MECC Participates in an International Meeting on the Migration Challenges and Opportunities
Organized by the International Organization for Migration and Orthodox Partners
At the invitation of the International Organization for Migration and Orthodox Partners, the Middle East Council of Churches represented by its Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs, alongside the Director of the MECC Diakonia Department Eng. Samer Laham, participated in an international meeting entitled “Migration Challenges and Opportunities”, on Wednesday 5 April 2023, in the presence of representatives of various Churches, humanitarian organizations and concerned parties online or in person in Athens, Greece.
During the meeting, which you can watch it by clicking here, Laham delivered a message in which he presented an introduction about the Middle East Council of Churches, its mission, and the Ecumenical and humanitarian work it implements in the Middle East through various programs, especially its efforts to preserve human rights and dignity.
Below you can find the text of the message:
The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), is a non-profit faith based organization, established in 1974, and a convener of all churches in the Middle East. It Includes in its membership 21 churches organized in families which are the Eastern Orthodox, the oriental Orthodox, the Catholic and the Evangelical churches.
The purpose of the Council, in addition to deepening the spiritual fellowship among the churches of the Middle East and to unite them in word and deed, is to strive towards justice and peace, to be the voice of voiceless, and to support and accompany the survivors of many kinds of crises. This is done through several departments: The Diakonia and social service department, the Theological and Ecumenical Relations department, the Department for Service to Palestinian Refugees and several other programs. The support is done by the Financial, the Communication, the Human Resources, the IT and the Procurement Functions. Besides the head office in Beirut, it has offices in Damascus, Aleppo, Lattakia on the way, Amman, Jerusalem, Nasareth, Gaza, and liaison in Egypt.
The largest among the departments is the Diakonia and Social Service which main strategic objectives are:
Rehabilitation of Social Capital and the Value System – Restore Human Dignity
Support for vulnerable and at-risk groups: Youth, Women, Rural people, Migrants and Refugees.
Through the MECC’s dedicated teams, the relief and development services are provided to all victims of natural and conflict crises in Palestine, Iraq, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon under different humanitarian sectors such as; protection, shelter food security, livelihoods, WASH, health, education and rehabilitaion and through creative implementation modalities that preserve the dignity and privacy of beneficiaries irrespective of any kind of their backgrounds or orientations. Since the outbreak of Palestinian cause to other following crises in the region, whether be natural disasters or civil wars, the MECC was among the first responders to meet the needs of affected people, even if there was a need to be on the front lines or to deliver aid in hard-to-reach areas. Millions of individuals have received all kinds of emergency aid during the course of crises along with many development and early recovery programs during post crises era.
All programs are designed to reach the most vulnerable of refugees, displaced people or migrant workers, and to provide vital and timely assistance using dignified methods and innovative modalities. Peace building and shared future approach were part of all our interventions towards preserving the social fabric and the sustainable social cohesion. Gender equality and inclusion were a benchmark in all our activities by providing more space for women to participate in different programs as well as planning for their activities. This would have not been achieved without having in place a dedicated and trained team whose performances are rooted in their Christian faith and abiding to MECC mission and vision.
The moto of Diakonia department in the council is: “Service in Dignity” believing that any offered service will not fulfil its objective without acting in respect, love and modesty as well as caring about the privacy of served people. The Diakonia and social service programs are driven by specific values and principles which are:
“service in dignity, positive impact, transparency and accountability, timely and equal service to all, no-discrimination, impartiality, zero corruption, climate responsibility, do no harm and gender equality “. Those values and principles are the compass that lead the team to achieve the mission according to humanitarian standards so that any service has to be done decently and in order (Corinthians 1: 40/14).
The mission of the council is not limited to providing relief or humanitarian assistance but rather to advocate about the right of oppressed people and being the voice of those whose rights are violated. This is done by advocating with local authorities and decision makers to adopt and execute the international declarations and policies issued and ratified by the international communities that should be respected and followed to preserve their basic rights to enjoy safe and dignified life in any context.
It’s worth also to mention the ecumenical role of Middle East Council of Churches -through its history- in supporting member churches to develop their own Diakonia departments where many of them became among the largest humanitarian organizations in their contexts. The role of such services at the level of local churches is essential to reflect the Christian witness in multi- religious societies we live in. In many cases the churches through its existing diakonal services, are the first responders to the needs of affected people especially during the recent earthquake that hit Turkey and Northern part of Syria on February 6th this year.
Dear esteemed audience,
We cannot inform you in a short time about MECC’s achievements in the area of relief and development nor about the number of individuals who received all kinds of aid, but we can assure you that the cornerstone of the council’s success in this domain is based on the trust of beneficiaries and stakeholders and on the support of MECC’s funding partners. We know that we are passing through a difficult situation in our region at all levels and the future does not seem promising for the years to come, but in spite of such gloomy scenario, we believe that challenges always bring new opportunities and will motivate us to be more creative so that we bring joy to every suffering face created in the image and likeness of our God and make a real change in people’s lives.