For the first time, a woman has been appointed as head of the global Caritas Internationalis network of official Catholic relief and development agencies. She formerly worked for the UK aid agency, CAFOD.

Ceremonies in Nairobi's Holy Family Roman Catholic Basilica and All Saints Anglican Cathedral, together with a procession from one to the other church, are part of events being organized by the All Africa Conference of Churches/Caritas Ecumenical Platform to mark the opening of the 7th World Social Forum (WSF).

The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) has expressed concern at reports of harassment of aid workers in Sudan's western Darfur region and has criticised the Khartoum government for "failing to provide humanitarian agencies with the support it has agreed upon" - writes Peter Kenny for Ecumenical News International.