Supporting the struggles of Indigenous Peoples

Pre-Assembly meeting

The WCC Indigenous Peoples Programme convened a pre-Assembly event scheduled for 11-13 of February 2006 in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Indigenous delegates to the assembly, including Indigenous women and youth - some 30 to 40 people - participated in this event in order to review and share the development of Indigenous issues since the last Assembly in Harare, Zimbabwe in 1998 as well as to strategize on the future work of Indigenous Peoples within the ecumenical movement.

The pre-Assembly meeting was an exciting Indigenous Peoples-centered event presenting a unique opportunity to celebrate both the diversity and commonalities of peoples and cultures. It also created a platform for creative and visionary thinking in looking ahead to the future. The WCC Indigenous Peoples Programme welcomed the opportunity to be hosted by Brazilian Indigenous Peoples at the pre-Assembly event, and to especially share the experiences and issues of Indigenous peoples within the wider Latin America region.

In the pre-Assembly event, three main issues complemented the overall theme. These were:

• Ecumenical partnership: a review of WCC Indigenous Peoples programme commitments and progress to date;
• Local and global approaches to transformation: sharing current issues impacting on indigenous communities and identifying strategies for change;
• Vision and action to transform the world: engaging in a visioning process that brought together the previous discussions and presentations of participants, and provided an input into the wider life and work of the WCC 9th Assembly.

  More information on WCC work with Indigenous Peoples

  WCC Central Committee 2005 statement on "Human rights and languages of indigenous peoples"