North American Articles

By Teresia Mutuku, Communications Officer and Web Manager, WACC

WACC has launched an online donation appeal to support less privileged or marginalized people to take part in Congress 2008, a global meeting of communicators to be held in Cape Town, South Africa, October 6-10.

The focus is on women and youth, indigenous people, people living with disabilities and people living with HIV/AIDS, who are engaged in communication and peace initiatives in their communities.

By Teresia Mutuku, Communications Officer and Web Manager, WACC

Webmasters and communicators from faith-based organisations from Toronto met at the WACC offices, February 20, to share experiences and challenges related to the use of websites and information technologies for effective communication.

Participants discussed a wide-range of challenges and experiences including the question of how to adopt rapidly-evolving information technologies (ITs) and use them effectively for advocacy and promotion of faith-based activities. Understanding the effectiveness of information disseminated to audiences was identified as another shared challenge as were the technical issues of poor interconnectivity and lack of widespread IT skills.

Applicants are sought for two PhD studentships which will be funded by the University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh College of Art in the United Kingdom. The projects are designed to encourage collaboration between the two institutions and place them at the forefront of new and emerging areas of research across the boundaries of traditional disciplines.

Rev. Dr. S. Wesley Ariarajah, Professor of Theology, at Drew University, School of Theology

It is significant that WACC’s Congress 2008 in Cape Town has chosen ‘Communication is Peace: Building Viable Communities’ as the theme of its gathering. It is common to speak of ‘Communication for Peace’ or ‘ for Peace-Building’. But the bold assertion, ‘Communication is Peace’ is a welcome emphasis that gets to the heart of some of the deepest issues that plague our efforts at seeking, building, maintaining, and fostering peace. Many peace efforts fail, or breakdown after a while because they are not built on mutual knowledge and understanding and an appreciation of the issues that have keep communities apart in a state of alienation.

By Rebekah Chevalier, WACC-North America Regional Vice-Chair

When you watch or read a news story about a violent incident or a war, are you getting the complete picture? Is there additional background material that would help explain why the conflict is happening or other sources that would provide another dimension to the story?

These questions will be the focus of a series of workshops for journalists and peace advocates on “peace journalism” that will be offered during an international communication conference in Cape Town, South Africa, October 6-10, 2008. Congress 2008, sponsored by the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC), is open to communicators, journalists, peace advocates and religious leaders from around the world.