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Lutheran Delegates Say AIDS Summit Successfully Mobilized Womenâs Action LWF General Secretary Noko Underscores Partnership with YWCA
NAIROBI, Kenya/GENEVA, 18 July 2007 (LWI) - Representatives of churches and organizations from the Lutheran constituency attending a recent international summit on women's leadership on HIV and AIDS, pointed out the conference had succeeded in mobilizing women in the fight against the global epidemic.
Closing with an emphatic "Nairobi 2007 Call to Action," the nearly 1,800 delegates to the 4 - 7 July International Women's Summit (IWS) on leadership on HIV and AIDS declared they wanted to show AIDS could bring out the best of humanity, while listing compassion, justice, security, unconditional support, inclusion, love, solidarity and action, as key elements.
The World Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) organized the summit in Nairobi, Kenya, in partnership with the International Community of Women Living with HIV and AIDS and other international organizations. It was held in the context of the 1-11 July World YWCA Council.
Ms Karin Achtelstetter, director of the LWF Office for Communication Services represented the LWF General Secretary, Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko at the meetings. In his greeting to the World YWCA Council, Noko expressed gratitude for the collaboration and partnership at various levels with the global women's movement.
"National YWCAs encourage, inspire and strengthen women and girls to become leaders in their communities and churches, promoting new role models and challenging traditional structures within churches including those that are LWF members," Noko stated.
Lutheran World Information (LWI) interviewed some of the LWF constituency members attending the summit.
Quality Leadership
Dr Mamy Ranaivoson, a medical doctor based in Nairobi and currently working as a consultant for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the LWF, said he was impressed by the show of quality leadership and mobilization especially by the women in the church.
At the start of the summit, around 300 women living with HIV, came together in a safe space to share their experiences, support one another, and empower each other to teach and lead in HIV and AIDS response.
"I am proud of the way it was organized and conducted. Including HIV positive women, young women, and inviting all the leaders, is a significant step in raising awareness," commented Dr Belletech Deressa, director for International Development and Disaster Response at the ELCA Global Mission unit.
Call to Action
The "Call to Action" identifies ten specific strategies, called the critical "actions for change," which can be implemented through individuals, families, faith groups and communities. They include, developing leadership for women; ensuring meaningful involvement; promoting gender equality and human rights for women; and ensuring physical and psychological safety and security, among others.
World YWCA General Secretary Dr Musimbi Kanyoro said at the summit's closing press conference that women could not afford to leave the conference with anything less than a commitment to act as individuals and as a movement.
"That is why we have developed the 'Call to Action'," said Kanyoro, a Kenyan Lutheran, who had served at the LWF Women in Church Society desk in Geneva, prior to taking up leadership at the World YWCA.
The summit, she noted, had not been about lamenting, but about sharing hope, developing skills, strategies, and the commitment that will transform the course of AIDS globally.
Churchesâ Role
Dr Atle Sommerfeldt, general secretary of Norwegian Church Aid (NCA), observed that it had been very clear from all the summit's sessions that leadership was needed from women living with or affected by HIV and AIDS. "I [realized] that a lot of the program ming in HIV and AIDS has not been gender sensitive. The role of female leadership has been under utilized, neglected or marginalized."
The NCA general secretary said, "The churches' role especially in Africa and globally is to fight all kinds of stigmatization of those affected by HIV. People often die of social exclusion rather than medical reasons, and I think that churches have a major responsibility in that."
For Achtelstetter, the IWS was "a truly inspirational and visionary summit in addressing gender-related issues with regard to HIV and AIDS," and one that had proven that "the LWF and World YWCA not only share common concerns, but need to seek closer and improved cooperation and action." (704 words)
(Reported for LWI by Kenyan journalist Fredrick Nzwili.)
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(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF currently has 140 member churches in 78 countries all over the world, with a total membership of nearly 66.7 million. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical and interfaith relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)
[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF's information service. Unless specifically noted, material presented does not represent positions or opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of an article contains the notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced with acknowledgment.]
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