Children's rights: Guest at the World Council of Churches in Geneva
Gabriele De Bona and Bertha Munkhondya (General Secretary of the ELCM) spoke with Frederique Seidel from the World Council of Churches about children's rights
Frederique Seidel heads the Children's Rights Programme at the World Council of Churches (WCC), where she has developed a partnership between the WCC and UNICEF. She previously worked for UNICEF, the United Nations and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation (OSCE), among others. The WCC is a global association of over 350 churches in more than 120 countries on all continents of the world.
At the instigation of many member churches, the WCC has launched the programmeChurches for Children programmeprogramme. And because global warming harms and substantially threatens children's rights, the WCC is taking a close look at the impact of climate change on children's rights.
In Matthew 18:6, Jesus explains the importance of protecting children and warns against harming them. Yet the climate crisis is already causing great suffering to children worldwide.
Frederique Seidel, responsible for children and climate, explained the approaches of the WCC's work to Gabriele De Bona and Bertha Munkhondya in detail. One of the many promising approaches is to hold financial actors accountable and encourage them to act in a climate-friendly way. Here, the WCC informs its members on topics such as "climate complaints". The WCC also endeavours to support churches in making climate-friendly investments.
Frederique Seidel's work is as abstract as it is concrete and absolutely global. She says about the impact of her work:
'If this work brings about concrete hope for children, then we are on the right track.
And it is probably precisely the concrete measures that can give children and adults a hopeful view of the future. The direct link between children's rights and climate protection shows that everyone can protect children's rights and thus improve children's lives by actively protecting the climate.
On the one hand, these are of course the major financial players, who have a huge influence. On the other hand, every single child can also protect the climate - e.g. with the following and similar measures:
- using less energy
- consume less water
- produce less waste
- recycle waste
- buy less and throw away less
People in Switzerland, Germany, Malawi and all other countries can do this. Catholics, Reformed (m/f/d), Lutherans and everyone else can do this. In doing so, they are simultaneously making a contribution to our beautiful earth, which God has given us, and to ensuring that all children have a fair chance.
