Wednesday, September 25
11:00AM - 12:30PM EDT
Join MCC, the Church of the Brethren, and the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) for a webinar on climate and peace! Learn from partners around the world how climate change is driving conflict within their communities and how they are acting to address this crisis.
United in our call to stand for peace worldwide, many of us see climate change as one of the biggest obstacles to this goal. Hear how you can take action to advocate for international climate assistance and to support peace globally!
Speakers will include Sibonokuhle Ncube, Mennonite Mission Network's regional co-director for Africa and Europe; Lemmy Thomas Aniah, gender-based violence coordinator for the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria; and Victor Odinda, climate solutions partner advisor for MCC Cambodia. Daren Caughron, legislative manager, sustainable energy and environment for FCNL, will share expertise on how you can encourage Congress to support climate finance for peace.
Speakers
Sibonokuhle Ncube is Mennonite Mission Network's regional co-director for Africa and Europe. She brings expertise from Zimbabwe and scholarship from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) to her role. For 20 years she has worked in multiple themes and multiple actor programs in Africa and Europe, contributing to co-created solutions through multi-pronged actions for resilience building including climate-smart agriculture; water, sanitation, hygiene (WASH); and health promotion. Other work includes protection of returnees, refugees, internally displaced people, orphaned and vulnerable children, climate finance governance, organizational development, and disaster risk reduction. She is a licensed minister of the gospel with Mennonite Church USA, author, and award-winning scholar-practitioner. Sibonokuhle is the African liaison for the Mennonite World Conference’s (MWC) Creation Care Task Force and serves on various boards including the Anabaptist Climate Collaborative (ACC) and Camp Friedenswald. Her calling as an eco-womanist, practical theologian and social justice practitioner, informs how she connects people and institutions to the beauty and power of God's shalom.
Lemmy Thomas Aniah is an experienced humanitarian professional with over seven years of dedicated service in humanitarian and developmental implementation. Born and raised in Nigeria, Lemmy's passion for community development and protecting vulnerable populations has been the driving force behind his career. He is presently serving as the gender-based violence (GBV) coordinator for Ekklesiyar Yan'uwa a Nigeria (EYN Projects), where he provides strategic direction for GBV initiatives and oversees program interventions. Lemmy's expertise encompasses a diverse array of fields, including protection mainstreaming, child protection, climate change programming, sexual and gender-based violence initiatives, and humanitarian assistance. His work has involved collaboration with a diverse range of stakeholders, including local communities, government agencies, and international organizations such as Care International, Plan International, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Victor Odinda has worked as a climate solutions partner advisor for Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Cambodia since April 2023. Previously, he has worked as a program management professional for various NGOs and consultancies in Kenya and Cambodia. In his role Victor advises local community development partners on design, planning, implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation of projects related to sustainable climate solutions. Victor has a degree in economics, offering an extra perspective on the socioeconomic dynamics that result from climate change at the community level. Victor lives in Phnom Penh but works with partners spread across other provinces in Cambodia.
Daren Caughron is FCNL’s legislative manager for sustainable energy and environment. He lobbies Congress to support action to respond to the climate crisis and prevent the further degradation of our communities and our planet. He graduated from Missouri State University with a B.S. in political science and communication in May 2020. His studies focused on U.S. foreign policy and politics in Latin America. Prior to joining FCNL, Daren was the international policy analyst at Bread for the World, where he built and ran the climate change legislative program for the organization. He also chaired the Interfaith Working Group on Foreign Assistance, a collective of 50 faith-based organizations focused on advocating for robust U.S. funding of poverty-focused development assistance. Daren was a 2019-2020 Scoville Fellow at FCNL. In this capacity, he worked through the FCNL Education Fund to provide research and coordinate meetings for the Prevention and Protection Working Group (PPWG). He is originally from Springfield, Missouri.