By Thabo Chaba
ACT Ubumbano hosted the ACT Alliance Africa gathering of national forum convenors, coordinators, and secretariat representatives in Johannesburg in September 2026. This was a space for solidarity, peer learning, and strategic mapping to strengthen regional coordination, scale up youth involvement, and elevate faith-based voices ahead of critical global milestones.
Participants focused on strategic alignment, evaluating the alliance’s unique faith-based identity and exploring concrete pathways to address shrinking civic space, political tensions, and humanitarian pressures. Forums deliberated on increasing local impact by aligning Community of Practice activities with global priorities, advancing locally led initiatives, scaling up cross-border programming, and improving joint resource mobilization. To support these efforts, the African Secretariat committed to transitioning from reactive responses to proactive crisis management by strengthening consortium creation, simplifying reporting processes, and offering enhanced technical support alongside access to donor networks.
Governance and climate action took centre stage with the presentation of a major global campaign, Africa Can’t Wait: Interfaith Voices for Just Climate Action in preparation for COP 32. National forums agreed to develop tailored campaign messages locally within a month of receiving guidance notes. Discussions on emergency preparedness highlighted a shift toward decentralized joint resource mobilization, continuous contingency budgeting, and warehouse innovation to reduce over-reliance on standard appeal mechanisms. To guide regional forums through these upcoming processes and ecumenical collaborations, an interim Regional Steering Committee comprising Alex Minjale, Emmanuel Ankama, and Haq Makumbi was elected. The region is also preparing for a visit from the ACT General Secretary in January 2027to Nigeria, Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Kenya.
True to the commitment of centring the lived experiences of marginalized communities, the final day featured a learning field visit to Snake Park, organized by the Benchmark Foundation. This Toxic Tour of Soweto provided a sobering look into the realities of communities living adjacent to historic gold mine tailings. A significant highlight was interacting with a local women’s association—a group of caregivers raising children and young people with disabilities heavily impacted by historical mining activities. Through handicraft work, these women raise a small income to support their centre, reminding the network of the urgent need for churches and people of goodwill to offer direct financial and in-kind solidarity to grassroots movements.
Moving forward, the gathering established a clear roadmap for the remainder of 2026. Climate messaging guidance notes will be circulated within two weeks to allow forums to finalize local messages a month later. Additionally, the interim steering committee will work to finalize their formal Terms of Reference, and the Secretariat will arrange a year-end review meeting to track progress on all commitments before the General Secretary’s regional visit in early 2027.
