On 4th March, the Geneva office of the World Evangelical Alliance had the pleasure of meeting with General André Cox, the Salvation Army’s new Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, at the Palais des Nations, during the 55th session of the Human Rights Council.
General Cox was the 20th international leader of the Salvation Army (2013-2018) and his new mandate is part of the Salvation Army’s International Social Justice Commission.
The meeting was an opportunity to show the General around the Palais des Nations in Geneva, and to talk about our advocacy efforts and explain how the Human Rights Council works.
“As a Salvationist (member of the Salvation Army) myself, I’m delighted to be able to help building bridges with the Salvation Army, which is also a member of our organization. I think we can find a lot of common interest when it comes to advancing human rights, for example in the fight against human trafficking, on which we’ve already worked together in the past”, said Markus Hofer, WEA Communications and Advocacy Officer to the UN.
In the same week, the World Evangelical Alliance delivered a statement urging the Sri Lankan government to investigate the Easter Sunday bombings and bring perpetrators to justice, to end violations of freedom of religion or belief, to repeal the Online Safety Act, and to refrain from mandating registration for places of worship. The oral statement was read by Markus Hofer during the General debate on the oral update by the High Commissioner for human rights, on 4 March 2024. You can find our oral statement with the video here: https://un.worldea.org/wea-urges-sri-lanka-to-end-religious-freedom-violations-repeal-online-safety-act/
The WEA also delivered a statement sharing examples of Evangelicals around the world seeking relationships that foster mutual understanding and empathy among religious communities and prevent hateful speech. The oral statement was read by Wissam al-Saliby, Director of the WEA Geneva Office to the UN, during the Interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, on 6 March 2024. You can find our oral statement with the video here: https://un.worldea.org/wea-shares-examples-of-evangelicals-engaging-in-multi-faith-dialogue-combating-hate-speech/
“This week, there is much discussion on hate speech, freedom of religion and freedom of expression. This is is an opportunity to reaffirm WEA and its members’ multi-faith engagement which seeks to counter hate speech and build more cohesive societies that protect the rights of individuals to freedom of religion and conscience”, said al-Saliby.
Our office delivered another oral statement on examples of Evangelical contributions to multi-faith dialogue while appealing to States and religious communities to pursue and strenghen national and international multi-faith forums. The oral statement was read by Markus Hofer during the Panel discussion on countering religious hatred constituting incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence, on 8 March 2024. The opening statement of the panel was delivered by Mr. Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The video of the statement is available here: https://un.worldea.org/wea-statement-at-the-human-rights-council-panel-on-countering-religious-hatred/
Other statements will follow, on religious freedom in Algeria and medical assistance is dying in Canada. You can find our latest human rights advocacy efforts here: https://un.worldea.org/reports-statements-geneva/
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