The World Council of Churches United Nations office in New York has invited churches to participate in a U.N. e-consultation on culture and its role in shaping the post-2015 development agenda.

"We cannot neglect churches' heritage of working in development areas," said Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, the WCC's representative to the U.N.

He stressed the importance of faith-based perspectives from churches and Christian organizations in the dialogue on culture and development.

"Churches' voices and experiences are paramount to help shape the global development agenda, based on justice and peace," he said.

The dialogue through e-mail and the Internet is led by the U.N. Population Fund, the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the U.N. Development Programme.

The Culture and Development meeting seeks participation through e-discussions and papers on best practices in the development areas.

Poverty reduction, education, gender equality and women's empowerment, sustainable cities and urbanization, environment and climate change, as well as inclusion and reconciliation, are the sub-themes of the consultation.

The WCC said churches are invited to provide a range of inputs, including papers, documents, perspectives, and intellectual and experiential knowledge.

Participants can access the forum through an e-consultation link where the content is available in English, French, Spanish, Russian and Portuguese.

The deadline for submissions is 8 August.

The e-discussions and papers, as well as results of national and global consultations, will feed into the United Nations Development Group report on the outcome of the Culture and Sustainable Development resolution.

It will also contribute to the report of the U.N. Secretary General on the post-2015 development agenda, which will be issued in the northern hemisphere 2014 autumn.

The year 2015 has marked the target for the Millennium Development Goals that have shaped national and international social programmes since 2000.

Current discussions in the United Nations aim at establishing new methods for sustainable development world-wide.

According to the United Nations, the "goal of the consultation is to stimulate the exchange of views, experiences and perspectives on the how culture relates to development."

For technical questions contact Melissa Garcia: mgarcia@unfpa.org.

For more information contact Rudelmar Bueno de Faria: Rudelmar.Defaria@wcc-coe.org