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The Mothers Union from the Church of Uganda (Buganda region) in collaboration with the World Council of Churches Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiatives and Advocacy and Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance programmes have been finding strength and inspiration during the 16 Days campaign against sexual and gender-based violence. 

As a crowd of more than 300 gathered, the St Paul’s University School of Theology officially launched Thursdays in Black, pledging to build an Africa without violence and to join together on a pilgrimage of justice, peace, and reconciliation.

Christian educators and other church leaders in Togo are eagerly turning the pages of a new resource for children, a curriculum entitled “Because God Loves Me—Affirming My Value in Christ,” published by the World Council of Churches (WCC).

The South Sudan Council of Churches is inviting churches to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, observed globally on 19 June. The council published a series of messages available for use in worship services over the weekend.

Damaris, a Nigerian woman, described her experience of 2020: “We’ve gone through hell.”

Damaris and her sisters were kidnapped in March 2020 and threatened with death as their kidnappers demanded money. Her father had to sell everything and beg on the streets to meet their demands. “We are just a common people in Nigeria,” she said. “We don’t know what we did.”

In a message on 15 October, Rev. Dr David Tswaedi, executive director of the Lutheran Communion in Southern Africa, lamented that the voices of survivors and victims of gender-based violence have been muted, due to stigma and the perceived power of the perpetrators.

The Thursdays in Black campaign for a world free from rape and violence has been intensified in Namibia, bringing awareness of the heightened risk of violence against women and children during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Brought together by the South Sudan Council of Churches, women and men are sharing the pain of many years of war and associated gender-based violence in a series of workshops in Kenya and Burundi.

Geschlechtsspezifische Gewalt und Angriffe auf Ausländerinnen und Ausländer machen viele Menschen in Südafrika hilflos. Um Solidarität zu zeigen, hat ein Pilgerteam des Ökumenischen Rates der Kirchen (ÖRK) das Land vom 7. bis 12. Dezember besucht.

Gender-based violence and attacks on foreign nationals in South Africa have left communities wondering where to turn. In a visit of solidarity, a World Council of Churches (WCC) Pilgrim Team visited the nation from 7-12 December.

Am 9. Dezember hat sich eine Delegation unter der Leitung von Pastor Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit, Generalsekretär des Ökumenischen Rates der Kirchen (ÖRK), mit dem südafrikanischen Präsidenten Cyril Ramaphosa und Mitgliedern seines Kabinetts in Johannesburg in Südafrika getroffen.

On 9 December, a delegation led by World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit met with the South African president Cyril Ramaphosa and cabinet ministers in Johannesburg, South Africa.

While lighting candles at a gathering of the All Africa Conference of Churches in Nairobi, church leaders, members of the civil society and youth on Monday launched Thursdays in Black, the global movement calling for resistance to attitudes and practices that permit rape and violence.

Unveiling the campaign, Archbishop Timothy Ndambuki, an African Brotherhood Church leader who is the chairman of the National Council of Churches of Kenya, urged churches to hear and give compassion to women suffering violence without asking questions.

Young people in Uganda are on fire for change that will free the world from both HIV and sexual and gender-based violence. Spreading sparks of knowledge and enthusiasm, they have been visiting schools to inform and inspire even more young people.

Churches across southern Africa are publicly saying #EnoughIsEnough,” with many denominations and congregations continuing to issue strong statements, arrange special prayer events, and speak out against rising levels of violence.

Both the Dutch Reformed Church and the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (UPCSA) have been discussing gender justice and how to keep the momentum going on the unprecedented public demand for change.

Dies ist das fünfte Gespräch in einer Serie von Interviews mit Botschafterinnen und Botschaftern der Kampagne „Donnerstags in Schwarz“, die eine entscheidende Rolle dabei spielen, die Wirkung unseres gemeinsamen Engagements für eine Welt ohne Vergewaltigung und Gewalt zu vergrößern.

Pastor Damon Mkandawire arbeitet in der Verwaltung des Missionskrankenhauses der Vereinigten Kirche von Sambia in Mbereshi.

This is the fifth in a series of interviews with Thursdays in Black ambassadors who are playing a vital role in increasing the impact of our collective call for a world without rape and violence. Rev. Damon Mkandawire is hospital administrator for the United Church of Zambia’s Mbereshi Mission Hospital.

Während sich Südafrika mit dem Problem der zunehmenden Gewalt gegen Frauen auseinandersetzen muss, ruft Präsident Cyril Ramaphosa am 18. September das gesamte Parlament zu einer Sondersitzung ein, um die Frage zu erörtern, wie eine Gesellschaft entstehen könnte, in der sich Frauen nicht nur sicher fühlen, sondern auch die gleichen Menschenrechte haben wie Männer. Vor dem Hintergrund von 52.420 gemeldeten Sexualverbrechen im vergangenen Jahr und weiteren Übergriffen, die gar nicht erst angezeigt wurden, haben Hunderttausende Menschen in Südafrika öffentlich verkündet: „#EnoughisEnough.“ Kirche und Glaubensgemeinschaften setzen sich vehement und kompromisslos für die Forderung nach einem Wandel ein. Entsteht daraus eine mächtige Bewegung? Stellen wir uns auf die Seite der Frauen in Südafrika?

As South Africa grapples with a gender-based violence crisis, president Cyril Ramaphosa is convening, on 18 September, the entire parliament for a special session on how to create a society in which women feel not only safe, but enjoy human rights equal to men. With 52,420 sexual offences reported in the last financial year - and many unreported - hundreds of thousands of people in South Africa are publicly saying “#EnoughIsEnough.” Churches and faith communities are a vocal, visible part of this call for change. Will the momentum grow? Will we stand with the women of South Africa?