afrol News - February 1, 2003

According to a report by Justus Waimiri from the Anglican Communion Office (ACO), London, over 35 Anglican Church leaders from across Africa converge in Uganda this week for "a crucial workshop on strengthening church leadership for HIV/AIDS prevention and care."

The meeting, which was reported to be "the first of its kind in bringing together representation from all Anglican Provinces in Africa," was aimed at enhancing the capacity of church leaders to plan and implement effective HIV/AIDS activities in their churches and communities.

- Among the key points of deliberation will be how to remove stigma for HIV positive people, encouraging home based care and reduction of HIV prevalence through behaviour change, the Anglican Communion Office reported from Uganda.

The workshop was officially opened on Monday 27 January by the Prime Minister of Uganda, Professor Apollo Nsibambi, who had underscored the critical role of Church leadership in the fight against AIDS. "We as governments of Africa urge you, religious leaders, to continue playing your traditional and divine role of caring and providing spiritual support to those infected and affected by AIDS," he was quoted by the Anglican Church.

Minister Nsibambi also called on the Church to take a proactive approach in advocating HIV/AIDS preventive measures. The different church communities in AIDS-ridden African have often delivered contradictory messages on the use of condoms, the leading remedy against the pandemic, according to many African governments.

The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Revd Livingstone Mpalanyi-Nkoyoyo, on the other hand had commended the government of Uganda for working closely with the Anglican Church and other faith-based organisations, saying the Church had the benefit of "a good grass roots network and a captive audience."

The workshop is organised by the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA) and has drawn resource people from Africa, America and Europe, the Anglican Church reports. All the Anglican Provinces in Africa are represented in the workshop. Also present were the Chairman of CAPA and Primate of West Africa, Archbishop Robert Okine, partners and well-wishers.

The host nation, Uganda, was to "provide participants with a rich showcase for the progress it has made in addressing stigma, reducing HIV transmissions and promoting family based care," the Church noted. "The workshop will deliberate ways of realising the vision of the Anglican Church in Africa, which is to see future generations born and living in a world free from AIDS."

Government officials and the Anglican community will be most interested in the clerics' statements surrounding the use of condoms, which can protect against HIV transmission. While the Catholic Church controversially is categorically against the use of condoms, the Anglican Church is somewhat more liberal.

Nevertheless, last year in neighbouring Tanzania, representatives of various religious organisations jointly had declared that "all holy books" across the world were against the use of condoms, to the Tanzanian government's great frustration. The church leaders defied a call by Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa to smoothen their stance on condoms amidst the AIDS pandemic.

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