Statement: LWF Council Statement on Protracted Crises and Human Suffering
The Lutheran World Federation Council, meeting under the theme ‘Be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith’ – (Rom.1:12), issues the following statement:
Erklärung des LWB
Date 15 June 2026
FOUNEX, Switzerland
The LWF Council expresses deep concern over the growing number of crises around the world that continue to cause immense human suffering while receiving insufficient international attention and response. Even when human suffering is forgotten by most or measured by geopolitical interests, profitability or visibility in the news cycle, God does not forget. The normalization of suffering and the selective attention given to crises undermine the principles of human dignity, justice, and shared responsibility.
The humanitarian crises of our time are more protracted, widespread, and complex than at any point in recent memory. The growing consequences of these crises: the displacement of millions of people; attacks on civilians, hospitals, schools, and places of worship; food insecurity and famine; trafficking and exploitation; and the shrinking space for democracy, civil society, and religious freedom are particularly alarming.
The Council laments the marginalization and targeting of specific groups during conflict and humanitarian crises. Women, girls, and boys disproportionately bear the burden of displacement, poverty, sexual and gender-based violence, loss of livelihoods, and unequal access to education, healthcare, and protection. Children, older persons, persons with disabilities, refugees, indigenous peoples, and internally displaced persons are among those most at risk and most often forgotten.
The Council stands in solidarity with and remembers in prayer the people affected in Afghanistan, Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Cuba, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, India, Lebanon, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Palestine, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela, Yemen, and other places where human dignity has been threatened by violence, repression, disasters, occupation, and neglect for decades.
The Council gives thanks to God for the faithful and courageous witness and service of LWF member churches, World Service, ecumenical partners, other faith communities, and civil society actors accompanying affected populations through pastoral care, humanitarian assistance, and advocacy.
The Council calls on the international community, governments, multilateral institutions, and humanitarian agencies:
- To redouble their efforts towards addressing protracted crises and conflicts that receive limited political or media attention and are often ignored particularly in the countries mentioned above, including by urgently addressing the severe humanitarian financing gap.
- Ensure that policy and practice in humanitarian and development aid as well as peacebuilding are responsive to the needs and rights of all vulnerable and crisesaffected people without discrimination.
- To uphold International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law and their legal responsibility to protect people affected by crises.
The Council calls on member churches to:
- Remember in intercessory prayer and lift different crises and countries to God, while continuing to advocate, and act in solidarity with those whose suffering is too often unseen and unheard.
