AMECEA/CCC: Communal Responsibility on Care Reforms: Key Highlight by AMECEA Secretary General

Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA

In a bid to respond to the current global concern on deinstitutionalization of child care, the Secretary General for the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) has emphasized on communal responsibility as a way forward for successful realization of care reforms.

As a Church, the AMECEA region has fully engaged in care reform activities by “her commitment to strengthen family apostolate, protect human life and dignity through caring for poor, vulnerable and the marginalized, advocating for equitable and inclusive society,” Fr. Anthony Makunde said while sharing with participants attending CCC convening in Lusaka, Zambia about AMECEA’s response to care reforms.

As AMECEA champions for justice and reconciliation across families and communities in the region and fosters peace, the Secretary General said, communal responsibility is the way to go.

He therefore called on all the Church leadership including the Bishops, clergy and Religious to actively play their prophetic and teaching role and empower communities through social services as they lobby for just and equitable policies and laws and build a responsible society through catechetical formation.

Additionally. Fr. Makunde called on all the lay faithful to also “Take the task of being responsible parents, revive the lost African values of child care and strengthen the role of extended family and also engage Small Christian Communities,” in the fight against institutionalization of vulnerable children.

To emphasize that AMECEA has taken lead in encouraging collaboration and journeying together, the cleric disclosed that, “AMECEA Secretariat is in collaboration with the Associations of Sisterhood in the four conferences: Kenya, Malawi, Uganda and Zambia and wishes to bring on board the other members conferences who have not yet initiated CCC in their conferences.”

He disclosed that re-integration of children back to families is possible since nearly “all children in institutions have extended family.”

Speaking the same day Wednesday, August 30, on how care-reforms and child safeguarding interrelate to each other, Sr. Jane Wairimu Gatungu the project officer for CCC at AMECEA echoed Pope Francis’ message on child safeguarding saying, “The protection of the fundamental rights of children to grow up in a family environment, to receive nutrition, education and support are duties of the family and society.”

In this regard, the member of the Congregation of Sisters of Mary Reparatrix (SMR) highlighted that safeguarding of children involves any “Effort to care prevent, detect and respond to the child’s wellbeing,” and on the other hand care reform “addresses the care and protection needs of vulnerable children or those at-risk so as to prevent separation from their families and decrease reliance on residential care,” hence the two are interconnected and work hand in hand to enrich each other.

In her message to over 30 participants from across the Eastern Africa region, safety of children is “everyone’s responsibility.”