On 18th May, Leaders of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and Church World Service (CWS) met to discuss Africa's issues at CWS headquarter. Rev. Dr. Samuel Kobia, general secretary of the WCC, had a good discussion with Rev. John L.. McCullough, executive director and CEO of CWS.

WCC invited CWS to take leadership in African issues, including Peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution; Durable Solutions for the Displaced; Hunger and Poverty Alleviation; Water for Life; and HIV/AIDS in Africa.

Kobia is Kenyan and the first African to serve as the WCC General Secretary. He served for many years as the General Secretary of the National Council of Churches of Kenya. McCullough served as a United Methodist missionary in Kenya.

During the meeting, McCullough said that he began to shape an over-arching programmatic venture that would address the continent's connected challenges. That vision has come to life in CWS new Africa Initiative.

The initiative targets Africa's most at-risk populations: children, people living with HIV/AIDS, and uprooted people including refugees, migrants, and internally displaced persons. The agency will also give special attention to the needs and rights of African women and girls and the key role women must play in the development of African communities and societies.

As a part of its Conflict Resolution programming, CWS draws on its longstanding active presence in Africa with the development of the Church World Service Eminent Persons Ecumenical Program for Africa. The Eminent Persons Program is being implemented in cooperation with the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC).

Kobia and McCullough reviewed the Eminent Persons model, which was successfully tested during last summer's Liberia peace talks in Ghana, and plans to further develop the program by the AACC with the various fellowships of churches on the continent.

At the end, Kobia expressed a hope that the programs of the Africa Initiative would serve to inform programs that the WCC will pursue and implement after that body's ninth assembly, scheduled for Porto Alegre, Brazil, in February 2006.

CWS is an international, ecumenical humanitarian agency, comprising of 36 Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican denominations in the United States. Working in partnership with indigenous organisations in more than 80 countries to meet human needs and foster self-reliance for all who are suffering in hardship. It assists communities in responding to disasters, resettling refugees, promoting fair national and international policies, and providing educational resources.