Faith Inspires, Never Give up Hope
Greetings and Opening Remarks at the Women Human Rights Training, Geneva, October 17, 2023
by Rev. Dr. Sivin Kit, Director (ad interim) for Theology, Mission and Justice, the Lutheran World Federation
Greetings from the Lutheran World Federation. We are proud to continue as one of the organizers of this year’s training, and welcome to Geneva.
I’m so encouraged to see you all here for this year’s training on women’s human rights. Your presence energizes our work, and that’s why we never give up hope.
Narges Mohammadi, the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize winner, said: “Women will not give up. We are fuelled by a will to survive, whether we are inside prison or outside.”
However, this is not easy because there’s so much happening that it could overwhelm even the strongest activist into giving up or paralyze a beginner from even starting.
We are living in challenging times when gender equality and human rights are under attack from many sides. We face religious fundamentalism, shrinking civic space, and violence against women and girls. We need to raise our voices, advocate for gender justice based on our faith traditions, and stand together as women’s rights defenders.
