The All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) has resolved to take decisive action against Gender-Based Violence (GBV), irregular migration and human trafficking in Africa.
This is contained in a communique issued at the end of the 12th General Assembly of AACC held in Abuja.
Rev Arnold Temple, the outgoing President of AACC while reading the communiqué to journalists, said the General Assembly Resolved to adopt the Anti GBV campaign as presented to it and deliberated on the critical issues around GBV in Africa that affect women and the need to continuously pay attention to the needs of marginalized groups of women and giving them a voice and safe spaces.
The communiqué said everyone is equal in Christ’s love, regardless of gender, and everyone is empowered by Christ’s sacrifice.
“The anti-GBV campaign should include a focus on the family unit. In order to provide for the family, some parents no longer have time
for their children.
“They neglect the difficulties associated with absent parenting, failures in families and homes, as well as dysfunctional homes, are some of the causes that contribute to SGBV.
“The campaign must aim to generate a movement rather than just a project, and must also engage people with disabilities,” the communiqué noted.
It states that the anti-GBV campaign must take a comprehensive strategy, involving stakeholders such as those involved in training, crisis intervention, medical personnel, law enforcement agencies, and so on, as well as focusing on practical measures to empower survivors.
The Assembly resolved that gender-based violence training in the church and church-relate institutions must be incorporated into this campaign.
On migration and trafficking in persons, the General Assembly resolved that both AACC and the Member churches must respond to the migration and trafficking in persons phenomena, both in prevention and
response to survivors of human trafficking.
The Communiqué said that AACC and members Churches’ response to migration challenges must have a family unit dimension.
It said some survivors and persons who have embarked on the journeys of migration have done it out of desperation, and sometimes lack of awareness and family cohesion, including some through pressure from their families.
“The AACC and member churches’ response must speak on the push factors and target to address the issue of employment for youth, through employment creation and building of entrepreneurial skills and to focus on prevention, and empowerment of survivors among other appropriate responses,” the Communiqué added.
Other topics the General Assembly also took decisions on include health and healing; unsustainable population growth; gender justice; growing youth unemployment; inclusion of persons with disabilities; climate change and care; Job creation; xenophobia; violence; unconstitutional changes of government and coups; lack of trust in public institutions; declining space for civil society organizations; corruption.
Others are illicit financial flows; extractive industries; poor governance; misleading theologies; and ethnicity and tribalism form the growing list of new and age-long challenges that our continent struggles with at the moment, faith and science, sustainable families for sustainable populations, debt crisis, church and community transformation, pan africanism and faith, church assets management and ethical investments.
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