WCC invites churches to participate in UN dialogue on culture and development

Encouraging faith-based perspectives in the United Nations (UN) initiated dialogue on culture and its role in shaping the post-2015 development agenda, the World Council of Churches (WCC) UN office in New York invites churches to participate in an e-consultation.

 

Led by the United Nations Population Fund, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the United Nations Development Programme, the Culture and Development consultation seeks participation through e-discussions and papers on best practices in the development areas. Poverty reduction, education, gender equality and women’s empowerment, sustainable cities and urbanization, environment and climate change, as well as inclusion and reconciliation, are the sub-themes of the consultation.

Churches are invited to provide a range of inputs, including papers, documents, perspectives, and intellectual and experiential knowledge. Participants can access the forum through an e-consultation linkwhere the content is available in English, French, Spanish, Russian and Portuguese. The deadline for submissions is 8 August.

The e-discussions and papers, as well as outcomes of the national and global consultations, will feed into the United Nations Development Group report on the outcome of the Culture and Sustainable Development resolution; and the report of the UN Secretary General on the post-2015 development agenda, which will be issued in the fall of 2014.

The year 2015 has marked the target for the Millennium Development Goals that have shaped national and international social programmes since 2000, and current discussions in the UN aim at establishing new methods for sustainable development world-wide.

According to the UN, the “goal of the consultation is to stimulate the exchange of views, experiences and perspectives on the how culture relates to development.”

“We cannot neglect churches’ heritage of working in development areas,” said Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, the WCC’s representative to the UN.

He stressed the importance of faith-based perspectives from churches and Christian organizations in the dialogue on culture and development. “Churches’ voices and experiences are paramount to help shape the global development agenda, based on justice and peace,” he said.

Source: oikoumene.org (Jul 25, 2014)