Brazil: street children in Copacabana Communiqué from a WCC-CCA Consultation on "Affirming fullness of life and dignity of Children", Bangkok, Thailand, 9-15 November 2001

Global Ecumenical Children's Network Global commitment to addressing the problems of children has been increasing. But the number of children living in marginalized conditions has also increased in many parts of the world. Children are among the first to suffer when social services are cut, conflict erupts or disaster strikes. They are especially vulnerable to exploitation, violence and abuse. Family breakdown deeply affects them, often in ways that are difficult to detect. Each day, preventable diseases and starvation snuff out thousands of young lives. The world is much more aware of these facts than it once was, and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child has done much to highlight the plight of marginalized children.

At the WCC assembly in Harare, Zimbabwe, in 1998, the potential of member churches and ecumenical organizations to mobilize on the issue of children became evident, and a Global Ecumenical Children's Network was born, with the RRES team playing a coordinating and mediating role. In the different regions, the focus has been on bringing together and motivating churches and church-related organizations that are already working or would like to work with marginalized children.

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