ETHIOPIA: AMECEA Secretariat to Convene Forum For Sharing of Best Practices on Self Sustainability
AMECEA Secretariat is planning to capitalize on the sharing of best practices among the Member Conferences in order to promote self-reliance and self-sustainability. According to the Secretary General Rev. Fr. Anthony Makunde, a number of Member Conferences are excelling in various self sustainability projects and this is something that others can benchmark on.
Fr. Makunde revealed during a recent Capacity Building Workshop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia that the Secretariat plans to bring together key leaders from the Member Episcopal Conferences to further discuss issues that were resolved during the 19th AMECEA Plenary Assembly, with a special emphasis on strengthening the solidarity of AMECEA Member Countries.
The Secretary General indicated that in June, 2019 the Secretariat in collaboration with Secretaries General from Member Conferences will bring together three Bishops, Secretaries General, Pastoral Coordinators, Social Communications Coordinators, Justice and Peace Coordinators from each Conferences to a forum either to be held in Nairobi, Kenya or Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to allow the Bishops to share and compare notes from success stories about self-sustainability projects as well as other issues of common interest in the region.
“There are many projects here in Ethiopia that your brother Bishops from Kenya would be interested to learn about; similarly, there are projects in Uganda that you the Ethiopian Bishops may wish to learn from. Therefore, the forum which we are organizing will offer such an opportunity as far as self-sustainability is concerned,” Fr. Makunde explained.
“In Uganda, the Catholic Church bank is doing very well; in Kenya, they have the insurance company, which is also doing well; while Ethiopia is doing quite well with their winery project, just to mention few Conferences. These are the success stories we need to share and compare the notes and to encourage each other to take the necessary risk of engaging in such projects.”
The Secretary General of AMECEA cautioned that even though partners may continue to give support, there is a great need for the local Church to be self-sustainable.
“It is true that our partners will continue to stand with us, however, the support will not be there forever. Therefore, the need for us to find ways to stand on our own feet is paramount. A forum for sharing best practices, challenges and opportunities is therefore the ideal point to begin,” Fr. Makunde said.
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By Pamela Adinda, AMECEA Online News
