American aid agency and Anglican churches hold meeting on assistance

Accra (Greater Accra) 12 March '99

A five-day consultative meeting between representatives of the Trinity Grants Programme, a United States-based aid agency, and representatives of six provinces of the Anglican Church in Africa, ended in Accra on Wednesday. The meeting assessed the impact of financial assistance of the Trinity Grant Programme to Anglican Churches in Africa within the past 14 years, and the relevance of the programme on the continent for the next ten years. The meeting, the first to be organised by the donors to enable the beneficiaries to help to evaluate the programme, was attended by representatives from Ghana, Congo, Burundi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. Addressing the delegates the Most Reverend Robert G.A. Okine, Anglican Archbishop of the Province of West Africa, proposed that the scope of funding of the programme be broadened to meet genuine needs. He urged the programme to help the Anglican Church in Africa to establish an investment fund that would guarantee a regular source of income for their needs. The Archbishop expressed his gratitude to the American aid agency for its assistance to the beneficiary churches. Ms Judith Gillespie, Programme Associate of the agency gave the assurance that the concerns of the participants would be conveyed to the Board of Directors of the Programme for the necessary action.