wfn.org | All Africa News Agency - Bulletin No. 38-02 (b)

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AANA Bulletin
Editor - Mitch Odero

Bulletin APTA
Acting Editor - Silvie Alemba

Churches Undertake To Fight Violence Against Women

WITTENBERG, Germany (AANA) September 30 - The President of the Lutheran 
World Federation LWF, Bishop Dr Christian Krause has called upon the Church 
to be in the forefront in combating all forms of violence from society.

Krause pointed out that the first priority for the Church was to say "no" 
to violence against women as it "had infringed on their rights". He said 
that there was need to empower women so that human dignity could be restored.

"I cannot see any culture of humanity as long as there is violence against 
women. It is a serious thing that affects the whole society," he told AANA 
during the LWF council meeting.

Krause noted that the Church was better placed to deal with violence 
because it interacted closely with the people. He stressed the need for 
churches to build a network with one another in order to combat violence 
effectively.

He said the federation had responded to the World Council of Churches' call 
to overcome violence by 2010, with a document titled, Churches Say No To 
Violence Against Women.

The document, which was released at the meeting, will be used as resource 
material in Christian education, as a contribution from the Lutheran 
Communion to the reduction of all forms of violence.

It will be promoted within ecumenical, non-governmental, and government 
networks. It will also be translated into local languages and enriched with 
contextual illustrations that would speak to larger audiences in different 
communities.

LWF Vice-President for Africa Region, Ms Parmata Ishaya, said violence 
against women was still on the rise, and that there was need to have a 
working document that could guide the Church, civil society, and 
governments on how to deal with cases of violence.

The meeting coincided with the first anniversary of the September 11 
terrorist attacks on the United States. In this regard, council members 
unanimously adopted a statement saying dialogue among peoples, cultures and 
religions, was both the means and objective of a genuine and effective 
response to terrorism.

They underlined that isolation and domination was not the answer, and that 
military means would not provide the security needed. "It is only through 
mutual understanding and solidarity, including active efforts to address 
social and economic inequities, that the root causes of terrorism can be 
removed," the statement said in part.

Krause emphasised the importance of dialogue involving representatives of 
divergent religious faiths and various human rights movements. He said: "We 
should not look at our differences, but rather look for ways of bridging 
religious tensions. We are one body in Christ and we should not allow 
religion to cut us into pieces".

Reported by Joyce Mulama

LWF Meeting Picks Venue, Theme For Next Assembly

WITTENBERG, Germany (AANA) September 30 - The Lutheran World Federation LWF 
will hold its tenth assembly in July 2003.

The assembly, whose theme is For the Healing of the World will be held in 
Winnipeg, Canada, hosted by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.

Members attending the LWF council meeting here agreed that the theme was 
relevant in the current global situation.

LWF Vice-President for Africa and a lay member of the Lutheran Church of 
Christ in Nigeria, Mrs Parmata Ishaya said Africa needed healing from 
engaging child soldiers, raping of women during war and subsequent refugee 
crises.

"Africa seems to have the largest share of the problems of this world. All 
these constitute a threat to our lives as Christians and we need healing," 
she said.

"There is need in the coming assembly to have a wider perspective of what 
healing is. For healing to take place, there is need for will-power to stop 
hurting others, whether knowingly or unknowingly," she added.

Bishop Munib Younan, head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan said 
the world was crying for healing, as there was so much hurt.

  "The walls of hatred, bitterness, violence and animosity are growing 
higher than the walls built by man," he regretted.

He said what the Middle East needed, particularly Palestine and Israel, was 
reconciliation, saying, "we do not need people to be pro-Palestine or 
pro-Israel".

"We want them to be pro-justice, pro-truth and advocates for 
reconciliation. If people become one-sided, they shall be adding (paraffin) 
to fire".

Younan pointed out that military power and political intervention do not 
heal the world. He said accepting and accommodating one another as people 
created in the image of God was a more powerful tool to bring healing and 
forgiveness.

The bishop noted that the Middle East situation was a political conflict 
that required a political solution, and most important was for the two 
states to live side by side. "We want security for Israel, which is 
dependant on the freedom of the Palestinians," he asserted.

He called upon the religious communities to work together in advocating for 
peace in the region. Dialogue between Muslims and Jews, he said, would go a 
long way in healing the wounds of the people.

Younan observed that the Church was a catalyst for peace and a minister of 
reconciliation. "It has a duty of defending human rights. Let churches 
raise their voice and stop the bloodshed," he stated.

Rev Emmanuel Grantson, pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 
said the theme could not have been better. He said America needed healing 
after the dreadful terrorist attacks last year.

Grantson said, "healing is a process, recovery is a choice". Referring to 
the civilian bombing in Afghanistan after the attacks, he said his country 
needed forgiveness for hurting innocent people in pursuit of revenge.

"We need healing at all levels; political and economical.  Above all, 
Americans need spiritual healing," he said.

The assembly takes place every six or seven years with the purpose of 
electing a president and a 49-member council to lead the federation through 
its annual meetings. The assembly is also responsible for providing policy 
direction for the federation.

Reported by Joyce Mulama

Globalisation Could Cause Harm In The Third World

WITTENBERG, Germany (AANA) September 30 -Globalisation as an ambiguous 
phenomenon that had caused more harm than good, especially in Third World 
countries, says the Lutheran World Federation General Secretary, Rev Dr 
Ishmael Noko.

Noko said globalisation had been credited with the expansion of commercial 
transactions across national borders, but creating wealth disparities.

"The opening of new market opportunities for local and national producers 
has increased wealth for some. The problem is the distribution of these 
benefits. They are biased in favour of the powerful economic actors," he
added.

He noted that globalisation had promoted intercultural discourse but many 
times cultural insights resulting to accumulated wisdom had been overrun by 
market-driven "values".

Noko, however, observed that globalisation had provided opportunities for 
local cultures to be profiled and appreciated globally, saying, this was 
one positive effect.

"While globalisation has many negative impacts, it does not necessarily 
mean death or catastrophic extermination of local cultures, but an 
opportunity for renewal and progress," he said.

He pointed out that negative effects of globalisation surfaced because it 
lacked structures of regulation and accountability.

He said the democratic deficit was too conspicuous, referring to the G8 
group annual meetings, where decisions were routinely taken that affect the 
lives of every person in the planet.

"It is difficult to understand how eight nations can decide on the future 
of the entire world in a century where transparency and participation are 
upheld as very important marks of democracy," he added.

Noko noted that the Church too had not been spared by the consequences of 
globalisation. He said many churches in the developing countries had been 
rendered economically weak.

"Diminishing financial resources have resulted in even tighter limitations 
of the churches' capacity to provide for their pastors and other church 
workers," he added.

He further said that globalisation had bred a sense of insecurity and 
discontent because people were fearful that governments, corporate 
institutions and international organisations did not care about their
welfare.

Reported by Joyce Mulama

Inter-Faith Peace Summit To Define Strategies For Peace

GENEVA(AANA) September 30 - Religious leaders and inter-faith groups (IFGs) 
from all over Africa will gather for an October 14-19 conference in 
Johannesburg, South Africa, to define practical strategies for preventing 
and resolving conflicts on the continent.

The Inter-Faith Peace Summit in Africa is being sponsored by the 
Geneva-based Lutheran World Federation LWF in collaboration with other 
faith-based organizations, and with financial support from the Government 
of Finland.

"There is an urgent need for religious leaders to be given a voice on 
conflict issues," says Rev Dr Ishmael Noko, LWF General Secretary. The 
summit will focus on what faith communities can do by working together to 
prevent and resolve conflicts in a region in which millions of people 
suffer the effects of war.

Noko points out that, "It is not more declarations that are needed, but 
concrete action". One of the focal points of the summit will be examining 
how traditional African methods can be effectively used to help resolve 
modern conflicts and promote reconciliation.

Also, a series of case studies will be presented on the activities and 
methodologies of the various IFGs represented at the Summit, and their 
"lessons learned". In addition, panel discussions will address the topics 
of "African Women against Conflict" and "Religious Co-existence in Africa". 
Skills-based training workshops will be held to strengthen the capacity of 
existing inter-faith efforts for peace.

The LWF is the lead agency/facilitator of this initiative, which has been 
formulated in consultation with many ecumenical and inter-faith partners, 
including in particular the World Council of Churches and World Alliance of 
Reformed Churches. The National Religious Leaders' Forum of South Africa 
NRLFSA will be the Summit's local host.

Religious communities' representatives including African traditional 
religions, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Baha'i, Buddhism and Hinduism are 
expected to participate in this event.

A wide range of issues will be covered at the Summit, including the role of 
inter-faith dialogue in promoting a culture of peace, conflict resolution 
and mediation techniques (including African traditional methods), relations 
between religious communities and the State in the context of conflict 
resolution and peace promotion.

Other highlights are the cyclical relationship between the violation of 
human rights and conflict, the role of the African Union and New 
Partnership for Africa's Development, NEPAD, in conflict resolution, 
healing and reconciliation praxis in post-conflict societies.

Prepared by Pauline Mumia

SPECIAL  REPORT

Horn Of Africa Now One Step From Polio-Free Status

NAIROBI (AANA) September 30 - With only two cases of polio paralysis to 
date in  2002  in  Ethiopia,  Somalia and Sudan, the Horn of Africa is 
extremely close  to  being  polio-free. However to finish the job, the Horn 
countries must	continue  mass	polio immunization campaigns and urgently 
require the funding to carry these out.

"Despite the enormous challenge of delivering polio vaccine to children in 
Ethiopia,  Sudan  and  Somalia,  the  people of these countries have almost 
wiped  polio  out  of  the  Horn,"  said  Dr  Bruce  Aylward,  World Health 
Organization  coordinator  of  the  Polio  Eradication Initiative, at a key 
meeting  in  Nairobi  last week.

"By  reducing  polio  cases to near-zero, the 
partnership  has  demonstrated	that  polio's  days  are numbered  even in 
countries where conflict has otherwise ravaged health systems".

The   Polio   Partners'  Horn	of   Africa  meeting  included	widespread 
representation	 from	the   spearheading  polio  partners  (World  Health 
Organization,  Rotary  International,  US  Centres  for Disease Control and 
Prevention  and  UNICEF),  Somalia,  Sudan  and  Ethiopia, 
non-governmental 
organizations,	 and   crucially,  high-level  representatives	from  donor 
countries.

In  2000, Somalia, Sudan and Ethiopia had a combined total of 327 confirmed 
polio  cases.  To  date  this  year, only Somalia has cases, with just two. 
Sudan and Ethiopia have not found any cases in well over a year.

To achieve this progress, polio partners including thousands of volunteers 
have worked under  some  of the harshest conditions possible, particularly 
in Sudan and Somalia where conflict has made the work especially challenging.

"To  bring  us	this  far,  local vaccinators have often taken huge risks 
literally dodging  bullets to get vaccine into the mouths of children. 
Directly  due  to  their efforts, Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia, three of the 
ten  remaining	polio-endemic  countries,  are	extremely  close  to  being 
polio-free," said Urban Jonsson, UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and 
Southern  Africa. "Now the key is to make sure there are no new cases. This 
costs money".

In   order   to   immunize   22   million  children  annually  and  conduct 
international-standard	surveillance  for  polio  in  Ethiopia, Somalia and 
Sudan, US$ 50 million are required from 2003-2005.

As  part  of  the  New	Partnership  for  African  Development,  G8 leaders 
announced  at  their  June  Summit in Kananaskis, Canada, the commitment to 
provide the funds to eradicate polio in Africa by 2005. Since then only two 
countries,  the  United Kingdom and Canada have pledged new money for polio 
eradication.

"We are grateful that Canada and the United Kingdom have offered new money. 
However,  if  we  are  to truly finish with polio in the Horn and in all of 
Africa,  every	G8 country must fulfil its commitment to polio eradication, 
and  other  countries  must  join  them,"  said Dr John Sever, of the 
Rotary International  PolioPlus committee.

To date, Rotary International is one of 
the  largest  donors  to  the  Global  Polio Eradication Initiative, having 
committed US$ 493 million, with more than US$ 500 million pledged by 2005.

To  ensure  continued success in polio eradication, partners at the Horn of 
Africa	meeting  have  drawn  up  a plan of action. Critical in the plan is 
access	for  international staff to the Mogadishu area, where the two cases 
of  polio in 2002 have been found.

Since April of 2001, international staff have  not  had  any access to the 
area, and thus have not been able to help monitor polio immunization and 
surveillance activities.

"We  are  calling on the full strength of the UN system to help us get into 
Mogadishu.  With  widespread  support,	using  all  channels  available  to 
negotiate  access to the city, we can be sure the polio eradication work is 
getting  done, and we can be sure to eliminate polio from Somalia," said Dr 
Elias Durry, WHO Horn of Africa, Polio Eradication Coordinator.

A  polio-free  Horn  of Africa is critical to securing polio-free status on 
the  African continent, and a polio-free world. With continued high-quality 
immunization	campaigns    reaching	every	child	under	five,	and 
international-standard	surveillance,  the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region 
and  the  WHO  African	Region,  the two Regions sharing countries on the 
African  continent,  can  be  in the process of polio-free certification in 
2005.

SOURCE: UNICEF