ENI – The Council of Churches in Zambia is campaigning to fight discrimination against women in the church. The council's coordinator for gender and child development, Suzanne Matale, said, “We are working with women theologians in Zambia to come up with a gender policy for the churches to understand fully gender issues and to strengthen women's leadership in the churches. The time has come to eliminate rampant discrimination against women in the Church in Zambia.”

The board and editor of the Presbyterian Record appreciate the opportunity afforded by Overture 5 to address the role of the Record within the life of the church community, especially when dealing with the publication of criminal allegations against members of the community.

ENI – The U.S. National Council of Churches has called for the closure of the American detention centre at Guantanamo Bay. The controversial jail has been described by The New York Times “as the inevitable result of creating a netherworld of despair beyond the laws of civilized nations, where men were to be held without any hope of decent treatment, impartial justice or, in so many cases, even eventual release.”

ENI – A law in the Indian province of Tamil Nadu which banned religious conversion has been repealed by the federal government. The law prompted massive protests by Christians who feared it was directed against religious minorities and could put at risk relief work undertaken by churches. Similar laws are in force in several other Indian states.

ENI – Entrepreneurs with small enterprises in the northern Philippines say a church-backed financing program has helped improve the overall quality of their lives and also helped to strengthen their Christian faith. “I thank the Lord Jesus Christ for giving us the [Swiss-based] Ecumenical Church Loan Fund because without it, my family would not be where we are now,” said 50-something Estrella Baliang, who buys and sells socks, jackets and other clothes. “With the ECLOF backing, our business continues to grow.”

Presbyterian World Service & Development is working with Action by Churches Together to help the more than 200,000 left homeless and injured by the earthquake that hit the Indonesian island of Java on May 27th. The 6.3-magnitude quake left more than 5,000 people dead.

The City of Toronto recently adopted a “no sweatshop” policy and Canadian activists are pushing for other cities to do the same. The No Sweat purchasing policy requires apparel manufacturers who supply Toronto to comply with internationally recognized labour and human rights standards. Vancouver adopted an Ethical Procurement Policy for city apparel, food and coffee last year.