularly to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, and the Universal Periodic Review. Participants expressed their appreciation for what they had learnt, and for the new partnerships and networks they had formed during the week. All participants will now be encouraged to engage with the UN reporting mechanisms when their countries are coming up for review, and to share their learnings with their ecumenical and other partners in their home countries.  “This year’s training again confirmed the importance of empowering human rights defenders to be advocates for themselves and their local communities. Whilst those of us working in Geneva and in other centres of power aim to be a voice for the voiceless, and use our privileged access to global decision-makers, it is those who live with often serious human rights violations around them, who can truly speak to the daily realities of their lives and be best placed to call for change,” said Jennifer Philpot-Nissen, WCC programme executive for Human Rights and Disarmament. “This cohort’s interest in the subject was clear from the onset, establishing a very encouraging note for the facilitators. Their desire to make the connections between the theological premises that ground our conviction as actors for human rights was refreshing. It is our hope that this collaboration with our ecumenical partners will continue to realize positive transformation for women and girls globally,” said Rev. Nicole Ashwood, WCC programme executive, Just Community of Women and Men. Rode Wanimbo, from the Evangelical Church of Indonesia in West Papua, said: “I was entrusted as a coordinator of the Women's Department of Evangelical Church in West Papua and I was grateful to be one of the participants in this women's human rights training. I think I need this information to equip me so that I can be a better advocate. I was really, really glad to have this kind of opportunity.” Rev. Dr Peter J. Spyro, from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, is director of “Freedom” national ministry at the US focusing on faith-based responses to eradicate enslavement. “My attendance at this training is connected to developing a network—through the WCC programme for Just Community of Women and Men who invited me here—while offering the human trafficking element to the particular sessions and connecting with groups coming from all world regions,” said Spyro. “A lot of the information that has been shared from various countries has been helpful in getting a more global look of what is happening, not only with violence against women and girls but also human trafficking and other relevant issues. Our meeting with the UN commissioners is one of the key moments of the week and we are eager to take the most out of these encounters.”   WCC Just Community of Women and Men WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs Thursdays in Black Learn more about the WCC work on "Human dignity and rights" "WCC, human rights, and the United Nations: how do they intersect?" (Interview with Jennifer Philpot-Nissen, WCC programme executive for Human Rights and Disarmament, October 2024) Learn more about the WCC work on arms control and disarmament    See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 352 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa.  Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland