Your Excellency,
Dear Mr Secretary-General,
The World Council of Churches and the UN were formed at the same time and in the same political context, with the ultimate aim to work for unity and peace in the world. We have grown and struggled together in response to the challenges of our times.
The reflection on international affairs of the World Council of Churches is based on ethical and theological reflections with our 347 member churches world-wide. The concerns raised in our process are closely linked to the agenda of the UN. The WCC and UN have shared goals on justice and peace, on eradication of poverty and on the promotion and defence of human rights and human dignity.
The WCC has with interest received your report "In Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security and Human Rights for All". We have also considered the reports from the Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change as well as from the Millennium Project and would like to take this opportunity to share with you our concerns and reflections.
We consider these reports most helpful in the urgent work to reform the UN, set clearer priorities and mobilise the political will needed to fulfil its tasks.
One of the most important achievements of these reports is that they have aimed at, and to a large extent have also succeeded, in bringing together the concerns of development and security. By seeking a common and inclusive approach involving the global South and the global North, there is a basis for moving towards a reformed United Nations.
In particular we appreciate the consensus achieved by the High-Level Panel on the main threats to peace and security and the correlation between them. We welcome that you, in your report, are building on this consensus and bring that concept further towards the September 2005 Summit of the UN General Assembly.
The WCC advocates a reform that empowers and strengthens the UN and achieves better representation so that the world organization can successfully address the global challenges facing humanity: wars, conflicts, nuclear arms, environmental degradation, AIDS and other diseases, under-development, extreme poverty and acts of terror.
Your report is comprehensive and the interconnectedness of the issues that it addresses very timely. The WCC is encouraged by this initiative and recommits itself to support the UN and the agenda you are proposing.
We would also like to take this opportunity to comment specifically on a number of issues in the reports: economic justice and poverty eradication, peace and security, institutional reform, environment and the role of religion.
1. Economic Justice and Poverty Eradication
The WCC shares the aspiration of the UN to end hunger and extreme poverty. The number of people who suffer from extreme poverty, hunger and lack of health and education must be reduced by at least half before 2015, if not earlier. The absence of basic living conditions are clear violations of human rights and human dignity. Fighting poverty means replacing desperation with hope, and is therefore also the best investment in security and peace. As the report rightly indicates extreme poverty is closely linked to insecurity. However, the Development Agenda should not be guided by a narrow focus on security and the threat of terror.
