BWA DEEPENS TIES WITH THE UN
The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) is deepening its commitment to work with the United Nations. Raimundo Barreto,
director of the Division of Freedom and Justice at the BWA, attended meetings at the UN headquarters in New York in the
United States in early April, while other BWA representatives attended UN meetings in other countries.
Barreto, who took office on March 1, attended briefings on Girls Education and the End of Poverty by the Department
of Public Information of the UN Secretariat and NGOs. He also met with Kathleen Stone, UN chaplain; Christopher
Ferguson, World Council of Churches representative and chair of the UN Committee of Religious NGOs; William Vendley,
general secretary of Religions for Peace; and Nahleen Ahmed, a UN Economic and Social Council representative.
Barreto was accompanied at the UN meetings by Julie Justus, BWA Freedom and Justice Specialist.
Describing the New York meetings as “enlightening and productive,” Barreto declared, “We would like to reinforce that
the BWA representation and participation at the UN is a high priority. It is at this level that the BWA can offer its unique
contribution in the field of human rights advocacy. It is important to bring Baptist voices in order to play a more influential
role in the important discussions that are taking place right now at the UN concerning religious freedom and other human
rights.”
Barreto emphasized the positive role that the BWA can play in the international multilateral organization. “We as Baptists
have a unique perspective that will enrich the conversation and the BWA can play a more positive role in the practical
outcome of discussions. The fact that we have a large worldwide constituency behind our UN representation is recognized
as an important factor to make our advocacy work at the UN more credible.”
The BWA continues to use qualified volunteer representation when needed.
“As part of the strategy we are using to strengthen our presence at the UN, we have sent a representative to attend the
Twelfth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, which took place in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil,
from April 12 to April 17,” Barreto said. Another BWA representative attended the meeting of the NGO Committee on
Spirituality, Values and Global Concerns on April 28 in Geneva, Switzerland.
The BWA made several appointments to the UN.
Luiz Nascimento, a Brazilian native who currently lives in New Jersey in the United States, will represent the BWA at the
UN offices in New York. Shanta Premawardhana, a Sri Lankan-American living in Geneva, Switzerland, and a former
pastor of a Baptist congregation in Chicago in the United States, will be the BWA UN representative in Geneva.
The BWA holds 22 seats in the UN main offices in New York, Geneva, and Vienna in Austria, and at regional offices in
Santiago, Chile; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Bangkok, Thailand; and in Beirut. Barreto indicated that appointments to fill the
other vacancies are forthcoming and will be done gradually.
BWA representatives to the UN, who are unpaid volunteers, are appointed to a two-year term, which may be renewed
by mutual agreement between the BWA and the representative. The representatives monitor UN actions, programs and
activities, and make reports on such actions, programs and activities to the BWA; advocate for and cultivate relationships
at the UN on the behalf of the BWA; and participate in nongovernmental committees and caucuses at the UN.
The BWA, as a nongovernmental organization, has special consultative status with the United Nations, granted through
its Economic and Social Council, and is also a member of the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in
Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. The special status, obtained in 1974, gives the BWA a higher level of
access to all parts of the UN and the privilege of circulating its views to the General Assembly
and the various commissions.
PHOTO: BWA director of Freedom and Justice Raimundo Barreto, on right, with Luiz Nascimento, BWA representative to
the UN office in New York

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