wfn.org | Resend Women, Youth Key to Africa's Future, Dandala Says

[cfouke@ncccusa.org]

For Immediate Release
AACC Media Team: (011) 237 966 3059 or 3063

WOMEN, YOUTH KEY TO AFRICA'S FUTURE, DANDALA SAYS

Yaounde, Cameroon: Addressing women and youth on the eve of the All Africa 
Conference of Churches' 8th Assembly, set for Nov. 22-27, the General 
Secretary of the AACC, the Rev. Dr. Mvume Dandala, affirmed their 
significant role on the continent.

Without women, Dr. Dandala said at the joint ceremonies Wednesday night, 
Nov. 19, that opened women and youth pre-assemblies, most churches would 
close down. "There is great universal truth in the saying 'the hand that 
rocks the cradle, rocks the world' - more especially so in Africa," he 
said, going on to affirm the progress being made by more churches that are 
beginning to recognize the need to allow women their rightful place in the 
life of the church as ordained clergy and leaders. 

Reminding the youth present that leaders like Nelson Mandela, Julius 
Nyerere and Patrice Lumumba - in the quest for Africa's liberation - 
started their work as young people, he urged that they too should have a 
vision for Africa and a plan for the realization thereof.  At the same 
time, he warned that effort and commitment would be required of them.

"Many young people fell in the great struggle for Africa while in the 
prime of their youth.  Names like that of Stephen Bantu Biko should remain 
a constant inspiration to young Africans," he said, going on to refer to 
Dr. Mercy Oduyoye who played a crucial role in the early days of the 
African ecumenical movement.

 "Come, Let Us Rebuild" is the theme of the AACC's 8th Assembly, taken 
from the book of Nehemiah.  The event, which is the highlight on the 
ecumenical calendar in Africa, is held every five years or so in a 
different African country.  It was last held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 
1997.  

With Dr. Dandala, a South African who was Bishop of the Methodist Church 
of Southern Africa, taking on his new responsibilities as AACC General 
Secretary in September, and with the name of the new AACC President to be 
announced at this Assembly, to take over the leadership from Prof. Kwesi 
Dickson, of Ghana, the theme is a fitting reflection of the start of a new 
era for the 
AACC.								
						    
According to the General Secretary, the state of inertia many churches on 
the continent appear to be experiencing is a cause for concern.

"If we are to be re-builders, we have to see things as they can be, ask 
why they are not, and then do something about it.  Because we see Africa 
as God would have it be, we must commit ourselves to rebuild," he said.
							
"The crucial question is, what direction should we follow as we seek to 
rebuild? I wish to implore this gathering to recognize first and foremost 
the need to strengthen ecumenical cooperation for a common, united vision, 
at a local level."

Urging ecumenical partners to share scarce resources, such as church 
centers that remain closed during the week, Dr. Dandala called on women 
and youth of the church to deliberate on meaningful ways of reversing this 
trend of events in the African church.

On a macro-economic level, Dr. Dandala recommended the New Partnership for 
Africa's Development - NEPAD - as a valuable tool for the church.

"The (AACC) Women's Desk should, in my opinion, concentrate on working 
mostly with the NEPAD Desk for the interpretation of the effects of 
poverty on families and challenge NEPAD to place women in a central 
position in its economic renewal strategies and programs," he said, urging 
the Women's Desk to interpret the value of home-grown strategies such as 
co-operative movements and to forge a more dynamic relationship with 
bodies such as Oikocredit to ensure adequate empowerment for the African 
woman.

Hand in hand with this, the Women's Desk should explore with the rest of 
the African Church and its ecumenical instruments ways and means of 
enabling women to be key players in the economic renewal programs.

"As we reflect on macroeconomic strategies for such renewal, so must the 
desk interpret for the African woman the value of home-grown strategies, 
such as cooperative movements, and forge a more dynamic relationship with 
bodies such as OIKOCREDIT to ensure adequate empowerment for the African 
woman."

Dr. Dandala challenged members of the Youth Pre-Assembly to engage on an 
action plan for the next five years.  He urged youth to strengthen their 
focus on the Decade to Overcome Violence program.  To grow as future 
leaders who put value on democracy and human rights, youth need to be 
exposed to more role models for effective leadership and to gain some form 
of international experience, he said.  Dr. Dandala also urged youths to 
pursue the Safe Schools program of the AACC and Church World Service with 
vigor.

Finally, he placed before women and youth the huge challenge of the 
HIV/AIDS pandemic.

"We have to form important networks that will enable us to respond to this 
scourge," he said.  "The challenge of HIV/AIDS will, if not tackled with 
purpose, destroy our people and the future of Africa.  The AACC intends 
setting up a special desk for HIV/AIDS, the task of which will be to 
ensure that we are all adequately equipped to respond to the pandemic."

Val Pauquet  AACC 

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