wfn.org | [UMNS-ALL-NEWS] UMNS# 421-Board of Global Ministries names child

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Board of Global Ministries names child protection officer

Jul. 26, 2005

NOTE: A photograph is available at http://umns.umc.org.

By Elliott Wright*

NEW YORK (UMNS) - Joanne Reich has been named interim child protection
and community assistance officer of the United Methodist Board of Global
Ministries.

Board directors created the position last April in connection with a
child and sexual abuse policy that applies to all employees and mission
personnel.

The policy states, "Child abuse is contrary to the gospel of Jesus
Christ." Abuse is defined as "the physical or mental injury, sexual
abuse, or exploitation, negligent treatment or maltreatment of a child
by any person."

Reich, who is a deaconess already on the board's staff, will work
particularly with the agency's several program units to implement the
policy in ways appropriate to their ministries.

The appointment was made by the Rev. R. Randy Day, chief executive of
the international mission agency.

"The board's action sends a very clear signal that we are serious about
the protection of children," Day said. "Joanne Reich is well qualified
to serve as our first child protection and community assistance officer.
She is familiar with our work and her interim service will help us to
determine how much staff time will be required to achieve our objectives
going forward."

The need for the policy and the officer became evident in the process of
responding to reports of child abuse at an ecumenical youth hostel a
generation ago in what is today the Democratic Republic of Congo. An
independent panel is dealing with that issue.

Reich currently serves the mission agency in the position of executive
secretary for Women, Children and Families in the Community and
Institutional Ministries Program Area.

She is a licensed social worker who holds a master's degree in social
work from the University of Houston Graduate School and a bachelor of
arts from Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Va.

In 1992, she was awarded the Theressa Hoover Community Service and
Global Citizen Award, an honor that recognizes women under 30 years old
who have shown leadership in and commitment to local and global
concerns. She serves on the board of directors of Faith Trust Institute,
formerly the Center for Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence.

*Wright is the information officer of the United Methodist Board of
Global Ministries.

News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

********************

United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org

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