Anglican Communion News Service

[ACNS source: CAPA] The Council of the Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA) will showcase its HIV/AIDS work in Africa at the forthcoming historic International Conference on HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa (ICASA) to be held in Nairobi from next week.

Anglican Provincial HIV/AIDS Co-ordinators from Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and Tanzania will represent their Provinces at the meeting and share experiences on how they are tackling the AIDS crisis.

CAPA, the coordinating body for the Anglican Church in Africa, is addressing the AIDS scourge through the All Africa Anglican Planning Framework adopted in Johannesburg, South Africa, in August 2001. The document singles out prevention, pastoral care, counselling, HIV care, death and dying as the Church’s core areas of intervention.

Through its grassroots reach in the community, the Church has been integrating HIV/AIDS activities in all aspects of its pastoral work.

“Our aim is to empower bishops, priests and lay people, so that together we can counsel people of all ages, care for the sick and dying, as well as those who are left behind,” says CAPA HIV/AIDS Co-ordinator, Mrs Nema Aluku.

Meanwhile, CAPA and the US-based CORE Initiative will hold a consultative meeting in Nairobi on 26 September 2003 to discuss various initiatives and areas of possible collaboration in the fight against AIDS in Africa.

The conference will be attended by, amongst others, representatives from the Episcopal Church of the United States (ECUSA) and USAID.