AFRICA: African Women Church Leaders from Eastern and Southern Africa Meet to Tackle Gender-Based Violence and HIV/AIDS

From 5th to 7th October 2010, over seventy (70) African Women Church Leaders from 12 Countries of Angola, Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe together with their Finnish Partners from Helsinki Deaconesses Institute (HDI) met in Nairobi's Grace Guest House to reflect and deliberate on issues relating to African women, Culture, gender-based-violence, HIV and AIDS and the Church.

The three-day conference which was organized by CUAHA (Churches United Against HIV & AIDS in Eastern and Southern Africa), itself an ecumenical network of over 40 churches comprising the Anglican, Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, Orthodox and Pentecostal denominations was motivated by UNAIDS statistics which indicate that whereas HIV and AIDS prevalence rates world-wide are dropping, HIV and AIDS still remains number one killer diseases in Sub-Saharan, and that it affects females more than males, and particularly married women.

The women also noted that other Sexually-Transmitted-Infections (STIs) were increasingly a threat to women's health, and gender-based-violence manifesting mainly in domestic violence, rapes, passion killings and murder rates in all their countries without exception are increasingly a threat to women's well-being generally.

These women's concerns (a third of whom are themselves living with HI Virus) about their humbling reality were fuelled by the fact that their same Sub-region was simultaneously predominantly Christian with some countries such as Namibia, Uganda and Zambia depicting more than 90% Christianity and women accounting for more than 70% of those Christians.

They couldn't understand that a sub-region whose majority are followers of Jesus Christ teaching should be endlessly daunted by anti-social behaviour-based actions and diseases. In this respect, the women recognized that:

While CUAHA advocates for the creation of an HIV and AIDS Competent Church based on universal HIV-status-knowledge, it simultaneously promotes and supports safe disclosure; Within the framework of 'an HIV and AIDS Competent Church', religious women leaders are rightly positioned to act as advocates of positive change both within their churches and communities;

Sharing of Life experiences by African Christian Women is key in bringing to light the cultural issues that fuel the spread of HIV in an African context;

Gender Mainstreaming as a public policy concept of assessing the different implications for women and men of any planned policy action, legislation and programme activity implementation should be all embracing.

Thus, it is strategic to make the concerns and experiences of women as well as of men an integral part of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres, so that women and men benefit equally, and inequality is not perpetuated.

The ultimate goal of mainstreaming is to achieve gender equality.' Mainstreaming is not about adding a 'woman's component' or even a 'gender equality component' into an existing activity.

It goes beyond increasing women's participation; it means bringing the experience, knowledge, and interests of women and men to bear on the development agenda.

The conference was able to develop and agree on the methodology of creating CUAHA Ambassadors-of-Hope to spear positive change throughout CUAHA partner countries. The conference was facilitated by Rev. Phumzile Zondi Mabizela, Kwazulu-Natal Christian Council Chief Executive Officer; and Mrs Merab Kambamu Kiremire - a Women and Children welfare Expert. The two experts also served as the conference's keynote speakers