Since 2023, Christians across sub-Saharan Africa have been calling on us to stand with them against unthinkable violence. Four years on, people across the world have answered and the need has never been greater.
How Arise Africa began
The Arise Africa campaign is a call from churches in Sub-Saharan Africa for the Body of Christ around the world to stand with them, as one, to stop the violence and start the healing.
In 2023, church leaders from across the continent, alongside Open Doors partners and senior leaders, signed the Lomé Declaration – a united call for the world to act on the violence facing Christian communities in the region. That declaration became the foundation of Arise Africa: A multi-year commitment to bring sustained awareness, prayer, and practical support to four million persecuted Christians in Africa.
Four years later, here’s what that commitment has made possible.
Since the campaign began in 2023, 780 000 people have signed the Arise Africa petition, and globally Open Doors partners have raised $8.26 million (approximaltey R132 million), helping provide 2.1 million acts of direct support to our family in Africa.
Notes on these figures
- These are global campaign totals.
- The $8.26 million excludes residual donations, (the global total is higher).
- 20 million is the number of supporters reached online and offline about Arise Africa.
Today, you can show your support for our persecuted family in Africa:
- Add your name to our Arise Africa petition to help turn momentum into action. Your signature tells our family in Africa: We see you. We hear you. We stand with you.
- Give towards our Arise Africa campaign to provide even more acts of support to our persecuted family.
What is Arise Africa?
Now in our fourth year, our aim is still to:
- Bring sustained awareness to the problem of extremist violence and its impact on Christians in Sub-Saharan Africa.
- See people like you actively praying and speaking out against violent persecution.
- Support four million persecuted Christians in Africa spiritually, physically and emotionally.
This only grows through people like you.
What’s the problem?
Since the release of Open Doors’ 2023 World Watch List, the violence score for the 15 sub-Saharan countries included among the top 50 countries on the list has risen, on average, by 1 point. Violence in 13 of those 15 countries – including Burkina Faso, Mali and the Democratic Republic of the Congo – is rated in the “extremely high” category under World Watch List methodology.
The violence against Christians has a very specific purpose. It is not by accident, or simply the by-product of a clash between ethnic groups or conflict over resources. The environment in which violence takes place is complex, and there are instances where resource scarcity, politics and ethnic groups play a role. However, the role that religion plays in the conflict can’t be ignored.
What happens to Christians in Nigeria drives much of the global discourse about religious persecution more generally as it continues to be the global epicentre of deadly violence against Christians. Of the 4 849 Christians killed worldwide because of their Christian identity during the World Watch List 2026 reporting period, 3 490 of them were Nigerian – an increase from 3 100 in the previous year.
