Africa Family Life Federation
Federation Africaine d'Action Familiale
Report of Activities from November 2001 to April 2004
Presented during the first General Assembly of the AFLF by Dany Sauvage ,acting coordinator of the Federation.
The objective of this report is to give members an outline of our ongoing activities , since the creation of the
Federation in November 2001. This will allow us to be aware of our strengths and weaknesses.
Birth of the AFLF and its Objectives .
Recap:
After three days work on the philosophical basis and the statutes of the future Federation, the former members of the
Federation Internationale d'Action Familiale ( IFFLF) together with the members of the Link Committee present at
Cotonou in November 2001 created the Africa Family Life Federation (AFLF). The Continent was divided into
four zones . The objectives of the provisional coordinating committee were established .
Two facilitators were chosen for each zone .A list of the seven members of the provisional coordinating committee
was drawn up and the charter of the AFLF was signed (annex 1).
The provisional committee together with the zonal animators were designated as below:
Co- coordinator			Dany SAUVAGE	Ile Maurice
Secretary			Cecilia FOMENKY	Cameroon
Vice Secretary			Therese NYIRABUKEYE	Benin
Treasurer			Berthe ODIA	R.D.C.
Member			Heinz WIRZ	Republic of South Africa
Member			Monica BARENZI	Uganda
Member			Etienne KOKUOUA	Cote d'Ivoire
The objectives of the co-ordinating committee were set up and are listed below in order of priority :
	To edit and distribute the acts of the meeting
	Maintain contact with the members.
	Creation of a Web site
	Preparation of a congress of the Federation in 2 years time.
	To make the work of the Federation known to political and religious leaders in Africa .
	Encouragement of research.
	Mobilisation of resources.
	To promote the development of Family Life Associations in African countries
	Helping to improve the quality of services being provided.
	Centralisation of statistics.
Establishment of 4 sub zones
a	French-speaking West Africa: Senegal, Togo, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Benin; sub zonal secretary-coordinator:
	Monique Kebe and Dr. Modesta Sadzo Hetso.
b	Central Africa: Burundi, Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and
	Tchad, sub zonal secretary -coordinators: Joseph Bama and Hippolyte Nkoy Mwakanza .
c	English -speaking East and West Africa: Kenya,Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria sub zonal secretary coordinators :
	Franklin Fuchaka and Monica Barenzi.
d	Southern Africa :Malawi, South Africa,, Zambia, Mauritius, Madagascar, sub zonal secretary - coordinators :
	Sr. Priscilla Dlamini and Dr. Heinz Wirz.
Registration of the Federation
The registration of the Federation has not been possible in Mauritius as the Registrar of Associations cannot register a Fede-
ration. During the meeting of the co-ordinating committee in Douala in August 2003 it was decided to ask Mrs D. Sauvage
to register the Federation as a Foundation.
Being registered, the Foundation will have a legal identity and will be able to have its own bank account .
Realisations
	1	Editing and distribution of the acts of the meeting .
	a	A document about the meeting has been finalised and despatched by Therese Nyirabukeye
		The translation for the english speaking group has not been done.
	2	Maintain contact with the members.
		We would like to point out that communication by e-mail seems to be very difficult.
	a	The addresses of all members present at the Cotonou meeting as well as the declaration and mission statements
		have been sent to the members.
	b	These were prepared by the English speaking group. We have had very little comment concerning them.
		We wonder if they have been received .
	c	A bulletin about the meeting was prepared in English and French and despatched by the Link Committee .
		This bulletin was used on some occasions to inform officials about the Federation
	d	Logo Competition.
		Dr Heinz Wirz of FERMASA proposed the only one logo. It has been presented to the committee.
	3	Creation of a Web site
	a	Dr Heinz Wirz of FERMASA has created a web site. In that connection, he invited the associations to send news about
		their achievements.
		Up to now the site has been utilised only by FERMASA as Dr. H. Wirz did not received any information about other
		associations.
	b	Information concerning the Federation can be found on the web site created by the Link Committee .
	4	Preparation of the congress of the Federation in 2 years time.
	a	The Committee and some members met at Douala (annex 2) and prepared the Congress. The objectives and orientations of the
		Congress were defined.
		The choice of the subjects for the workshops were made .
	b	The Congress should draw up a 5 year Action Plan (annex 3).
	5	Diffusion of the work of the Federation to political and religious leaders in Africa.
	a	Dany and Jacky Sauvage presented the Federation to the SECAM committee which was holding a workshop in
		November 2001 in Mauritius.
	b	Two consultants of AFLF were sent to Douala in order to inform the Vatican representatives about the Federation in
		October 2003.( see annex 4 )
	c	Five representatives participated at the 13 th plenary session of SECAM in October 2003- This session addressed
		the crisis of the HIV-AIDS pandemic.
	d	A letter concerning the presentation of the Federation was written in Douala and addressed the Bishops present
		at SECAM .( see annex 5 ) .
	e	We corresponded with the secretaries of the African Episcopal conferences together with the newly elected president
		and secretary of SECAM .
	f	Letters were sent to the different Episcopal conferences of Africa to remind them of the objectives of AFLF and to inform
		them about the venue of its first congress .
	g	Credential letters were also sent to Health Ministers of African Countries to inform them about AFLF and the venue of
		its future congress.
	6	Encouragement of research.
		Mobilisation of resources.
		To promote the development of Family Life Associations in African countries
		Helping to improve quality of service being provided.
		Statistics data collection and analysis .
		Concerning above objectives, the committee after discussions proposed a plan of action and support groups were
		designated.
		Enrolment forms have been sent by e-mail to the different associations . Seven replies were received as listed below :
			Conduite de Fecondite DRC	Congo DRC
			Action Familiale du Tchad
			Action Familiale du Cameroun
			Action Familiale Rwandaise
			Centre d'Entraide au Developpement et d'Action pour la Famille RDC
			Action Familiale du Burundi
			Action Familiale de L'Ile Maurice.
		Creation of 3 project teams for the follow- up and implementation of the action plan .
		*	Couples and family
		*	Youth
		*	Research ,media and publicity
		A consultation service is being implemented .
		The principal events of the last two years were the meeting of the committee members at Douala, the introduction of
		the AFLF to SECAM at Dakar and the presentation of AFLF to Vatican representatives . Those different activities
		helped us to progress towards our goals , firstly in developing a clearer vision of our plan of action , our structure and
		our organisation. Furthermore we had to communicate about our existence and objectives .
		Our weaknesses were the difficulty of communication , the lack of structure and role definition .
3		Conclusion
		Taking into consideration the fact that it was important for the associate members to offer a service of quality to their
		members, the implementation of a consultation service and work groups seemed from our point of view essential .
		As a result , we decided to start a consultation service for the different services being provided by our organisations to
		couples .
		We are convinced that project teams are essential for the good conduct of the work of the Federation .
		Areas such as couples - family, youth, research, media and publicity could well be developed in such project teams.
		An executive bureau could care for follow up in these areas.
		In annex 6 the attributes of such work groups are listed.