wfn.org | African Governments Urged to Show Humanity to the Uprooted

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ALL AFRICA CONFERENCE OF CHURCHES
CONFERENCE DES EGLISES DE TOUTE L AFRIQUE

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April 28th, 2005

African Governments Urged to Show Humanity to the Uprooted

Delegates at a recent seminar on uprootedness at the All Africa Conference
of Churches (AACC) appealed to African governments to budget money for
assisting millions of refugees and internally displaced persons across the
continent.

The challenges of refugees in Africa have reached an alarming proportion,
Mr. Polycarp Omolo Ochilo, the Executive Director of International Affairs
- AACC said, adding that these challenges have been aggravated by the
enormous increase in the number of wars in Africa.

The net effect is that over 5 million of the total global number of
refugees is in sub-Saharan Africa and over 3 million internally displaced
are also in sub-Sahara Africa. This is why the AACC felt it urgent to hold
a workshop on uprootedness in Africa.

Representatives came from all four of the geographical regions - East,
West, Central and Southern Africa - in which the AACC has ongoing refugee
programmes.

According to Mr. Ochilo, participants noted that the problem of
uprootedness in Africa has not improved but instead has worsened given the
sheer increase in the number of the uprooted people.

Other resolutions drawn by the delegates included a call to all AACC member
churches to lobby their governments to enact legislation that recognizes
and protects refugees basic human rights. Such legislation should provide a
legal framework for the integration of refugees into the social systems of
their host countries, allowing them access to employment, education, health
care, and other basic human rights.

Noting that unfavourable policies by international financial institutions
such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Funds have generated
economic insecurity across Africa, the delegates asked civil society
organizations and Africa s governments to engage those institutions and the
World Trade Organizations to reform their policies on issues such as the
subsidizing of agricultural commodities from North America and European
countries in the global market.

On governance, the participants resolved that churches should take keen
interest in elections in their various countries to ensure that only
candidates with vision for the future and commitment to their citizens are
elected.

The delegates urged churches and the international community to help the
AACC to build its capacity so that it could be able to handle the
ever-increasing problems of uprootedness in various regions. That would
include logistical support, training in advocacy, administration, and
provision of communication facilities.