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African religious leaders to address AIDS and armed conflict
2003-139F
Friday, June 13, 2003
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[Episcopal News Service]
Senior religious leaders from 20 African countries, meeting this week in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, are expected to address ways to collaborate in the fight against HIV/AIDS and in resolving conflicts on the continent.
Opened June 11 by Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, the three-day meeting organized by the African Council of Religious Leaders is also intended to create links between the various religious communities in Africa.
'The main purpose of the forum is to ensure that the positive resources of respective religious faith and communities are put to maximum benefit for the overall good and service of the continent,' Roman Catholic Archbishop John Onaiyekan of Abuja told journalists.
The tasks of the religious leaders' council, Onaiyekan said, 'will include advancing multi-religious cooperation and providing the opportunity for inter-religious collaboration and leadership on issues of HIV/AIDS, conflict resolution, human rights, good governance and poverty eradication.'
The Abuja conference is the first meeting of the council, which was formed in June 2002 by the World Conference on Religion and Peace (WCRP), a global coalition. The meeting is co-sponsored by WCRP and Nigeria's Inter-Religious Council.
Among the participants are William Vendley, secretary general of WCRP; Anglican Archbishop Livingstone Nkoyoyo of Uganda; Kwesi Dickson, president of the All Africa Conference of Churches; and Methodist Bishop Onema Fama of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
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