WCC NEWS: Dialogue on coexistence explores turning hope into shared public good

During the Global Refugee Forum Progress Review 2025, the World Council of Churches (WCC) joined nearly two dozen other faith-based and community organizations, academics, and refugee-led organizations in a dialogue held on 16 December. The discussion foregrounded refugee and stateless persons’ leadership as well as practical, multi-stakeholder approaches that bridge humanitarian, development, and peace agendas. Photo: UCLG 19 December 2025 Participants underscored that durable peace is most likely when refugees, returnees, and stateless persons are meaningfully engaged—not only as consultees. Liliana Jubilut, co-chair of the Global Academic Interdisciplinary Network, emphasized that participation must be substantive and transformative. “Meaningful participation is not just consultation—it requires dismantling structural barriers such as economic competition, gender norms, and trauma so that effective dialogue can take place. Refugee-led initiatives and local ownership are key to sustainability and to turning principles into practice.” The dialogue highlighted community initiatives led by forcibly displaced persons that cultivate trust, address local tensions before they escalate, and create safe spaces for dialogue across religious, ethnic, and social lines. These initiatives are locally rooted, responsive to context, and designed with a strong emphasis on dignity, agency, and accountability. And what happens locally is key, said Peter Mozolevskyi, refugee parliament representative from Switzerland. ‘’Local knowledge, local engagement, and local leadership —these are not just words,” he said. “They are the foundation of real, sustainable change.” “Local solutions for peace are most sustainable when they actively cultivate peaceful coexistence,” said Carla Khijoyan, WCC programme executive for Peacebuilding in the Middle East, who offered an intervention on behalf of the WCC. “Interfaith and ecumenical actors play a unique role in this effort because they are trusted, locally rooted, and present over generations—often before conflict, throughout crisis, and long after international attention fades,” she said. Khijoyan added that faith leaders advance coexistence by countering divisive and dehumanizing narratives, addressing tensions before they escalate, and creating safe spaces for dialogue across religious, ethnic, and social divides. “Interfaith cooperation transforms religious diversity from a perceived risk into a practical asset for peace,” she said. “The WCC complements the work of UN agencies and states by bridging global frameworks and local realities.”  Faith-based organizations also carry a responsibility to shape narratives of hope, Khijoyan concluded. “Drawing on shared ethical values and lived experience, the WCC and its partners amplify stories of solidarity, resilience, and cooperation across difference—turning hope into a shared public good that sustains coexistence and peace over time.” Rev. Jack Amick, representing the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), part of the United Methodist Church General Board of Global Ministries, described how UMCOR is responding.   “We’ve done that in a number of ways,” he said. “What we did is offer ‘mustard seed’ grants to local churches that wanted to do something.” The main idea was to get communities going and get them engaged with migrants and refugees, Amick explained. “Yes, it helps migrants and refugees—but mostly it changes hearts,” he said. “We have to change hearts first.”  Jin Dawood, founder of Peace Therapist, reminded the group that healing minds is as critical as changing hearts. “If we want peace in Syria, we must rebuild both the infrastructure of cities and the infrastructure of minds. We must treat healing as part of reconstruction. Because peace is not built only in treaties or parliaments. It is built in therapy rooms, in schools, in families, and in the hearts of people who learn to trust again.”  Adding a municipal perspective, Jamal Haddad, councilor of Ramallah, and refugee reminded participants of the critical role cities play in responding to displacement: “I speak on behalf of the local and regional governments where most refugees live—the places that carry both the weight of global crises and the hope for solutions. Today, one in every 70 people is forcibly displaced, and nearly 80% turn to cities for safety and dignity. And still, cities continue to deliver.” Faith actors, municipalities, academics, and refugee-led organizations together hold the power to turn hope into a shared public good—a resource that sustains coexistence long after crises fade from headlines. This requires more than words: it calls for investment in refugee leadership, and mental health as a cornerstone of reconstruction. As implementing the Global Compact on Refugees becomes more imperative, the challenge is clear: translate dialogue into commitments, and commitments into action that rebuilds not only cities, but hearts and minds. Peace begins where trust is restored—and that work starts now. WCC at Global Refugee Forum Progress Review 2025: “we reaffirm our shared commitment to be agents of hope” | World Council of Churches Photo: UCLG 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