The president of the Lutheran World Federation, Bishop Munib Younan of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, has called for a Syrian-led dialogue to resolve the current conflict there and has urged the international community to provide emergency aid for refugees fleeing from the violence. He encouraged world leaders:
“to pursue a Syrian-led process of dialogue and peace-building as diligently as they have pursued military conflict and the preservation of their supposed geopolitical interests.” They should “avoid the temptation to manipulate sectarian divisions in pursuit of their interests,” he added.
His statement reiterated the LWF’s commitment in assisting Syrian refugees. A Memorandum of Understanding with the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization (JHCO) signed in August includes support to the JHCO in providing shelter, psycho-social support, education services and camp management at the Za’atari refugee camp, inside the Jordanian border with Syria.
Younan urged the United Nations and its member states to spare no effort in delivering the appropriate aid to refugees and to those displaced within Syria. He said efforts “must not waver” in finding a peaceful and just solution to the conflict.
The ELCJHL bishop expressed support for a September statement on Syria by the World Council of Churches’ Central Committee calling for an end to the violence, encouraging urgent humanitarian response and a peaceful resolution of the conflict.
