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Recognizing that reproductive health is a concern for all people, not just women, the webinar was held as part of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence which culminates on Human Rights Day. The new publication provides an introductory-level approach for churches to understand and engage challenges within reproductive health.
In the publication’s foreword, Rev. Dr Kenneth Mtata, WCC programme director for Public Witness and Diakonia, reflected on how churches are called to confront complex challenges that impact the lives of our congregations and communities.
“Among these, reproductive health stands as a deeply significant issue—one that requires wisdom, compassion, and a commitment to holistic care. It is a matter of justice, love, and faithfulness to God’s call to care for all aspects of human flourishing,” Mtata writes. “This publication emerges from the World Council of Churches’ recognition that silence or hesitation in addressing reproductive health can have devastating consequences.
“This framework provides a compassionate and biblically grounded approach to reproductive health education and support,” Mtata writes. “Rooted in the wisdom of faith and science, it is designed to equip churches and church leaders with the knowledge and sensitivity to minister effectively in this area.”
To commemorate the framework, the webinar featured a range of panelists whose work on reproductive health is rooted in Christ’s love and justice.
Topics included family planning, maternal and child health, and faith-based adolescent sexual education.
In the first round of discussion, panelists were invited to share about the work their communities do to alleviate reproductive health barriers and comment on the role of faith actors.
Dr Amon Marti, executive director of Selian Hospital in Arusha, Tanzania and health secretary for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania, shared about the need to support the sexual and reproductive health of women and girls living with disabilities, highlighting the failure to meet their reproductive health needs like accurate education and proper facilities.
Emilie Weiderud, policy advisor for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights at ACT Church of Sweden, noted how “maternal mortality and morbidity, inadequate access to sexual and reproductive health and rights services results in high levels of maternal deaths especially in low income regions.”
She continued, “The role of faith communities is crucial, as the framework mentions. There’s a huge amount of social and healthcare services faith actors provide for the most marginalized and often without adequate support from the state to do that. And faith actors impact the acceptability and accessibility of services. Faith communities and in particular, faith leaders have a deep impact on influencing norms and attitudes.”
About the publication, Dan Irvine, global director for World Vision said, “I particularly love the emphasis on equity, for its language addressing issues of fear and power, and its ambition of contributing to a growing culture of equality for women.”
He continued to suggest that the framework more proactively emphasize the need for faith actors’ engagement with comprehensive sexuality education. He also emphasized the need for the framework to address violence within faith communities.
About the new publication, Nyakuoth Top Kuek, gender-based violence and adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights coordinator at Norwegian Church Aid, noted, “This is something that is going to help us [the churches] a lot… We often misquote the Bible to justify violence, to justify denying access to sexual and reproductive health services, so this is a good document [to address this].”
For the framework, she recommended adding providing psychosocial support to adolescents experiencing reproductive health challenges and echoed the call for comprehensive sexuality education, saying “prevention is better than cure.”
The Love, Justice, and Reproductive Health: A Framework for Churches is available for download here.
