WCC News: On Human Rights Day, WCC urges renewed support for international law

On International Human Rights Day 2025, the World Council of Churches (WCC) urged renewed support and engagement of churches and faith communities around the world for international human rights law. The United Nations Office in Geneva, Switzerland, housed at the historic Palais des Nations. Photo: Ivars Kupcis/WCC 10 December 2025 The WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs contributed directly to the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and in the intervening years, the WCC has given great priority to speaking and acting for human rights for all. “This year’s Human Rights Day carries a special significance for the ecumenical movement, given that we are also marking the centenary of the Universal Christian Conference on Life & Work, held in Stockholm in 1925,” said Peter Prove, director of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs.  “At that conference, representatives from many different churches recognized the need for churches to work together for a system of international law to protect human dignity, and to protect the vulnerable from the abuses of the powerful,” he noted. “It is on that foundation that 100 years of ecumenical work for human rights and justice has been based.” Prove concluded: “Now more than ever, at a time when the flagrant violation of human rights norms is becoming normalized, and respect for international law and commitment to multilateral cooperation is in retreat, the system of international human rights law for which we have worked needs the renewed support and engagement of churches and faith communities around the world." WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs 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