WCC NEWS: WCC meets with UN Refugee Agency to discuss work related to statelessness

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay met with Şafak Pavey, senior advisor to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Marianne Ejdersten, WCC director of communication, was also present in the meeting. On 11 November 2025, Şafak Pavey, Senior Advisor to the High Commissionner, UNHCR, met with Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay WCC General Secretary and Marianne Ejdersten, WCC director of communication. Photo: Grégoire de Fombelle/WCC 13 November 2025 The WCC and the UNHCR have had a close collaboration, particularly with the campaign “I Belong,” and with work on statelessness since 2014   The WCC and the UNHCR also organized joint side events with faith leaders at the Global Refugee Forum in 2023. The WCC has also been involved in various working groups with the UNHCR and religious leaders.   In the meeting, Pillay referred to the mandate of the WCC and the special mission since the WCC 10th Assembly in 2013 calling the ecumenical family to join and walk together in a Pilgrimage, bringing those left on the margins to the centre.  Stateless people, estimated at 10 million worldwide, are individuals who are not recognized as citizens by any country in the world, and consequently are denied basic human rights.  These are rights that others often take for granted: the right to healthcare, to education, to own property, to travel, and to get a birth or death certificate. Stateless people are vulnerable to discrimination, exploitation, and violence. #IBelong Campaign to end statelessness | UNHCR I Belong: Biblical Reflections on Statelessness | World Council of Churches I Belong Volume 2 | World Council of Churches 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 356 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