World Council of Churches (WCC) Signs Joint Ecumenical Statement on Sudan Situation
World Council of Churches (WCC) Signs Joint Ecumenical Statement on Sudan Situation
By Sr. Henriette Anne (FSSA)
The World Council of Churches was among ecumenical organizations based in Africa and international partners that signed a 24 June joint statement on Sudan’s situation.
Their statement shared on Saturday 24th June 2023 after their online meeting on 25th May 2023, comes in response to having “listened to the current and evolving situation of Sudan and especially receiving updates on how our local partners continue facing threats and their institutions are daily destroyed,” reads the statement, which goes on to express deep concern that the conflict which started on 15 April seems to have no immediate prospect of ending.
They have in particular expressed further concern “that there are reports of unwarranted destruction and looting of civilian and public infrastructures including schools and hospitals.”
“Recalling that every state and actor in armed conflict has obligations under international humanitarian law for the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure, the statement also calls on “civil society and the civilians to reject all forms of hatred and incitement to hatred oration in the different
The statement also echo’s the appeal of Pope Francis to the warring parties to lay down arms and call for dialogue, and goes on to reaffirm “our commitment to pray for peace and support all efforts for sustainable peace and stabilization of the country.”
They strongly condemn “all forms and acts of violence by all parties, because such acts are against the fullness of life of God’s people.”
Further, the message urges Sudanese citizens to “remain vigilant against being instrumentalized for conflict and division, and to reject all forms of violence,” and to “stand up and collectively and peacefully demand sustainable solutions to end the current violence.”
It also urges regional governments to “facilitate unrestricted movement of and support to the refugees,” among other actions.
To realize the expected peace, the Church leaders encouraged the SAF and RSF “to Commit and return to the negotiation table by relooking at the divergent points between the 2019 Charter and 2021 Juba Agreement with the purpose of determining the common areas of action and to stand steadfast and protect the children, women and people with disability from all
forms of harm”.
They also urged them “to respect and protect the places of worship, and condemn all acts of violence and the destruction that has been targeting churches and church-based institutions, and to “ensure that that place of essential services including health centers and schools are not targeted”.
To realize peace, they called upon AU and IGAD to apply the existing mechanism for peace interventions to facilitate constructive intra-Sudanese engagement for the purpose of finding a local solution and applying appropriate diplomatic pressure including selected sanctions and membership suspension of Sudan.
They also advised them to work together with the Arab League, to reignite the Juba peace process and take immediate action to stop the repetition of genocide in Darfur and other war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Members of the different ecumenical organizations based in Africa and international partners, who signed the statement included; the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC), the Association Member Episcopal Conferences of Eastern Africa (AMECEA), the Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa (FECCLAHA), the ACT Church of Sweden (CoS), Bread for the World (BfW); and the World Council of Churches (WCC).
