wfn.org | AANA BULLETIN No. 28/03 July 21, 2003 (a)

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

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AANA BULLETIN No. 28/03 July 21, 2003 (a)

NEWS  SECTION

Canada Criticised Over Visa, As LWF Assembly Begins

GENEVA (AANA) July 21 - About 800 people from across the world are gathered 
in Winnipeg, Canada, for the Tenth Assembly of the Lutheran World 
Federation (LWF).

The July 21-31 event is hosted by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada 
(ELCIC), and is meeting under the theme, For the Healing of the World.

Participants of the Assembly include delegates from the 133 LWF member 
churches, representatives from three associate members, invited dignitaries 
and observers.

But preparations for the assembly was marked by some hitches. Canadian 
authorities had rejected visa applications of a number of participants, 
mainly from developing countries.

LWF General Secretary, Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko had to lobby for such cases to 
be reviewed.  Some of the affected applicants eventually received visas.

"However, on the eve of the Assembly, I deeply regret that some 
participants may still not come to Winnipeg because of the refusal to issue 
visas even after the LWF's intervention," Noko said last Tuesday.

"By today, July 15, four visa applications from Africa and Asia have been 
rejected for the second time, 15 have been granted after reconsideration, 
and 17 are still pending," he complained.

He described as "unsatisfactory", the reasons that were being given for the 
visa rejections.

Said he: "Refusal on the basis that the applicant has insufficient 
property, employment, financial and family ties in the country of residence 
is unacceptable, because they are going to Canada for an official meeting."

He added: "They are attending an LWF Assembly, and it is the LWF that 
should demonstrate that there are sufficient funds to transport and host 
them without putting any burden on Canadian tax payers."

This is the first time that an LWF Assembly is taking place in Canada, and 
the second in North America. The Assembly is the highest decision-making 
body of the federation, and meets every six years.

Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF currently has 136 member churches 
in 76 countries, representing over 61.7 million of the 65.4 million 
Lutherans world-wide.

The federation acts on behalf of its member churches on areas of common 
interest, such as ecumenical and interfaith relations, humanitarian 
assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects of mission 
and development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland.

More information about the LWF Tenth Assembly is posted on the Assembly web 
site at http://www.lwf-assembly.org

Reported by Pauline Mumia
Lutheran World Information

Thousands Already Displaced In Burundi, Liberians Get Aid

BUJUMBURA/GENEVA (AANA) July 21 - Tens of thousands of people displaced by 
rebel attacks on Burundi's capital, Bujumbura, are in need of urgent aid.

"The situation in Burundi is of great concern," says Bishop Bernard 
Ntahotouri of the Church of the Province of Burundi, noting that fighting 
has left many homeless and many dead.

Reports say that people displaced by the attacks have reached more than 
20,000, with scores having been wounded, and an estimated 200 killed.

Juvenal Ntakarashira, who heads the Faith, Doctrine and Communication unit 
of the National Council of Churches of Burundi (NCCB), says that the needs 
of the people affected by the conflict are enormous.

NCCB, a member of the global humanitarian alliance, Action by Churches 
Together (ACT) International, is helping relief agencies by assessing and 
identifying the most urgent needs.

According to Mr Ntakarashira, at least 1,500 of the 20,000 displaced 
persons have sought refuge in church buildings.

Fighting started on July 7, when the Forces Nationales de Liberation (FNL) 
rebels attacked the south of the capital city, Bujumbura, accusing 
President Domitien Ndayizeye of having threatened to wipe them out.

Meanwhile, humanitarian assistance by ACT members has helped to alleviate 
the plight of the people caught up in  fighting in Liberia.

About 300,000 displaced persons are scattered throughout the greater city 
area, whereas an additional 150,000 are in camps for the internally 
displaced in Bong County.

Another 250,000 displaced persons are believed to be scattered around the 
country, inaccessible to humanitarian aid workers because of lack of 
security in rural Liberia.

LWF-WS Liberia representative, Charles Pitchford, says the living 
conditions in Monrovia are so deplorable, that it is expected that many of 
the people who sought shelter in the city will return to camps for 
internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Already, a small number have gathered courage to return.  "So far, 
approximately 2,500 of the original 20,000 IDPs have returned to the LWF-WS 
camp of Jahtondo," says Pitchford.

But fresh fighting which erupted last week, may disrupt further 
humanitarian assistance to the displaced.

Reports from Liberia last Thursday indicated that Liberians United for 
Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) were fighting government forces near Po 
River, just 15 miles outside Monrovia.

"I called the Ministry of Defence and spoke directly to the Minister 
(Daniel Chea).	He confirmed the situation, stating that the LURD attacked 
yesterday (July 17) and fighting continues," said Pitchford in an update 
communication.

According to Pitchford, there are indications that President Taylor may 
leave on Friday (July 25) to Nigeria to take an asylum offer extended  to 
him by Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Reported by ACT Team and Elly Wamari

Obasanjo's Asylum Offer To Taylor Praised By The Church

NAIROBI ( AANA) July 21 -  The All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) has 
written to Nigeria's President, Olusegun Obasanjo, acknowledging his 
initiative to offer asylum to Liberia's besieged President Charles Taylor.

Liberia is undergoing a civil war waged by rebels seeking to topple 
Taylor's government.  Peace talks are currently going on in Ghana, under 
the auspices of Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS).

AACC acting General Secretary, Mr Bright Mawudor, said last week that 
Obasanjo's offer to Taylor will go a long way to enhance the current peace 
efforts by ECOWAS, religious leaders and the civil society.

"Liberian crisis has become part of those African problems that seem 
intractable and it behoves the continent's leaders to come together to seek 
lasting solutions to the conflict," said Mawudor.

Commending President John Kufuor of Ghana for the steering role he is 
playing as ECOWAS President, Mawudor called upon African Union to support 
the peace initiative in Liberia.

Meanwhile, Mawudor has expressed confidence in the recent election of 
Mozambican President Joachim Chissano as chairman of AU, noting that AACC 
would be keen on continuing to develop a working relation with AU.

According to Mawudor, the deliberations of a recent African Heads of State 
Summit in Maputo, Mozambique, which revolved around forging joint efforts 
towards the continent's development and the fight against HIV/AIDS, were 
similar to concerns of AACC.

In a letter addressed to President Chissano, he said: "AACC is engaged in 
addressing similar issues with its 169 member churches .... They will be 
part of the core issues to be discussed at the forthcoming (AACC) 8th 
General Assemble slated for 22-27 Novermber, 2003, in Yaounde, Cameroon."

Reported by Herman Kasili

Africa Union Summit Admits Madagascar Back To The Fold

MAPUTO (AANA) July 21 - Madagascar has been re-admitted into the Africa 
Union (AU), from which it was suspended more than two years ago.

This was announced at the recent summit of Heads of State and Governments 
of the African Union (AU) in Maputo, Mozambique.

Madagascar was suspended from AU in December 2001, during confrontations 
that marked presidential elections between the current President, Marc 
Ravalomanana, and former Head of State, Amiral Didier Ratsiraka.

AU had argued then that the way political changes had come about in 
Madagascar was unconstitutional, and did not tie well with AU's principles 
and values of democracy.

At the Maputo meeting, outgoing chairman of AU, President Thabo Mbeki of 
South Africa, announced the re-admission of Madagascar into the fold.

In response, President Ravalomanana welcomed the re-admission, saying, 
"Madagascar is happy and proud to be re-admitted back to the big family of 
this pan-African organisation (AU)."

Reported By Shar

AU, HelpAge, Launch Policy Framework For The Elderly

NAIROBI (AANA) July 21 - HelpAge International, in collaboration with the 
Africa Union (AU), has launched an African policy framework and plan of 
action on ageing.

According to the outgoing interim chairperson of the commission of labour 
and social affairs of the AU, Mr. Amara Essy, the Policy Framework, which 
the two organs developed together, binds all AU member countries to form 
policies on ageing.

The framework will serve as a guide for countries to formulate their 
national policies.

The launching of the policy document was held here on July 17, and presided 
over by Kenya's Assistant Minister for Gender, Sports, Culture and Social 
Services, Hon. Alicen Chelaite.

The minister appealed to African governments to implement policies on older 
people to ensure that relevant programmes were put in place to help improve 
their lives, and to enable them age in dignity.

"It is clear that unless we do something tangible and meaningful now to 
prepare for this population group, we will be found wanting when their 
needs outstrip the provisions," she said, noting that the population of the 
aged was on the increase.

Director of AU Women, Gender and Development Directorate, Dr. Mary Maborke, 
said the rapid growth of the ageing population had not been met with 
commensurate effort by societies to address the challenges posed by the 
increase.

It was out of this concern that the Organisation of Africa Unity (OAU) now 
AU began collaborative work with HelpAge International at the 1999 Session 
of the OAU Labour and Social Affairs Commission held in Namibia.

The document launched last week did receive its final seal of approval 
during the 38th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and 
Government in Durban, South Africa, in July last year.

Dr Maborke commended countries that had started the process of developing 
national policies on aging, using the AU Policy Framework as a guide. Such 
countries include Mauritius, Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Zimbabwe, and South
Africa.

Pamela Mboya, chairlady of HelpAge Kenya regretted that Africans have of 
late not given a thought to older people, something that was not an African 
custom.

She noted that in the past, those with elderly people amidst them cared for 
them, which in the present world had changed, hence the need for a policy 
that would address ageing challenges.

Reported by Joseph K'Amolo

UN Report Ranks Botswana High In Women Empowerment

GABORONE (AANA) July 21 - The 2003 Human Development Report has reaffirmed 
Botswana's emerging status as a global leader, with respect to gender 
empowerment.

The report, released last Monday by the United Nations Development 
Programme (UNDP), ranked Botswana 15th in the world, in terms of its 
overall Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM).

The list has 70 countries that are making significant strides towards 
empowering women.

The statistical measure placed Botswana ahead of three G8 countries, namely 
Italy, Japan, and  Russia, as well as a number of other Organisation for 
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries in Europe.

The UNDP report further confirms that Botswana has made even more 
remarkable progress in the context of the percentage of women occupying
senior
positions.

According to the report, Botswana ranks 16th, alongside Canada and Estonia 
in terms of its total percentage of "females serving as legislators, senior 
officials and managers". The combined figure for females in Botswana 
occupying such senior positions is reported to be 35 percent.

Of the 47 members of parliament, in a country of 1.6 million people, eight 
are women. Two women have also made it as High Court Judges and two others 
into the 16-member House of Chiefs.

The country's central bank has a woman, Linah Mohohlo, as its 
governor.  Another woman, Lydia Masire-Mwamba, heads the Botswana Export 
Development and Investment Agency, tasked with marketing the country as an 
investment destination.

Reported by Rodrick Mukumbira