Feature story
The review invites contributions from different sectors of civil society, including churches, and the WCC seeks to ensure that the voices of churches are raised in this process.
During the 49th session, which took place in April and May 2025, the WCC engaged with the reviews of Kenya and Kiribati through the submission of reports, and worked with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons to ensure a call was made to encourage Guinea, Spain, Kenya, Armenia, Sweden, Türkiye, and Kuwait to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
Concerns in Kenya
For the review of Kenya, the WCC submission focused particularly on the rights of women and children, outlining ongoing concerns including female genetical mutilation; child, early, and forced marriage; equality for women; equal access to education; and access to safe drinking water and sanitation. The submission recognised that the efforts of the government of Kenya in recent years have led to a steady decline in the prevalence of female genetical mutilation from 38 percent in 2003 to 15 percent as of 2022 among women of reproductive age, however, female genetical mutilation is still practised in certain communities in Kenya, such as the Somalis, Borans, Kisii, Maasai, and Gabras.
The submission also noted the impact of climate change as a driver increasing the rates of child marriage, in that farming communities face particular financial crises in cases of climate-induced calamities such as drought, and in some cases respond by arranging early marriages for their daughters in return for money and cattle.
Concerning access to clean water, the WCC submission called upon the government to avoid environmental degradation in water basins, and to ensure that Kenya’s water services must not be privatised.
Following the Universal Periodic Review, WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs commissioner Rev. Kolade Fadahunsi, also a member of the Ecumenical Water Network, said: “We thank Lesotho and Singapore for raising the issue of access to safe drinking water in the Universal Periodic Review of Kenya and for making recommendations on this important concern. With 60 percent of its urban population living in informal settlements, the lack of access to safe water and sanitation in Kenya is being driven by inequality and discrimination.”
Redress for survivors of nuclear testing
For Kiribati, the WCC submission focused on the legacy of nuclear testing carried out by the UK and the United States on Kiritimati (Christmas) Island – now part of Kiribati – in the 1950s and 1960s. The submission called on the international community to support Kiribati to resource and enable independent research to assess the levels of radiation contamination on Kiritimati, and urged that recommendations to support national capacities to detect and respond to this contamination be made during the Universal Periodic Review. Several recommendations made during the Universal Periodic Review by the governments of Marshall Islands, Iran, Panama, and South Africa, called for effective redress for survivors of nuclear testing and their descendants, and for international cooperation to assess and repair contaminated environments.
Peter Prove, director of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, following a visit to Kiribati in 2024 stated: “It is apparent that the level of awareness of the nuclear history amongst the people of Kiribati is extremely low, due to a combination of the vast distance, the length of time since the tests were carried out, and the lack of information given to the local people at the time or since. The true extent of the continuing toxic radioactive threats to the environment and health of the people is completely unknown. But it is essential that this be independently assessed, given the government’s plans for agricultural development on Kiritimati.”
Moving toward a nuclear-free world
Concerning the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, Armenia, Spain, and Türkiye all received recommendations during their Universal Periodic Reviews, that they should join this treaty and move towards a world free from the threats posed by nuclear weapons.
International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)
Learn more about the WCC work on arms control and disarmament
WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs
"WCC welcomes Nobel Peace Prize award to Nihon Hidankyo" (WCC news release, 11 October 2024)
