diakonia & solidarity
latin america desk
diakonia & solidarity |
Small
Pentecostal church 60 km from Rio de Janeiro.
BACKGROUND:
During the years before the 1992 commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the arrival of the Spanish in the Americas, attention in Latin America focused strongly on questions of identity. Later in the 1990s, attention shifted to collective human rights in general, and to economic and social rights, affected by the implementation of structural adjustment policies, in particular.
In a context of globalization and growing poverty, Diakonia & Solidarity's Latin America Desk fostered reflection on holistic development and ecumenical sharing of resources (ESR); it supported churches and related groups in their search for peace with justice and reconciliation in Central America.
In the future, the desk sees the following challenges for its work:
- the continuing needs of excluded people - women, children, the uprooted and all those affected by political and economic crises;
- obstacles to the viability and self-reliance of the ecumenical movement in Latin America;
- the continued growth among poor people of Evangelical and Pentecostal churches, many of which are increasingly involved in social and political work in their societies.
Evangelicals, politics and society in Latin America (EPOS)
A striking development in Latin America has been the rapid growth of Evangelical and Pentecostal churches. Today these churches are demonstrating a desire to influence social, political and economic life, and some have even formed their own political parties.
Some Evangelical and Pentecostal churches feel a need to consider new forms of Christian presence in society - such as involvement in community projects, awareness-raising, training and formation, and mission in the context of globalization - or to reflect on their involvement in society from a theological and ethical perspective.
EPOS is a regional network of churches and church-related organizations based in Peru. It organizes consultations and studies and publishes a magazine (Iglesia y Misión) and study documents. National coordinators meet annually to evaluate and plan the network's activities.
The Latin American Conference of Churches (CLAI) and the WCC, through Diakonia & Solidarity's Latin America Desk, see EPOS' work as relevant for all churches and for the ecumenical movement in the region as a whole.
In supporting EPOS, the LA Desk hopes this year to
- provide input to reflection on building democracy, political pluralism, awareness of ecology, peace and solidarity issues;
- nurture dialogue among Evangelicals-related political parties;
- find ways to help Evangelicals develop a political culture appropriate to the regions' particular needs and challenges; and
- share new models for holistic mission.
Children on the streets: selling sweets in Brazil.
The Centre for the Defence of Children's and Adolescents' Rights works in Pernambuco, Brazil, with young women, adolescents, street children and child workers, prostitutes, teenage mothers and delinquents.
One of its aims is to provide a useful model for other Brazilian institutions mandated to work with girls and young women. Centre staff - doctors, psychologists, social workers, teachers, educators and others - attempt to determine the children's and adolescents' main needs, help them repair their self-esteem and develop constructive life plans.
Concerned about street violence, the Centre opened a telephone hotline; it provides legal aid, and information on health, contraception and prevention of AIDS, and cares for child delinquents and prostitutes.
Diakonia & Solidarity's Latin America Desk recognizes the value of such pilot programmes and has offered its support to the Centre.
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