Every first Friday in March, people from all over the world celebrate the “World Day of Prayer”. It is the oldest and largest ecumenical movement worldwide. Women of different denominations prepare and conduct the services locally in over 120 countries. Their motto is: "Pray informed - act praying". Therefore, each year women from a different country of the world write the order of the service for the World Day of Prayer. This year’s country is Vanuatu. Since I had prepared a little presentation about the country for the meeting with the 18-30s yesterday, I decided to share some of the information with you:
Vanuatu is a tropical island state including 83 islands in the Pacific Ocean. 67 of the islands are inhabited by around 276.000 people. 113 languages are spoken, more than anywhere else in the world. Bislama, which is widely spoken, French and English are the official languages. During my research, I came across some other interesting facts: did you know that bungee jumping was originated in Vanuatu and Barter is still practiced on a certain island?
Many traditional customs still determine the lives of the inhabitants of Vanuatu's islands. However, these often contradict international principles of human rights. Some chiefs tend to favor tradition at the expense of children's rights and prevent them from being respected. As a result of socio-economic, geographical and political problems, Vanuatu encounters difficulties in implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Boys are considered marriageable at the age of 18, girls at the age of 16 years. About 13 % of girls under 19 are married. The legal minimum age for criminal responsibility is 10 years of age. A law prohibits forced labor for children under 12, except in family farming. Most families can only afford to educate their firstborn child. Mostly, boys get priority. 60% of girls and women are affected by physical and/or sexual violence. A young girl who has been sexually abused by a parent is found guilty and is not considered a victim. Health care is one of the biggest problems in the country. Due to the division of the territory into many small islands, as well as the frequent natural disasters, the proper implementation of national programs is difficult.
Climate Justice:
The basis of the concept of "climate justice" is the realisation that those who are the most victims are at the same time the least perpetrators of the climate catastrophe. On the one hand, there is a generational conflict: children and young people are less responsible for climate change but are the generation living with the consequences. On the other hand, there are people from the "poorer" countries, the southern hemisphere. Having in mind the global gap between rich and poor, the climate crisis is at the same time an ethical conflict in the context of social justice. Hardly any other country is as affected by climate disasters as the island nation of Vanuatu. In 2015, a hurricane destroyed large parts of the island nation. With wind speeds of more than 300 kilometres per hour, hardly any storm has ever been stronger. Yet the little-developed country itself is hardly responsible for climate change. Quite the contrary: The island nation is officially the first country to implement measures to prevent plastic waste. Since 1 July 2018, it is officially a criminal offence in Vanuatu to sell plastic bags, plastic drinking straws, polystyrene boxes and plastic tableware. The manufacture or transfer of these products is also illegal. The Pacific nation of Vanuatu is the first to ban disposable nappies, and it is also the first country to ban plastic bottles long ago. Vanuatu therefore wants to go to the International Court of Justice and hold industrialised countries accountable.
This year’s motto of the World Day of Prayer is “Build on a Strong Foundation”. This is based on the following Bible passage:
In the Bible passage we are asked to build our house on the rock, on Jesus. Putting Jesus' words into practice basically means following Jesus and act out of love. The Vanuatu women say that “Land to a Ni-Vanuatu is what a mother is to a baby.” The fact that Vanuatu translates as "forever our country" underlines the special relationship the people of Vanuatu have with their land. It is at the foundation of their identity and spiritual strength.
When talking about climate change, I think it is important to have the concept of climate justice in mind. In my opinion, we tend to have a rather Eurocentric reporting in our news. Especially in the current time when all the news seem to be about covid-19, we forget about the needs around us. For us in Europe it is easy to say that there is still time to “solve” climate change. But we forget that people are already suffering from the effects. I really hope that movements like the World Day of Prayer contribute to prioritizing the issue of climate change and climate justice again.
If you have time today, why not join one of many services? Due to the current situation a lot of them are being streamed online. So you might even have the possibility to watch services from around the world. ;)