UEM General Assembly: Pre-Assemblies today

One day before the General Assembly of UEM is officially opened, the Women and Youth Pre-Assemblies take place. So today almost thirty of the 69 delegates have already started their discussions. The topic of this year's UEM General Assembly is "Child poverty and Human trafficking". The UEM members in all three regions have been tackling this issue for years with several projects. Free lunch for poor pupils in Germany, shelters for street children in DR Congo and a social project for mistreated house maids in Hongkong are just some examples for church run projects against child poverty and human trafficking. Now the UEM members want to exchange their strategies and develop ideas for joint approaches. The report about UEM's work of the last two years and the discussions about it are also part of the agenda of the General Assembly as well as the work in committees. On Sunday the delegates have the chance to experience church life in congregations of the Rhenish church (who is host of the GA) and on Monday they will travel to different spots within the Rhineland to get to know the region. Since 1996, UEM is organised internationally as a communion of churches with equal rights. Every member sends delegates to the General Assembly. "This change of thinking, that mission is not something that only comes from the North to the South, but is our joint task, is doing us good", Regine Buschmann said at the opening press conference today. "We all are ready to learn from each other."