eastern europe office

background

The WCC Eastern Europe Office is based in Bialystok, Poland since August, 1994. The office's mission is to accompany and assist churches in the region (Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Central Asia and Poland) in developing an effective and community-based diaconal response to social needs through the development of social infrastructure, capacity building of personnel, networking and co-ordination of initiatives. The office also convenes round table meetings and implements other WCC Europe Desk Special Programmes in the region. WCC Eastern Europe Office works with four staff and co-operates with a broad network of national and international partners.

aim and objectives

The WCC Eastern Europe Office empowers and accompanies churches, church-related organizations and secular NGOs in their social, capacity building and development activities and guides them in creating structures for social response to their societies based on the principles of democracy, ecumenism, transparency, professionalism and self-sufficiency.

local context

The process of political and economic changes in Eastern Europe has had an enormous social impact on the societies in the region. Financial and political instability, high unemployment, inflation, decreasing access to education, health and social services, criminality and corruption, and sometimes violent conflicts and natural disasters require a long-term and co-ordinated response. The churches need to act together and co-operate with governmental structures, NGOs, local communities and on regional and international levels. The most vulnerable groups in this context are street children, the homeless, socially disadvantaged families, the unemployed, elderly people, traficked people and drug addicts.

activities and outcomes

The WCC Eastern Europe Office was involved in the following programmes in 2005  :