Geneva, October 2017 Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, You may recall that in March I invited you to consider joint efforts for the Churches' Commitments to Children in the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace. Now I am delighted to share with you that a large number of member churches have responded positively to the invitation, showing a high degree of readiness and enthusiasm for collaborative action within the WCC's constituency. In response, we have developed, with support from UNICEF, a platform to facilitate networking and collaboration among churches and partners in the implementation of the Churches' Commitments to Children. The following online map presents our churches' and partners' expertise and needs in their efforts to improved children's lives: https://commitments-to-children.oikoumene.org/ What is the goal of the "Churches' Commitments to Children Platform"? If your church is committed to children and shares information about expertise and/or needs through our survey, your commitments to children will be nurtured through this common platform. The online platform is proposed as a means to support churches' commitments to children in an efficient way. It links your own efforts with those of other churches and partners. I invite you to review the map and identify possible partners, depending on what your priorities are in the response to the challenges faced by children. How does the platform work? You can either search the map for a church that is located near you, or use the selection bar on the top to find churches that could share expertise or that needs support in relation to some aspect of the commitments to children. Once you have found your possible counterpart matching your priorities, you are encouraged to reach out to their respective contact person. You may then exchange expertise virtually or plan training visits. If your church/organization decides to go ahead and collaborate with another church or an organization using this platform, please send a short note to churchesforchildren@wcc-coe.org, mentioning the name and country of your new partner(s). This will allow us to update information on the map and highlight churches that do not yet have partners, to prioritize them. How does a church or organization gain inclusion to the platform? If your church/organization does not yet appear on this map and would like to join collaborative efforts to improve children's lives, please inform us through the following online survey about areas of the Churches' Commitments to Children in which you could share expertise or elicit support: https://surveys.oikoumene.org/children. I express my deep gratitude to all of you for raising the churches' voices to improve children's lives. Yours in Christ,
Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit
General Secretary |