wfn.org | LWF Regional Consultant Urges Youth Participation in Fight

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

LWF Regional Consultant Urges Youth Participation in Fight against
HIV/AIDS
Youth, Women from West African Lutheran Churches Discuss Human
Sexuality

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone/GENEVA, 16 December 2005 (LWI) - The Lutheran
World Federation (LWF) Africa Regional Consultant on HIV/AIDS, Dr Mamy
J. Ranaivoson, has stressed the importance of equipping youth with
proper knowledge about HIV/AIDS prevention for their effective
participation in the fight against the pandemic. "Many young people
still lack access to appropriate information and services, coupled with
a reluctance to address sensitive issues such as sex and sexuality,"
Ranaivoson told Lutheran World Information (LWI), following a workshop
he co-facilitated in Sierra Leone.

"Our hopes after this workshop are that youth and women would go back
home and start trickle down programs in their respective churches," he
said of the October 14-19 seminar attended by 22 young adults and women
leaders representing member churches of the Lutheran Communion in
Western Africa (LUCWA). The theme of the meeting was "Human Sexuality,
Women, Youth and HIV/AIDS." 

LUCWA comprises 12 Lutheran churches, nine of which are LWF member
churches.

Through presentations and daily Bible studies, participants from Ghana,
Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone focused on subjects such as HIV
prevention, voluntary testing and counseling, confidentiality, stigma
and discrimination. Co-facilitator Rev. Marie Barnett, Evangelical
Lutheran Church of Sierra Leone HIV/AIDS coordinator and LWF Executive
Committee member, presented a series of biblical reflections on human
sexuality and sex. Polygamy among other African cultures related to
HIV/AIDS were discussed in depth during the workshop along with
homosexuality. 

The LWF Department for Mission and Development and the Stand with
Africa campaign of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
World Hunger program supported the workshop financially. Ranaivoson is
on part-time secondment from the ELCA to assist with the implementation
of the LWF HIV/AIDS campaign. (297 words)

(Edited from a report by LWF Africa Regional HIV/AIDS consultant, Dr
Mamy J. Ranaivoson.) 

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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 million. The LWF acts on behalf of its member
churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical and inter-faith
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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