faith leaders' summit on the post 2015 development agenda - newsletter
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African Faith Leaders from different countries came together to discuss the Millennium Development Goals Agenda post-2015.TRANSCRIPT
ZION MAGAZINE JOURNAL FOR CHRISTIANS 1
Faith Leaders’ Summit on the Post-2015 Development Agenda
Uganda has just witnessed the biggest event hosted by the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda
where African Faith Leaders from different countries came together to discuss the Millennium
Development Goals Agenda post-2015. The summit was organized under the auspices of the
African Council of Religious Leaders; Organizations of African Instituted Churches; Symposium
of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar; All Africa Council of Churches; Council of
Africa; Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa; Union of Muslim Councils of Central, Eastern,
and Southern Africa; the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’i; the Association of the Evangelicals of
Africa; Christian Aid; Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in the Great Lakes and Horn
of Africa; and Arigatou International, Nairobi.
The aim of the summit was to strengthen and scale up the engagement of Faith Communities
and Faith Leaders in shaping the Post 2015 Development Agenda. The Millennium Develop-
ment Goals (MDGs) that have been a hallmark of the global and national development agenda
since the year 2000 expires next year 2015. The current MDGs include eradication of poverty,
achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and empowering women,
reduction of child mortality, improvement of maternal health and combating HIV/AIDS, malar-
ia and TB. During the discussion it was mentioned that faith and religion plays a vital role in the
this issue
Faith Leaders’ Summit on the Post 2015 Development Agenda P.1
Ahunna Eziakonwa – Onochie P.3 Jonah Lwanga P.5
Rev.Nicta Lubaale P.7
All about OAIC The Organization of African Instituted Churches (OAIC) is an
association of African Independent and Instituted Churches
(AICs), which has its origins in the work of HG Bishop Markos of
the Coptic Orthodox Church (Egypt) with AICs since 1976, in
Kenya. In 1978, HH Pope Shenouda III of the Coptic Orthodox
Church invited leaders of AICs from seven countries for a confer-
ence in Cairo, where the OAIC was founded. The basic aims of the
organization were teaching and training. On purpose, develop-
ment work and political involvement were left out. The main
activity was Theological Education by Extension (TEE ), which
received much support from ecumenical partners.
The second conference of the OAIC, in 1982, was attended by
representatives of AICs from 17 countries. The conference
approved a constitution which required member bodies to be
Trinitarian, based on the New and Old Testament, and confessing
Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. In terms of organization, the
constitution placed ultimate authority with a general assembly to
be convened every four years, and composed of representatives
of the member churches. This model proved not to be suitable
for the OAIC, which was lacking the resources to implement
adequately such constitutional requirements. In spite of these
shortcomings, the conference stimulated conciliarity among AICs.
It sought to establish an AIC identity, distinct from the other
church groupings in Africa, such as the All Africa Conference of
Churches, the Association of Evangelicals in Africa, and more
conservative groups.
In the early 1980s, the international headquarters of the OAIC
were established in Nairobi, Kenya. The TEE programme contin-
ued to spread throughout the continent and became the support
structure of the organization. As of 1990, three new departments
were set up: Rural Development, Women, and Research and
Communication. A serious review of the organization was con-
ducted which resulted in a regionalization, whereby churches
would first adhere to one of the OAIC regions, or chapters, and
the general assembly would be composed of representatives of
these regions. The internal administration would be re-organized.
The new structure was put in place in 1997, when the assembly
was able to meet, in conjunction with a joint OAIC-WCC consulta-
tion on the relationships between the AICs and the mission-
founded churches in Africa.
The OAIC has made a significant shift in the direction of a more
ecumenical profile. This is mainly due to the growing self-
confidence of the AICs in their own identity. There are now
chapters in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Botswana, Zimbabwe,
Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Ghana, Madagascar, Nigeria, and
the Democratic Republic of Congo. The mission of the OAIC
continues: "to bring African Instituted Churches together in
fellowship and to equip and enable them to preach the good
news of Jesus Christ in word and deed.".
ZION MAGAZINE JOURNAL FOR CHRISTIANS
ISSUE 15 JULY 2014
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African Faith Leaders moving Africa forward
According to the census of 2002, Christians made up about 84% of Uganda's population. The Roman Catholic Church has the largest number of adherents (41.9%), followed by the Anglican Church of Uganda (35.9%). Evangelical and Pentecostal churches claim the rest of the Christian population. There's a growing number of Presbyterian denomi-nations like the Presbyterian Church in Uganda, the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Uganda and the Evangelical Free Church in Uganda with hundreds of affiliating con-gregations. The next most reported religion of Uganda is Islam, with Muslims represent-ing 12% of the population.
The Muslim population is primarily Sunni.
There are also minorities who are Shia (7%),
Ahmadiyya (4%) and those that are non-
denominational Muslims. The remainder of the
population follow traditional religions (1%),
Baha'i (0.1%), other non-Christian religions
(0.7%), or have no religious affiliation (0.9%).
The northern and West Nile regions are pre-
dominantly Catholic, while the Iganga District
in eastern Uganda has the highest percentage
of Muslims. The rest of the country has a mix
of religious affiliations.
Prior to the advent of alien religions such as
Christianity and Islam, traditional indigenous
beliefs were practised as a means of ensuring
welfare of the people were maintained at all
times. Even today in contemporary times,
these practices are rife in some rural areas and
are sometimes blended with or practised
alongside Christianity or Islam. In addition to a
small community of Jewish expatriates centred
in Kampala, Uganda is home to the Abayudaya,
a native Jewish community dating from the
early 1900s. One of the world's seven Bahá'í
Houses of Worship is located on the outskirts
of Kampala. See also Bahá'í Faith in Uganda.
Founded by JJ Keki, an interfaith movement
bringing together Muslim, Jewish, and Christian
coffee farmers has resulted in the Mirembe
Kawomera (Delicious Peace) Fair Trade Coffee
Cooperative in Mbale, Uganda. Members of
the cooperative sing about interfaith peace in
Uganda on the Smithsonian Folkways album
"Delicious Peace: Coffee, Music & Interfaith
Harmony in Uganda."
Indian nationals are the most significant immi-
grant population; members of this community
are primarily Ismaili (Shi'a Muslim followers of
the Aga Khan) or Hindu.
lives and cultures of the majority of people
in Africa. Faith based institutions have a long
history of action on development and often
deliver a multiplicity of services to individu-
als and communities affected by poverty,
conflict, humanitarian and natural disasters.
The summit was attend by delegates repre-
senting children, women, and persons with
disability, youth and people living with HIV/
AIDS. A pre-summit meetings was held on
the 30th of June 2014 where delegates rep-
resenting different groups had the oppor-
tunity to review, discuss current goals and
measure the achievement so far. Each group
was tasked to present a report on the issues
which needs more attention. Some of the
issues raised during group report was that
children should be allowed to have a voice
and should be listened to. Even though en-
rolment in education has increased, most
children start school two years later than
they are supposed to, and most of them
drop out of school. A boy child is becoming
more vulnerable since more attention is giv-
en to a girl child. Today we have more or-
phans because of violence and the pandemic
diseases such as HIV/AIDS.
It was mentioned during youth report that
Africa has the fastest growing and youthful
population in the world. Youth under the
age of 15 amount to 40% and age 15-20 con-
stitutes to 20% of African population. African
economies has grown at an impressive 6%
but this growth has not created good jobs
for the youth entering the labour market.
Youth unemployment has remained above
10% during the past decade, four times high-
er than South East Asia and it is expected to
continue growing. The education system has
produced more graduates whose number
have exceeded what the labour market can
accommodate and the curriculum has creat-
ed a mismatch with the employment re-
quirements. As we look forward to shaping
the future, our agenda should aim to pro-
mote interventions like innovation, skill for-
mation and productivity that specifically
target the youth.
During the discussion it was realized that
more commitment and awareness is needed
to ensure that persons with disability are
always considered when decisions are taken.
Disability is a cross cutting factor affecting all
the issues being addressed in the document.
Disability rights should be emphasized in
very clear terms. The document language
should be written according to the letter in
the UN convention in the rights of persons
with disability. The goal of addressing ine-
quality need to emphasize issues of improv-
ing access to facilities in relation to principles
of the United Nations. People on the ground
should be empowered by giving them a
voice to be listened to and address their
issues. People’s attitude towards the poor
and people with disability should be changed
by analyzing socio-cultural issues and issues
of maternal health that usually leads to disa-
bility. The Faith Based Organizations should
take a leading role in changing society per-
ceptions that is negative stereo types about
people with disability and disability itself.
————————————————————
“The purpose of the summit was to
develop strategies for the engage-
ment of faith communities across the
continent in the post 2015 processes
as well as involvement in the imple-
mentation process of the new frame-
work at national levels.”
Religion in Uganda
Meeting Point Children Choir
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Ahunna Eziakonwa – Onochie (UN Resident coordinator and UNDP Resident
Representative in Uganda)
Commended the efforts of all the different
faith communities for taking the initiative in
convening a summit to consolidate their
views on the post-2015 development agen-
da. Onochie further mentioned that this is a
critical time in the history of the world as the
world leaders and communities all over the
world are engaging in developing an agenda
that will guide the next phase of the devel-
opment efforts. Within the United Nations,
this is particularly a moment of both reflec-
tion and renewal. Reflection on the target
that we were able to achieve against what
was set as the millennium development
goals and renewed efforts to see how best
we can learn from the experiences and take
further actions for resolving some of the
developing challenges that are still with us. It
is in this sense that this summit come at an
opportune time and as religious leaders,
your contributions to the shaping of this
agenda is critical.
In orders to provide a context for this sum-
mit, let me highlight some of the progress
that has been made since the formal adop-
tion of the MDGs and allow me to make
brief observations on the emerging issues in
the post 2015 agenda. I’m very certain in the
course of this two day summit that this is-
sues will be looked at more deeply. Since the
MDGs were adopted in 2000, there is a clear
evidence that poverty which is one of the
biggest challenges of our generation has
shown declining trends across the globe. The
proportion of people living in extreme pov-
erty has been halved at the global level. In
developing countries, the proportion of peo-
ple living on less than 1.25 $ a day fell from
47% in 1990 to 22% in 2010. There is a gen-
eral consensus that MDG frameworks have
helped in shaping the policy frameworks in
many countries across the world including
Uganda. As you might be aware that Uganda
already met target associated with halving
the number of people living in absolute pov-
erty and achieving death sustainability and it
is very much on track to achieve another
eight of its seventeen targets.
Facts about Uganda’s Coat of Arms...
The coat of arms of Uganda was adopted three weeks before the proclamation of independence by the Uganda Legislative Council. On the 1
October 1962 the arms was approved by the Governor of Uganda Sir Walter Coutts, and formally established by law on 9 October. The
shield and spears represent the willingness of the Ugandan people to defend their country. There are three images on the shield: those on
top represent the waves of Lake Victoria and Lake Albert; the sun in the center represents the many days of brilliant sunshine Uganda
enjoys; and the traditional drum at the bottom is symbolic of dancing, and the summoning of people to meetings and ceremony.
The above explanation, about the symbolism of the drum, is a distortion that came about after the bloody 1966 national crisis when the
Prime Minister of the day, Milton Obote, made a violent military attack on the king of the Kingdom of Buganda in central Uganda, Edward
Mutesa II, who was the ceremonial president of the state at the time. The following year,
1967, the nation's constitution was abrogated and replaced with a new one which abolished
the country's ancient monarchies—the kingdom's of Buganda, Bunyoro, Ankole, Toro, and
the Principality of Busoga, turning Uganda into a republic and making Milton Obote president
with unlimited executive powers. Before Obote's rule, the drum was symbolic of royalty and
the authority of Uganda's kings. On a related note, the kings of Uganda were the first to use
the traditional lentil shaped African shield in their heraldic arms.
The shield is flanked on the right by a Crested Crane (Balearica regulorum gibbericeps), a
subspecies of the Grey-crowned Crane and the national bird of Uganda. On the left is the
Ugandan Kob (Kobus kob thomasi), a species of Kob that here represents abundant wildlife.
The shield stands on a green mound, representing fertile land, and directly above a represen-
tation of the River Nile. Two main cash crops, coffee and cotton, flank the river. At the
bottom is the national motto: "For God and My Country".
ZION MAGAZINE JOURNAL FOR CHRISTIANS 4
are women and to leave 50% of our tal-
ents out of decision making, out of all
spheres of our lives will be to prescribe
failure for ourselves and for post 2015.
Another important issue which we seek
to develop on MDG and SDG is social
protection. We have talked about grow-
ing inequality and the only way to handle
this as we create employment and the
opportunities to bring those who are
vulnerable out of vulnerability is at least
also to provide social protection. Anoth-
er of the important element we seek to
see as we develop the MDGs and the
SDGs is a framework of accountability
implementation and co-ordination. One
of the weaknesses of the MDG frame-
work was the fact that we could make
Lazarus Kampambwe – AU Representative (Special Adviser on Economic
Affairs)
There was no development agenda prior to
2015 that we are succeeding, instead we
have a millennium development goals and
they did not constitute the development
agenda. Millennium development agenda
were addressing the symptoms of a prob-
lem. Now we have the opportunity as we
develop the post 2015 development agenda
to address the root cause of these symptoms
which were being addressed by the MDGs.
As we conceive the post 2015 we should not
only think of renewing the MDGs frame-
work. The MDGs are but one of the ele-
ments of the post 2015 development agen-
da.
The second of those elements has been the
sustainable development goals (SDG) pro-
cess, the RIO + 20 process because we are
trying to develop through that process sus-
tainable development goals. Whether we
have the good millennium development goal
framework and good sustainable develop-
ment goal post 2015, still we will not have
had a post 2015 development agenda that
could succeed. The third element is the suc-
cessful implementation of existing frame-
works. With regard to the MDGs, taking
three components one by one, some of the
basic points that are being made by Africa in
its common position is that we must raise
the level of ambition. In the MDGs we were
content to talk about reductions. In the post
2015 we must talk about eradication of pov-
erty, universal access to education, good
quality education, universal access to safe
drinking water, universal access to health
facilities and good health facilities.
The second point under the MDGs is that we
have to recognize that unemployment is one
of the most threatening explosives that we
have and we must find a way of addressing
it, in particular youth unemployment. There-
fore we are hoping that as we develop the
post 2015 at the negotiations to take place
in New York, we must develop SDG and
MDG on unemployment with measurable
targets. Another element is based on wom-
en and how we integrate women in decision
making. More than 50% of our population
By: Lazarus Kampambwe – AU Representative (Special Adviser on Economic Affairs)
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pledges and commitment but we were not held to those commit-
ments. Many are the commitments that remained unfulfilled. We hope
that one of the things that you can do, given the strength that you
have, given the leadership that you have, is to help create a movement
for justice, a movement for the implementation of the post 2015 de-
velopment agenda.
In the same way that in the 1980s and early 1990s, there was a move-
ment on debt cancellation and it is this movement that eventually per-
suaded the governments to finally do the right thing. The post 2015
development agenda and its implementation belongs to “just wars”, it
is a war for global justice.
Jonah Lwanga, Chairman of the Inter Religious
Council of Uganda and Orthodox Church Leader
Cited the endemic abuse of public resources and human rights in most
African countries. Religious leaders should speak out when resources
badly needed for the provision of critical services to our people are
squandered by a few, corrupt officials. Lwanga urged religious leaders
to make arrangements for settling people displaced by armed conflicts
and saving the majority of Africans, who continue to languish in pov-
erty despite progress made since 2000. He condemned violence that
has clouded Africa, in its extreme forms, in countries such as Nigeria,
Somalia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya, Egypt and Mali. He
said these violence manifest religious undertones. We are further
challenged as religious leaders to explain how religion, a tool for
peace-making can be used to kill and maim.
——————————–———————————————————-
The Millennium Development Goals summit was opened by the
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni who in his opening re-
marks requested delegates to read Mathew 22:32-39 which teach-
es us to love God and also to love each other. The President fur-
ther mentioned that “A Christian who sings the whole day, praises
the whole night and does not love his neighbour is a liar. Who are
you to look down on anybody created by God? We are all here by
our own rights. You have to right to try to prove that you are
better than the other”. About the conflicts in Africa, the President
said they are caused by failure to observe religious teachings. On-
going sectarian and unjust wars are caused by failure of the reli-
gious leaders to guide their followers.
The President blamed lack of knowledge and laziness for most of
the problems affecting Africa. Genesis encourages us to work hard
and have knowledge in order to dominate. Africans have to work
hard and stop relying on aid because the continent needs trade
not aid. Only trade will change the fortune of Africa. He quoted
Deuteronomy 28:11-15 to support his statement.
——————————————————————————————
Honourable President
Yoweri Museveni gracefully
walking into the “Faith
Leaders’summit” in Uganda
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Rev. Nicta Lubaale – Secretary General of
Organization of African Instituted
Churches
The future demands that we should not accept the abnormal to be normal.
We need to look at the theology we have accepted. Mortality rate numbers
are very high for us to accept and as we move towards 2015 Development
Agenda, we have to be bold enough to reduce the figures. Poverty is not an
accident, it does not come from hell neither does it come from heaven, and
it is man-made. The structures, the institutions, and the processes that
cause poverty and suffering are in the hands of us human beings and we are
the ones who can bring about change.
As we move to the future 50 years of Africa we must look at the theology we
have accepted. We have buried many people who have died pre-maturely of
HIV/AIDS, men, women and children, and we say Lord we have brought
back your servants. God is not in the business of calling African men, wom-
en and children, He is a God who gives life.
The next development agenda will be about us creating a better world
where dignity is possible for all. Not everyone will be a millionaire, and not
everyone will live in a big mansion, but each of us should have access to at
least two decent meal a day. The future will is on us to lay new foundations
on which shared posterity is built. More wealth has been generated in the
last 50 years of the world than any other period, but at the same time ine-
qualities are increasing the gap between the rich and the poor. As faith
communities we have the responsibility of bringing our moral voice and say
this is not right.
Proposed areas for Post 2015
Development Agenda
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and adequate nutrition for
all and promote sustainable agriculture.
End hunger and ensure that all people have access to adequate,
safe, affordable, and nutritious food all year round by 2030
3. Attain healthy life for all at all ages
4. Provide equitable and inclusive quality education and life-
long learning opportunities for all
5. Attain gender equality, empower women and girls every-
where
6. Secure water and sanitation for all for a sustainable world
7. Ensure access to affordable, sustainable, and reliable modern
energy services for all
8. Promote strong, inclusive and sustainable economic growth
and decent work for all
9. Promote sustainable industrialization
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Build inclusive, safe and sustainable cities and human settle-
ments
12. Promote sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Promote actions at all levels to address climate change
14. Attain conservation and sustainable us of marine resources,
oceans and seas
15. Protect and restore terrestrial ecosystems and halt all biodi-
versity loss
16. Achieve peaceful and inclusive societies, rule of law, effec-
tive and capable institutions
17. Strengthen and enhance the means of implementation and
global partnership for sustainable development.
Levhuwani Nhlambo
078 182 1005