New UEM Advocacy Consultants

Since April 1, 2017 UEM has employed two Advocacy Consultants with Sophia Anggraita and Dr Jean-Bosco Kambale Kahongya Bwiruka for the Asia and Africa region, respectively. The consultants are based in the UEM regional offices in Medan (Indonesia) and Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania). They are assigned to the department of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) led by Dr Jochen Motte. The consultant's tasks are as follows: To assist member churches in solidarity work with victims of human rights violations. To network through the JPIC department on advocacy issues with civil society organizations and ecumenical bodies on regional and international level and, if requested, to take part in regional and international programs of UEM. To cooperate with other religions and members of civil society on advocacy issues. To organize advocacy activities in the region on human rights, peace work, climate justice and environmental protection and to conduct surveys on already existing programs and initiatives on JPIC. To communicate the JPIC related advocacy activities among UEM member churches and with other organizations in order to raise awareness but also to seek funding. To promote awareness building on JPIC among UEM member churches. To address issues of JPIC related advocacy from a gender based perspective. To visit regularly partners in the region and to facilitate workshops and seminars. The objectives are to empower UEM member churches in advocacy activities through networking, trainings, project planning, monitoring and implementation; to co-ordinate and apply UEM strategies in the region with regard to advocacy for JPIC and to promote information sharing, networking and awareness building on advocacy for JPIC in UEM among churches in the region and with churches in other regions through the UEM central office. Martina Pauly