Recently, two of our Sisters attended a two-day Advocacy Forum which took place in Rome. The event was sponsored by the International Union of Superiors General (UISG), an organisation for leaders of Catholic women’s congregations, and it addressed issues such as sustainable development, climate change, poverty, migration and human trafficking and other social and economic issues that affect society’s most vulnerable.
One of the attendees was Sr. Justina, who kindly gave us an insight into what she learned and took away from the event.
“There were about 120 participants in total. These participants came from different continents across the globe and included Sisters, representatives from Government Institutions, Non-Governmental Organisations, diplomats, Vatican radio and other media organisations. We gathered to share, reflect and plan a way towards evolving proactive advocacy work in a way that might link the local to the global, to help bring about real systematic change.
According to one of the speakers, Catholic Sisters are doing a lot of work in areas such as in the medical field, education, social-work and research but is usually not publicised. It was discussed that we as Sisters must do our best to engage the mainstream and social media platforms to make this information known.”
The forum focused on many of the burning issues our world is facing today including sustainable development, climate change, human trafficking, biodiversity loss, unemployment, poverty, social inequality, forced migration, health crises, human rights violations and other issues that affect the most vulnerable people of the world. The forum took a multi-thematic focus with a panel discussion and nine thematic working groups.
I felt privileged to be part of this important and historic event in Rome and very grateful to God for my Congregation, the Religious Sisters of Charity, whose charism was captivated in most of the issues discussed during the forum.
Advocacy work can be quite risky, but when the risk is taken, someone’s life can be saved or secured, and our society and the environment can be improved. Although the contexts were varied throughout the different stories shared by the Sisters and their partners from different countries, we could relate them to our own experiences. I felt empowered and affirmed by what was shared during the group discussions. For instance, we discussed human trafficking, which is criminally organized, and environmental pollution which is heightened by multinational companies who unlawfully exploit natural resources for their own monetary gain. In my country, the Niger Delta area is rich with oil, which is being exploited by multinational oil companies with the approval of the Federal Government. As a result, the area is devastated, the land is destroyed and the water is polluted.
Religious organisations need to stand with the vulnerable because otherwise, many of their voices will remain unheard. As a result of the Forum, I have been empowered, challenged and strengthened to be more proactive in my advocacy work.”
