The date of the Sixth World Conference of Friends which was due to take place in Kenya in August 2012 has been changed to April 2012.

The change follows Kenyans’ vote in favour of a new constitution under which national elections may be held as early as August 2012. The world conference, the first to be held entirely in Africa, will now be held from 17 to 25 April 2012. One thousand Friends from all over the world will gather on the campus of Kabarak University near Nakuru. Kabarak University is a Christian-based university established in 2000. The vision for the university came from Daniel T arap Moi, the chancellor, who wanted to ‘set up a reputable Christian liberal arts, science and technology university.

The theme will still be ‘Being salt and light: Friends living the Kingdom of God in a broken world’.

The general secretary of the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC), Nancy Irving, welcomed the date change. She said: ‘Although this brings the dates of the sixth world conference forward, we are pleased that we can do this, as Kenyan Friends are excited about hosting the wider family of Friends. It will be a challenge to accommodate this change quickly, but I am confident that together we can do it.’

FWCC director of communications, Harry Albright, said the meeting is important: ‘It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for people to come together from all over the world and to discuss issues relating to Quakers.’

One Kenyan friend, Bainito Wamalwa, added: ‘Kenyan Friends are very happy with the conference being held in Kenya.’

The conference will see a tiered structure of registration and accommodation fees introduced for the first time at a FWCC international event. Participants will be registered in five tiers and people will pay according to the country they come from. Their fee will be calculated using a formula that involves the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Personal Purchasing Power (PPP) of the country and will range from £20 (Peru and India) to £550 (Sweden and the US).

One British Quaker, who attended the FWCC triennial in Dublin in 2007, agreed that the world conference is important. Gladstone Providence, from Luton and Leighton Area Meeting, said: ‘Meeting other Quakers who worship differently is important. I like to learn from them. I felt reassured from mixing with other Quakers that Quakerism is alive and kicking.

‘It helps us not to feel isolated as a relatively small group in Britain. I got stimulated by the sessions and learnt a lot.’