October 4, 2011

The Anglican Alliance consultation in Latin America opened on Monday with a discussion on climate change and the launch of the Alliance website The consultation in Sao Paolo includes participants from all the Anglican Communion provinces in Latin America and the Caribbean, and from Africa, south and south east Asia, the UK and from Anglican development agencies.

It will consider priorities for development and relief work across the Anglican Communion, the advocacy strategy for 2012, and hear plans for distance learning modules being devised by the Open University for use by faith-based development projects.

The Anglican Alliance's new website, launched yesterday at http://www.anglicanalliance.org/, features a video message from the Archbishop of Canterbury setting out the work of the Anglican Alliance.

A key part of the website is an interactive map that will enable every diocese across the world to display its development, relief and advocacy work. For the launch there are projects displayed in Brasilia in Brazil, Montevideo in Uruguay, Jos in Nigeria, Lusaka in the Province of Central Africa and Hong Kong. The map was produced jointly by the London-based web design company Square Eye and a Polish firm Merix Studio.

News features on the website promote the Anglican Alliance's food campaign, with model letters to download for adults and children to write to their local or national political leaders.

The first day's debate at the consultation will focus on climate change, with presentations from a former Brazilian government adviser, and from Episcopal Relief and Development, the US-based agency.

Today the consultation was due to go out on a field visit to a recycling project, and to hear about the outreach work of Trinity Church in Sao Paolo especially in supporting people living with HIV.

The rest of the programme includes:

• Discussions on producing a theology of development for the Alliance

• A virtual consultation from the Open University on their plans for distance learning modules for the Anglican Alliance

• Deciding how to organise the Anglican Alliance's work in Latin America and the Caribbean

• Choosing a second development priority for the region, and how it wants to work with other regions in the Communion to share expertise through south to south learning.

Anglican Communion News Service, London