This year has seen a blurry of activities globally and also in the AMECEA region, of which AMECEA Justice Peace and Caritas office has been involved with the aim of bringing forth the voice of the Bishops within the region. The most significant activity has not taken place yet, but it is worth mentioning, “The Papal visit to Kenya and Uganda”.
Yes, the AMECEA region is humbled to host Pope Francis in two member countries and we pray and hope that during this visit, a potential return visit to other AMECEA countries may be announced. We leave this to God’s providence.
Now, I am coming back to the other activities that have taken place and in which AMECEA Secretariat, through the Justice, Peace and Caritas Department, has been deeply involved.
First, there was a meeting on Climate Change that took place in Rome from 5thto 15th May, 2015 and was organized by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. This was just before Pope Francis release the timely Encyclical on the Care of our Common Home, Laudato Si in July 2015. At this meeting, the AMECEA Justice Peace and Caritas Department was privileged to provide input on how best to popularize the Pope’s Encyclical. During this meeting an input was provided on COP2, which refers to negotiations on climate change that will take place in Paris and especially looking at what would be the key take home.
The second major event of global importance was the Financing for Development Conference that took place in Addis Ababa where AMECEA Justice Peace and Caritas Department presented issues that are of great importance for the Church in the AMECEA Region. The main issues are climate change, options for the poor and peace building. Issues around ensuring that the developing countries are heard especially on how to better undertake local resource mobilization and good stewardship, were key thematic areas for discussion. This Conference also gave foundation to the impact indicators for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that were passed later in September 2015 and also gave the Church perspective before the address of the Holy Father to the United Nations.
The third engagement that AMECEA has been involved in at a global level is the World Bank Group (WBG) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Annual General Meeting which took place in Lima, Peru, from 5th to 12th October 2015. This is what I would wish to discuss a little bit.
Unlike the previous meeting in Addis Ababa and the New York meeting on Sustainable Development, the WBG & IMF meeting is led by the Governors of Central Banks around the world. These are the elusive technocrats that define how the citizens can engage and are affected by the socio-economic environment of a country.
They are the persons charged with 1. Creating environments for job creation; 2. Stabilizing economies ensuring growth; 3. Ensuring the social sectors in an economy is well catered for to ensure the first two objectives are attainable. It is therefore imperative that we find the space in such meetings to raise the concerns of our people and especially making sure that the AMECEA position is well articulated in the regional conversations.
What were the critical take homes and what would we advice the AMECEA Conferences.
1. Illicit financial flow is an issue that has to be dealt with comprehensively and we as the Church have to keep our countries engaged in the agenda of stemming this vice.
2. It is important for the Episcopal Conferences to push for policies within the countries that create opportunities for job creation especially for the youth. This means projects such as the big infrastructure projects have to be up-scaled to ensure that the youth have opportunities and to access markets.
3. So as to ensure socio-economic engagement of our youth and rural communities we have to ensure that we are growing in technology. This includes farming technologies, communication, health, education and virtually in every sector. This will bring about transformation of our societies.
4. We, as Church, have a critical role to play especially in health, education and social protection. We have an obligation to invest in these sectors that ensure the poor are not left behind.
5. Lastly and most importantly, we, as the Church, have to ensure that there is good stewardship of the resources managed by the governments on behalf of the people.
These steps will help in creating a stronger engagement with the governments both nationally and regionally.
By Antony Mbandi, AMECEA Justice Peace and Caritas Department Coordinator