WCC NEWS: City street in Geneva will be named after former WCC president Annie Jiagge

The city of Geneva is renaming a street for Annie Jiagge (1918-1996), who was the first African woman to be a World Council of Churches (WCC) president (1975-83). She was also moderator of the WCC’s commission on the Programme to Combat Racism. Annie Jiagge at the WCC 6th Assembly in Vancover in 1983 Photo: Peter Williams/WCC 30 September 2021 She attended WCC assemblies at Evanston (1954), Uppsala (1968), Nairobi (1975), Vancouver (1983) and Canberra (1991). In 1968 she represented the WCC at the Roman Catholic laity conference in Rome. At home in Ghana, she served as counsellor for the Christian council and as chair of the commission on the churches’ participation in development. The street-naming initiative in Geneva is highlighting women who contributed to the history of Geneva at different periods. Annie Jiagge was the daughter of Robert Domingo Baeta, an assembly clerk of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Ghana. She became interested in the ecumenical movement when she attended a world conference of Christian youth in Oslo in 1947. After studies in law at the London School of Economics, she practiced law in Ghana and went on to become a magistrate, circuit court judge and high court judge. She served the YWCA at various capacities at home and abroad, including as vice chairperson of the World YWCA from 1958-62. As president of the UN Commission on the Status of Women from 1962-72, she was the author of the basic draft of the UN Declaration of the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. For her numerous contributions to the nations and the world, she received the Grand Medal of Ghana in 1969. See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 550 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC acting general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, from the Orthodox Church in Romania. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches 150 route de Ferney Geneve 2 1211 Switzerland