More than 35 women and men missionaries from eight congregations working in Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Middle East, Egypt, Tanzania, DR Congo, Burundi and Uganda met last week with members of VIVAT International accredited with the UN in New York and Geneva and in Italy in a four-day workshop in Nairobi to know and initiate collaboration with the VIVAT teams.
The participants shared information about the human rights situation in the countries where they work and learned how VIVAT International operates.
In the end they decided to start a regional forum to follow up issues of Justice and Peace and Integrity of Creation and link up with VIVAT.
Fr. Isaac Martin Arnanz is a Comboni Missionary working in Wau. He told SCR News that the workshop was a powerful learning exercise about networking and introducing Christian values at the UN level.
He added that justice and peace issues are part of evangelization.
The East African forum consists of the four provincials of the Divine Word Missionaries, Comboni Missionary Sisters, Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary and Oblates of Mary Immaculate who will work hand in hand with VIVAT.
VIVAT International is a missionary non-governmental organization that operates at the UN level in New York and Geneva, Switzerland, to advocate for human rights since ten years ago.
VIVAT means let live in Latin.