WCC News: Church leaders in Kenya and Zimbabwe unveil disability rights action plans

A three-day training workshop on the domestication and implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ​concluded in Nairobi on 27 November, with church leaders from Kenya and Zimbabwe, designing action plans for their work in the next two years. Training workshop on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities  in Nairobi, Kenya, 27 November 2025. Photo: WCC 03 December 2025 The meeting, organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network, gathered 25 leaders from the Anglican Church of Kenya, the Presbyterian Church of East Africa, and the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe.  “This has been a very crucial training for the church leaders who often interact daily and engage with persons with disabilities. We hope that after this, they will help their churches and congregations ensure inclusion of persons with disabilities,” said Anjeline Okola, WCC Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network coordinator. “Adequate engagement with the churches and faith actors, who remain critical partners in reaching grassroots communities, is very important and at the core of work.”  From 25-27 November, the leaders engaged in Bible studies and theological reflections, assembled in groups, and explored African churches' case studies. The aim was to give them a theological, legal, and practical tool to enable them to champion for disability rights in work, employment, and climate change adaptation. Dr Samuel Kabue, former executive secretary of the WCC Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network, told the training that the UN Convention, adopted in 2006, has since received a lot of attention, nearing universal ratification by the UN member states. At the same time, he cautioned that the convention does not create new rights but provides a framework for persons with disabilities to enjoy the same rights as other people.  “Its purpose is to elaborate in detail the rights of persons with disabilities and set out a code of implementation,” said Kabue. “To ensure that the convention is implemented, there is a need for continuous oversight. This oversight requires the involvement of all stakeholders, including the church and other faith-based organisations.” He encouraged churches, the civil society, and faith-based organisations to join organisations of persons with disabilities in the preparation of the parallel report or even to have their own reports, alongside those of states that have ratified the convention. In the action plans unveiled, the Anglican Church of Kenya plans to hold sensitization and training workshops on inclusion and awareness creation, assemble disability inclusion committees at provincial, diocese, and parish levels, and develop a manual on disability inclusion policy. The Reformed Church in Zimbabwe's action plans include clergy and laity orientation and training on the conventions provisions, developing an inclusion policy, and adopting a disability inclusive climate change strategy, among others. Part of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa action plan includes explaining theological statements, including “A Church of all and for all” and “The Gift of being and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.” It will also focus on sustainable agriculture and food security, and disability, among other issues. Rev. Zadock Oluoch, vicar general at St Augustine Madaraka, a parish of the Anglican Church’s All Saints Cathedral, said that after years, the church has taken a turn to think more deeply about how to engage persons with disabilities. “Having listened to different denominations, churches present here, and organizations and hearing the things they are doing, I realize there is a need for partnerships,” said the cleric. “We are beginning to think about how we can partner so that we avoid duplication.”  Joyce Matara, acting director of the National Association of Societies for Care of the Handicapped, Zimbabwe, said churches needed to act quickly to ensure that persons with disabilities get education to move them out of poverty, enable formal employment, and empower them to contest for leadership.  “The organization of persons with disabilities can play a key role in ensuring churches are inclusive. There is also a need for awareness of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities provision and other conventions like the African disability protocol,” said Matara. Learm more about the WCC Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network (EDAN) A WCC-EDAN training workshop on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ​in Nairobi gathered church leaders from Kenya and Zimbabwe. Photo: WCC See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 356 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa.  Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland