Within the General Assembly of ACT Alliance in Indonesia

Video - The Secretary General, Mr. Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, in an Exclusive Interview for the MECC Website:

“The Middle East is a very concerned region because it's showing how the humanitarian system is hostage of lack of respect to the humanitarian laws... and this is unacceptable”

The next generation needs to be very proactive, otherwise the future of humanity will be complicated”

The Middle East Council of Churches - Indonesia

Photo: Albin Hillert/ACT

In a world dominated by wars, conflicts, and crises that have destroyed people and humanity, hope remains a source of strength and determination to work together for the cause of humanity. Every human being who tortured and marginalized as a result of injustice and injustice. All humans who need someone to heal their wounds, alleviate their sorrows, and sorrow joy in their days. Thus, the role of the “ACT Alliance” international organization comes, seeking to be a Good Samaritan who embodies through his service his love for the stranger and the neighbor.

Despite all the challenges around the world, ACT Alliance decided to hold its fourth General Assembly under the theme “Hope in Action, Together for Justice,” emphasizing that the will of life is the strongest. A global Ecumenical event full of fraternity and love, hosted by the Indonesian “Yakkum” Center for the People with Disabilities, in the Yogyakarta region in Indonesia. It took place between October 28 and November 1, 2024, with the participation of the ACT Alliance family, its employees and representatives of its members from regional and international organizations and bodies, including the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC).

As part of the General Assembly activities, the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) had a meeting with the General Secretary of ACT Alliance, Mr. Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, who spoke in an exclusive interview for the MECC website about the most prominent issues that were addressed, stressing the importance of service, solidarity and advocacy.

Serving with Love towards the Desired Justice

Firstly, De Faria explained that the General Assembly discussed as part of its global strategy for the next period current humanitarian and societal issues related to the inclusion, polarization, discrimination and inequalities. He mentioned that “ACT Alliance seeks through its mission to emphasize the importance of climate justice, gender justice and the nexus between humanitarian development and advocacy work. The strategy also tries to focus on improving our humanitarian system as it's changing very quickly, considering the context of the world as well, in addition to increasing our role within the global arena in advocacy.”

Amidst all these difficulties and urgent crises, humanitarian workers face many challenges, especially in the Middle East, which suffers from severe wars and conflicts. In this context, Mr. Rudelmar pointed out that “the Middle East is a very concerned region because it's showing how the humanitarian system is hostage of lack of respect to the humanitarian law, access to humanitarian access because of political interference.

It's fundamental that we address these issues of humanitarian access and also delivery within the international community. Otherwise, we will be just putting humanity at risk, and also creating a factor of risk for genocide and other kinds of atrocities against people, especially civilians. This is unacceptable, considering the humanitarian principles and also the international agreements that were established by the multilateral system, including the UN.”

Together for a Brighter Future

Hence, it is necessary to be united, standing together, and making efforts for a better future. So how can we work together to find solutions to all global challenges?

Mr. Rudelmar Bueno de Faria explains that “ACT Alliance is well positioned to work together. We are connected with the Churches and also cooperating with other Religions, to provide humanitarian assistance, sustainable development, community resilience and also advocating for the rights of the people. So we are well positioned as a faith based organizations, but we need still to work more on advocacy to ensure that other stakeholders, especially governments and the multilateral system, also engage in the same with values that are associated with inclusion, solidarity, respect and also justice.”

Youth, Leaders of Tomorrow

Thus, De Faria stressed the importance of the role of youth, the leaders of the future, and said: “It's a crucial moment for humanity to have a strong participation of youth and young people in all spheres of our life, in the political life, in the development, in the humanitarian. It's crucial because my generation has failed to promote inclusion, peace and reconciliation. We are walking paths that is very concerned. If it will not be the youth I do not know who else is going to do. This generation now needs to be very proactive. Otherwise the future of humanity will be extremely complicated.”

Media and the Issue of Humanity

In this context, the media, especially Christian media institutions, plays a major role in promoting awareness about various current issues in an attempt to address them and spread the human values ​​that the world needs today more than ever before. Therefore, Mr. Rudelmar Bueno de Faria called for the necessity of embedding the production in terms of communication, including videos and messages, into our values ​​related to inclusion, respect, solidarity and compassion. He added that “in light of facing challenges in terms of new technologies and the spread of fake news and new interpretation of values ​​through the media, we must have documented information and data that can be available to the groups and people who need it.”

On the occasion of the launch of the new Media Production Center “The Platform of the Word” at the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), De Faria said “My message is that we put all the efforts, try to get the resources that you need to have to make that work in a proper way and engage with the different networks that can provide you with elements and data, to be implemented on that. I wish all the best!”.

ACT Alliance and MECC

At the end, the General Secretary of ACT Alliance, Mr. Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, talked about the relationship between ACT and MECC, noting that “the Council is a member of the ACT Alliance, and we are very proud of that, providing humanitarian assistance, development work and also advocating for values and also actions that include people.”

He continued “The Middle East Council of Churches is also a regional Ecumenical organization, and we have a different relationship with the Middle East Council of Churches. One is in terms of membership and the other one is in terms of being part of the Ecumenical movement that these two organizations are. So that it's a privilege for us to have the Middle East Council of Churches in this double connections where it can engage as a member of the ACT Alliance, but also as a very respected Ecumenical regional Ecumenical organization.”