wfn.org | First Pan-African LWF Consultation on Challenges of HIV/AIDS

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>]

First Pan-African LWF Church Leaders Consultation on Challenges of
HIV/AIDS
Networking and Mutual Support in the Lutheran Communion

GENEVA, 29 April 2002 (LWI) - Bishops and presidents from the 27
Lutheran World Federation (LWF) member churches in Africa will be
meeting May 1-6 in Nairobi, Kenya for the first Pan-African Church
Leaders Consultation on the Challenges of HIV/AIDS.

Organized by the LWF Department for Mission and Development (DMD),
the conference brings together over 60 participants including
pastors, women and youth leaders to deliberate extensively about
the challenges posed by the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa.

Hosted by the two LWF member churches in Kenya, the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Kenya (ELCK) and Kenya Evangelical Lutheran
Church (KELC), the conference aims at affirming that the HIV/AIDS
pandemic calls for a joint concerted effort of all people. The
meeting also hopes to facilitate and promote networking and mutual
support in the Lutheran communion in Africa as a way of
confronting the pandemic.

The Nairobi consultation will offer an opportunity for LWF African
church leaders to discuss theological, ethical and pastoral
implications of HIV/AIDS. They would also reflect on the churches'
involvement in all aspects of HIV/AIDS including awareness,
prevention, care and counseling, as well as specific projects and
campaign processes. Prevention in particular presents a major
challenge for the churches.

Plenary presentations and group discussions will include, among
others, focus on topics such as breaking the silence of living
with HIV/AIDS, and living positively with the illness. The LWF
Action Plan on HIV/AIDS will also be presented. Visits with
centers caring for HIV/AIDS victims will be an integral part of
the five-day program, enabling participants to better understand
the situation of people living with the disease.

The LWF member churches in Africa represent over 10.5 million
Lutherans. Most of the churches have programs and/or projects
dealing with HIV/AIDS. Through DMD, the LWF works with its member
churches worldwide in responding to the HIV/AIDS challenges. Also,
the Department for World Service programs have an HIV/AIDS
component.

According to the United Nations AIDS program, UNAIDS, in 2000 AIDS
claimed the lives of 3 million people worldwide. Nearly 70 percent
of the world's HIV/AIDS infections, and 90 percent of deaths from
AIDS are in Africa, a region that is home to just 10 percent of
the world's population. Infection levels are highest in the
sub-Saharan region where access to care is lowest, and social and
economic safety nets that might help families cope with the impact
of the epidemic are grossly inadequate.

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now
has 133 member churches in 73 countries representing over 60.5
million of the 64.3 million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on
behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as
ecumenical 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 information service of
the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). 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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