What We Do - Trade Justice

Across the globe Church World Service helps support programs that enable local communities to benefit from a global economy. Through its advocacy program, Church World Service is active in campaigning on trade justice issues with partners nationally and internationally.

In North America, CWS is a member of MESA (http://www.ccc-cce.ca/mesa/english/index.htm), a common table at which Canadian, US and Mexican churches can share new information on globalization and trade justice, analyze political and economic developments, and offer practical solutions for constructing an economy in the service of life in the Americas.

Church Consultation in North America

MESA, or table, was the result of Just Trade Agreements? Churches in North America Addressing Globalization, a January 2004 consultation convened by Church World Service, the World Council of Churches and Canadian churches. The overall purpose of the consultative process was to analyze the impact of trade on economic justice, review church policies on trade issues, and offer a theological and ethical analysis of the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). At Stony Point, New York, conveners and attendees of the consultation crafted a baseline ecumenical action plan for the Americas that promotes “right relationships” and lays groundwork for developing measures and standards for a just trade charter in the hemisphere.