At this summer’s General Assembly (GA), the Unitarian Universalist Association’s (UUA) annual meeting, UUCC Delegates voted on social justice projects as a focus for the 2023-24 congregation year. These spotlighted concerns are called “Actions of Immediate Witness” or AIWs.

Since 1997, delegates to GA have voted to focus the organization’s attention on specific social justice causes that seem especially timely. The UUA definition of an AIW is:

“An Action of Immediate Witness (AIW) is a statement about a significant action, event, or development in the world that necessitates immediate engagement and action among UU member congregations and groups.”

The process for proposing and voting on AIWs was updated this year to take advantage of the hybrid format of the 2023 GA and the fully-online 2024 General Assembly. AIWs must have 4 characteristics: a need for an urgent response, a request for congregations to do specific things, a connection to UU values and a written format that is inclusive and anti-oppressive.

In the early years of the AIW process, delegates approved as many as 6 or 7 AIWs. By 2010, the number was capped at 3 per year. In recent years, topics included reproductive rights, the pandemic, and fighting voter suppression (historical list here).

In an upcoming article, you will learn about this year’s AIWs.