WCC urges pausing proposed merger of UN Women, United Nations Population Fund

WCC urges pausing proposed merger of UN Women, United Nations Population Fund

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Thu, 08/06/2026 - 15:01

In a letter to UN secretary-general Ant ó nio Guterres, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay urged pausing the proposed merger of UN Women and the United Nations Population Fund under the UN80 reform initiative.

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Photo: Ivars Kupcis/WCC

“ We recognise the legitimate purpose behind your UN80 initiative, and we do not write as opponents of reform,” writes Pillay. “ Our concern is grounded in a conviction we hold as a matter of faith: that women bear the image of God as fully as men, and that the dignity of the vulnerable cannot be a line item in an efficiency exercise.”

Pillay notes that many countries have formally stated that the analysis does not yet demonstrate how a composite model would preserve the integrity of either mandate. “ Combining them risks weakening both,” he writes.

Pillay further notes that, with more than a quarter of countries at heightened risk of rights regression, reopening mandate language now invites those opposed to gender equality to weaken…