Africa

Africa is endowed with a wealth of natural resources, many of which have only begun to be explored.  Yet many have called its resource wealth a curse-  despite these resources, and in part because of them, disease, desertification, and conflict have all impeded or hampered development on the continent.   Since decolonization in the 1960s, many countries and tribes have struggled in violent conflict to determine how scarce resources will be distributed and boundaries demarcated.  These conflicts have cause millions of Africans to flee their homelands and inhibited democratization processes.  Whereas countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Angola have negotiated peace, civil and inter-ethnic conflicts continue in countries such as Somalia, Chad, Kenya, the Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).  The crisis in the DRC has engaged nearly all of its neighbors since 1998 and seen more than 3 million deaths – either directly or as a result of disease and malnutrition.  There and elsewhere in Africa, natural resources and minerals, including oil, diamonds, coltan, copper and cobalt fuel the flames of conflicts, many of which have burned for more than a decade.  Foreign extractive companies increasingly negotiate contracts with African governments to extract their valuable resources, creating competition that can help or hinder extraction’s  impact on African people’s development. 

Disease is exacerbated by the conflicts across Africa.  In addition to these conflicts, and exacerbated by them, the spread of disease throughout Africa leaves many individuals without enough strength to live fully functioning lives.  The AIDS epidemic is a leading cause of death in Africa: more than 20 million people live with the disease (around 12% of the population).   While a recent UNAIDS report highlighted a general decline in new infections from AIDS, new infections are rising in some countries.  Kenya, for example, has seen an increase from 6.7% (in 2003) to a prevalence rate of around 8.5% (in 2007).  In Swaziland, the percentage of women with AIDS alone is upwards of 25%.  More and more AIDS orphans in Africa find themselves with little means for survival, leading to many other social problems.  Africa is a continent in need of health, healing, and hope. 

The Jesuit Response

The Jesuit Conference joins the Society of Jesus across the globe in doing, as General Congregation 34 states, “whatever it can to change international attitudes and behavior towards Africa.”  In support of the priorities of the Jesuits of Africa, the Jesuit Conference advocates before US companies and government bodies to ensure a just and authentic development of the continent.   In cooperation with Jesuits in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Europe, the Jesuit Conference engages in dialogue with key US and European-based extractive companies in order to ensure that their work respects the rights and supports the development of the Congolese people.  And Jesuit Refugee Service continues to accompany, educate, and protect refugees and internally displaced people across the continent.

To support People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), the Jesuit Conference joined faith-based groups across the US in successfully calling for a reauthorization and augmentation of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in 2008.  The Jesuit Conference also supports robust funding for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, which supports HIV/AIDS programs in countries around the world.  Jesuits worldwide accompany Jesuits in Africa working to combat aids and to support AIDS orphans.  As Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach exhorted the Society of Jesus, “let us open our hearts and our eyes and let Africa emerge from its darkness into the light of compassion and human solidarity.” 

Resources

 

Africa Toolkit

A resource for the introduction, reflection and action on the issue from an Ignatian perspective

African Jesuit AIDS Network (AJAN)

AJAN is an effort by the Jesuit Superiors of Africa and Madagascar to respond to HIV/AIDS by developing an appropriate social ministry that: is deeply rooted amongst those who suffer and accompanies those who care for them; that promotes responsibility and prevention; that joins in the struggle against stigma and discrimination; that is sensitive to the local culture, faith and spirituality; and that collaborates widely with others.

Africa Faith and Justice Network (AFJN)

AFJN works closely with Catholic missionary congregations and numerous Africa-focused coalitions of all persuasions to advocate for USA economic and political policies that will benefit Africa's poor majority, facilitate an end to armed conflict, establish equitable trade and investment with Africa and promote sustainable development.

A call to solidarity with Africa(USCCB)

is the US Bishops’ statement of 2001: “Our response to this vocation of solidarity with the Church and peoples of Africa enables us to express love ‘in deed and in truth.’”

Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS)

Accompanies, educates, and protects refugees in camps throughout Africa

 

Prayer

Creator God, we gather as a community in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Africa. We believe that together, through the power of love, revealed in the death and resurrection of your Son, we can transform resentment into reconciliation, war into peace, and sickness into health. Awaken within us the power of your Spirit. May we learn to live in solidarity, and come to believe in the transforming power of your love. We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen.