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“Persons with disabilities as well as other persons in the community see the church as a pillar of support to their complete wellbeing,” said Anderson Gitonga, executive director of United Disabled Persons of Kenya at a virtual dialogue, held 5 May, on promoting mental wellness of persons with disabilities in Kenya during and beyond COVID-19. “There is need for the church to explore further ways to build communities of support within communities to promote mental wellness of persons with disabilities during COVID-19.”

When disability advocates met this summer in Lebanon, they saw first-hand the difficulties facing persons with disabilities in refugee camps and zones of conflict in the Middle East.

Eighteen leaders from the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network met in Beirut, Lebanon on 3-5 July, to addresses concerns in the region and to evaluate the strategic plan.

On 3 December, the world marked the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) under the theme “Empowering persons with disabilities and ensuring inclusiveness and equality”. The theme focused on empowering persons with disabilities for the inclusive, equitable and sustainable development envisaged in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Fifty church development practitioners and leaders as well as organisations for persons with disabilities in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda met in Nairobi, Kenya from 9-13 October to share their experiences on disability inclusion in church development programmes and to explore strategies to ensure inclusion of persons with disabilities in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. The meeting was organised by WCC Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network Project on Disability Inclusion in Development.

Twenty church leaders from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania met in Arusha, Tanzania from 7-11 November to discuss deepening inclusion, participation and active involvement of persons with disabilities in the spiritual, social, economic and structural life of the church and society. The forum was organized by the WCC Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network and hosted by the Council of Churches in Tanzania.

Dr Samuel Kabue, executive secretary of the WCC’s Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network, an initiative of the World Council of Churches, was elected to the Committee of Experts to the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Person with Disabilities.

The Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network of the WCC together with the Caribbean arm of the Council for World Mission convened a two-day seminar on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recently.

The Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network of the WCC in collaboration with the Council for World Mission and International Disability Alliance hosted a two-day seminar on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Supported by the World Council of Churches' Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network, people with disabilities are welcomed at the Bio Intensive Agricultural Training Centre run by the Methodist Church of Kenya. People with disabilities learn livelihood skills with other members of the community at the Centre, contributing towards local development.

The latest issue of the "Contact" magazine, jointly produced by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the UN Standing Committee on Nutrition (SCN), addresses the current food price crises from various angles. A wide range of authors provide a broad perspective on the causes of the crisis and ideas for advocacy and action to counter it.

Can religions do more in response to the AIDS pandemic? To address this question over 450 representatives of faith-based organizations currently responding to HIV and AIDS will gather in Mexico City, 31 July - 2 August, in advance of the XVII International AIDS Conference.

by Stephen Webb (*)

Churches need to build youth participation so that young people can