A meeting of more than 187 church leaders from across Africa has highlighted the role of female clergy in fighting the Aids pandemic that has swept the continent.
The four-day gathering, which ended on Friday, was held in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. It was organised by the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) to explore ways of stepping up efforts to curb the spread of HIV.
According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/Aids, about 26,6-million in sub-Saharan Africa have contracted the virus — making this the worst-affected region in the world. The majority of these people, 15-million, are women.
”It is imperative that a policy framework of a concerted broad ecumenical thrust be established for the continent to consolidate resources and accompany local communities in their struggles to bring new hope among the poor and the suffering … most of whom are women,” Mvume Dandala, AACC general secretary, said at the gathering.
Various women delegates warned, however, that they will face considerable challenges in taking a more active role in the fight against Aids.
”Most churches are headed by men … This is the problem Christianity has, especially in Africa,” observed Mercy Amba Oduyoye, professor of theology at the University of Ghana and former deputy general secretary of the World Council of Churches.
”If any change has to be made in regard to women clergy addressing HIV/Aids and the toll it has on women, then the church must start embracing the ordination of women,” she said.
Delegates noted that there are a number of factors that make women especially susceptible to HIV/Aids, including their vulnerability during civil wars and conflicts.
”Civil wars are often accompanied by sexual violence,” said AACC president Nyansako-Ni-Nku, adding that a visit he undertook to Rwanda last month had increased his awareness of this fact.
”We were exposed to the spectre of HIV/Aids, most of the victims being helpless women and their daughters raped during the 1994 genocide,” he told the conference.
Alfred Ndoricimpa, a bishop in the United Methodist Church of Burundi, agreed.
”Civil war and conflict displace people, and in the process of displacement they get infected with HIV/Aids. This is a double tragedy, and we as the church need to speak with our communities because conflict starts from the community,” he said, adding that governments are fuelling conflict by investing heavily in arms ”instead of diverting the funds to health sectors, particularly in the fight against HIV/Aids”.
According to a Nairobi-based NGO, Peace Forum, Africa has spent a fortune on arms in recent years. The group claims that between 1990 and 1999, more than $10-billion were lavished on weapons by African countries.
The Nairobi meeting also resolved to promote all strategies for fighting Aids — including the use of condoms. Previously, certain religious leaders have voiced fears that advocating condom use will simply encourage promiscuity.
”There is a place for condoms … We as churches have got to … call people to observe their moral responsibilities: faithfulness in marriage and abstinence outside marriage. Having said that, because of the extent of the disease, there is room for condom use,” Dandala said.
In addition, the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) initiative to provide anti-retrovirals to three million people by the end of 2005 was endorsed.
”We must support it all the way. We must ensure that we get the drugs to all our health centres, without depending on funds from [outside]. We cannot afford to sit anymore as our congregations continue to succumb to the disease,” Dandala said. More than 40% of medical facilities in Africa are managed by the church.
The WHO initiative was announced last year. At present, less than 50 000 people in sub-Saharan Africa have access to anti-retrovirals — medicines that prevent those with HIV from dying from Aids-related infections. — IPS