A sympathy visit to Sudan: it will be made from tomorrow to April 2nd by an international ecumenical delegation headed by pastor Samuel Kobia, secretary general of the Ecumenical Council of the Churches (ECC, 349 protestant, Orthodox and Anglican Churches). The delegation will be divided into four groups, which will go to Darfur, Khartoum, Rumbek and Yambio, respectively, before meeting about fifty church leaders as well as Sudanese women and young people for a three-day conference in Giuba (31 March 2 April). "Visiting Christian parishes, welfare and humanitarian organisations, refugees and politicians explains the EEC will enable the delegation to understand the concerns, the hopes and the needs of these groups", after the 2005 peace agreement that followed the 20-year civil war between the north and the south of the country (2 million casualties and 4 million refugees). The visit is also organised by the Conference of the Churches of all Africa (CCAA). The staff at Act-Caritas Darfur will make sure it will be held in the latter region, which since 2003 has been the scene of permanent conflicts between rebel groups and government militias. This sympathy visit is part of the "Living letters" project by the ECC and the Ecumenical program of eminent personalities for peace in Africa (EPEPPA) of Ceta.
