The first-ever in-person continental meeting of Talitha Kum Africa was held in Nairobi, Kenya, on 20th – 26th November 2022. 35 participants (Religious women and men) attended, from 15 countries (Talitha Kum networks) in Africa (English and French-speaking regions). 

The gathering was an enriching opportunity through deep listening and sharing experiences for Talitha Kum’s mission to end human trafficking.

One of the objectives of the conference was to deepen the identity of Talitha Kum Africa, which was facilitated successfully by aiming at empowering the members on the vision, mission, and spirituality of the Talitha Kum Network. It was made clear that Talitha Kum is a network guided by Gospel values and the social teaching of the Church. The forum institutionalized the creation of the HUBs with each team member focusing on advocacy, formation, young ambassadors, or communication. The hubs were established as follows:

1.     East African HUB: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Ethiopia.

2.     Northern Africa HUB: Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Mauritania.

3.    West Africa HUB (English Speaking): Nigeria, Cameroon, and Ghana.

4.    West Africa HUB (French Speaking): Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, and Mali.

5.     Southern Africa HUB: South Africa, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, *(Angola, Botswana, and Swaziland).

Each hub reflected together and made a strategic plan to move forward with intentional commitment. 

Overall, the gathering was very enlightening. At the same time, Talitha Kum discussed some challenges, helping to design the way forward to strengthen networking in Africa and improve efforts to end human trafficking, as a Slavery Free Africa Network.

The group decided to meet in-person every three years and nominated Morocco as the next host country in 2025.

The conference ended with a ceremonial prayer whereby each HUB shared its commitment with a symbol.