Councils of Churches make the links between Biblical principles and SADC Protocol

The Alliance with support from the Norwegian Church Aid, Pietermaritzburg Agency for Christian Social Awareness (PASCA) and the Centre for Human Rights recently held a two-day training of Church Councils’ directors from five Southern African countriesto promote gender equality in churches.

The church councils’ leaders received training on the link between biblical principles, church teachings and the key provisions of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development and other regional and international legal instruments in place.

The training introduced gender instruments like: the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women; the MaputoProtocolto the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rightson the Rights of Women in Africa; Beijing Platform for Action and the SADC Gender Protocol to church leaders.

Following this PASCA will undertakes a gender audit of at least five churches in Botswana, Lesotho, South Africa and Zimbabwe. PASCA Director Daniela Gennrich said Ecumenical work on gender amongst churches has been extraordinarily difficult for a myriad of reasons.

“While some progress has been made, in some churches more than others, the impact of this work has been uneven and not fully documented, said Gennrich. No mapping has ever been undertaken of church policy and doctrinal frameworks as they affect gender relations. As a result there is no clear picture of how these frameworks impact on the position and everyday realities of women and men at local church level.

The project supported by Norwegian Church Aid emphasises the importance of the church and its role in influencing policies. The training ended on a high note with participants appreciating the knowledge gained on how various gender instruments including the SADC Gender Protocol relate to the SADC Protocol on gender and development.

Some of the key principles that were linked directly to passages in the Bible include:

• Non-discrimination between men and women (this is the overarching principle of each treaty and subsequent articles in the treaties elaborate key components of this principle, along with actions required to eliminate discrimination against women in ALL spheres).
• Non-discrimination between men and women (this is the overarching principle of each treaty and subsequent articles in the treaties elaborate key components of this principle, along with actions required to eliminate discrimination against women in ALL spheres).
• Women’s participation in political and public life
• Prohibiting violence against women
• Health and reproductive rights
• Equality in marriage and divorce
• Eliminating harmful traditional practices
• Economic, social and welfare rights
• Right to peace
• Education