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programme
and activities
upholding regional perspectives
/ effective sharing and solidarity / capacity-building
for churches and ecumenical organizations / consequences
of nuclear testing
Upholding
regional perspectives
Ecumenical
work in the Pacific needs to keep the particular perspectives
of the region in mind. The WCC Pacific Desk does this
by
Coordinating
the work of a Pacific Ecumenical Regional Group (PERG).
PERG brings Pacific church representatives together with representatives
of international partner agencies and of the Pacific Conference
of Churches (PCC).
During
a July 2001 meeting in New Caledonia, PERG said it was important
that the WCC Pacific Desk continue to support:
- the Evangelical Church in New Caledonia and the
Loyalty Isles. The church is raising public awareness about the
possible consequence of the Noumea Accords, particularly in relation
to industrial mining in the Northern provine and the likely effects
on people's lives and the environment;
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A 1980 photo
of a rig for underground nuclear tests at the Centre d'expérimentation
du Pacifique, Tahiti
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- Noumea's progress towards self-determination. According to
the PERG, the following elements are essential: a viable economic
system based on cultural development, a coherent approach to
development and an ecumenical spirit;
-training, qualification and upgrading for the Pacific churches
in the area of information technolgy.
- Facilitating
dialogue and consultation
In
2001, the WCC Pacific Desk sponsored a number of information,
exchange and encounter visits between the Pacific churches and
those in other regions as well as within the region itself;
it gave advice and pastoral support to local programmes; convened
small groups to work on strategy; stimulated ecumenical reflection
and community education in local churches.
- Helping
to implement ecumenical initiatives - like the Decade to Overcome
Violence, and the WCC's work on economic globalization - in
the region.
To
prepare for ecumenical participationo in the 2002 World Summit
on Sustainable Development, the WCC Pacific Desk together with
the Justice, Peace, Creation (JPC) team organized a series of
meetings in 2001, including
- a March 2001 meeting in Geneva of Pacific experts on the economy;
this group drafted the text of a possible response to economic
globalization by the Pacific churches;
- a May 2001 consultation of WCC Pacific member churches to
review this text; the church leaders exchanged information on
and stories about the effects of economic globalization on their
communities;
- an August 2001 international conference in
Fiji on the churches and globalization. Adopted by the conference,
the final document, entitled "Island of hope", describes
what is meant by a "Pacific way of life" and suggests
a certain number of alternatives to economic globalization.
A press release on
the conference says: "A presentation from the Pacific churches
on what they called the "Island of Hope"
was central to the meeting. "Island of Hope" is a
metaphor for the wholeness of life, of which generosity, reciprocity
and the sharing of communal resources are essential features
- in stark contrast to the prevailing features of globalization.
The Pacific churches presented real and viable alternatives
to globalization that have sustained Pacific societies for generations.
Participants from other regions of the world were able to identify
with this Pacific concept.
The international meeting in Fiji was preceded by regional meetings
in Budapest and Bangkok, one in the Pacific in May and a consultation
at which international youth representatives met with their
Pacific counterparts. The WCC is planning further international
and regional meetings in Latin America, the Caribbean, North
America and Africa. This international meeting was held in the
Pacific so that the "Island of Hope" concept could
help inform and be further developed at the later consultations.
Effective
sharing and solidarity
In
order to
develop
partnership within the ecumenical community (replacing donor/recipient
relationships),
provide
a forum for discussion of ecumenical issues between communities,
partner churches and agencies,
enable
agreement on budgets, financial monitoring and reporting,
and
encourage
long-term commitment to funding,
the WCC Pacific Desk works through round tables and
national councils of churches.
A Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC) roundtable
in October 2001 in Fiji focussed on a range of issues, including
PCC
accountability structures and thematic reporting
the
increased rate of youth suicide in Samoa
the
conflict in the Solomon islands
(following
the (date) coup in Fiji) land ownership there and the
need for the church to serve the poor and not just one
community.
A Pacific partners' forum, also held in
October 2001 in Fiji, brought together key regional NGOs
and focussed on environment, capacity-building, gender advocacy,
contextual theology, and women and theology. The meeting
revealed a need for stronger networking, and the NGOS agreed
to meet annually and pursue additional ways of collaborating
on these issues.
Capacity-building
for churches and ecumenical organizations Through
workshops on, among other things, financial management and strategic
planning, civic education and human rights training, capacity-building
on communications infrastructures, the WCC Pacific Desk in cooperation
with the Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC) works to
promote
pilot projects for improved planning and reporting, and
promote
long-term organizational and leadership development in the churches,
NCCs and other ecumenical organizations.
After a February 2001 consultation on business and financial
management where the creation of an institution to assist churches
to improve their financial management was proposed, the Pacific
churches Management Society (PCMS) was created at a September
2001 consultation in Fiji. At this consultation, the WCC Africa
Desk executive secretary presented the work of the African churches
in this area as an example of agreement by churches and partner
agencies to a uniform reporting format for all agencies working
in a region.
Awareness on civic rights and responsibilites was promoted by
two meetings organized by the WCC Pacific Desk in 2001: a July
meeting of the Pacific Ecumenical Regional Group (PERG) in the
Northern Province of New Caledonia which focused on the Noumea
Accords, and a March meeting in Tonga on bio-ethics. The latter
consultation was organized jointly with the Tonga National Council
of Churches and the WCC Justice, Peace and Creation (JPC) team;
the sale of its gene pool by Tonga was used as a case study
to illustrate recent developments in bio-genetic engineering
and their potential effects on future generations.
Consequences
of nuclear testing
The WCC Pacific
Desk works with regional bodies such as the Moruroa e Tatou association
and others in an effort to raise international awareness on the consequences
of nuclear testing in the Pacific.
The Moruroa former test workers' association Moruroa e Tatou
was officially established on 4 July 2001 at a constituent assembly
attended by over 175 former workers and/or the spouses of dead
or ill former workers. Among other activities, the new associationhas
carried out a medical survey (under the supervision of a health
speciallist who represents British, Australian, New Zealand
and Fijian nuclear test veterans) and sent a delegation to Japan
to launch a book on the effects of nuclear testing in the Pacific.
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