wfn.org | Peace is First Priority of West African Church Leaders

["Church World Service News" <nccc_usa@ncccusa.org>]

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PEACE IS FIRST PRIORITY OF WEST AFRICAN CHURCH LEADERS
Nine-Member Delegation to the U.S. March 6-20 Is Hosted by Church World
Service

March 11, 2003, NEW YORK CITY - Peace in their region is the first priority
of a nine-member church leaders delegation from West Africa, which is
spending March 6-20 in the United States by invitation of the global
humanitarian agency Church World Service.

These top ecumenical officials from the Mano River Union countries of
Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea and from neighboring Ghana and The Gambia
are meeting with top-level United Nations, U.S. government and U.S. church
leaders concerned with West Africa.

By exposing us to all these stakeholders in our affairs, said Mr. Baffour
D. Amoa, a Ghanaian delegate who is Secretary General of the Fellowship of
Churches and Councils in West Africa (FECCIWA), we hope to attract the
necessary support for the cessation of hostilities in our region, including
whats happening in Ivory Coast.

Commented Mr. Amoa, Governments have gone it alone for too long.
Non-governmental organizations and churches need to be in partnership
toward resolving the regions problems.

Until 1989, West Africans felt immune to the strife that plagued other parts
of Africa, when civil war erupted in Liberia; soon afterwards, in next-door
Sierra Leone, and, most recently, in Ivory Coast.  Millions of people have
been displaced within and across borders, stressing neighboring countries
including Guinea and The Gambia.  Local infrastructure has collapsed in much
of the region, which also has seen some of the worst human rights atrocities
in recent history.

Our children, who make up nearly half of our populations, have known
nothing but war, said Anglican Bishop S. Tilewa Johnson, a delegation
member, who chairs the Gambian Christian Council.

West Africa wont have lasting peace unless the ongoing crisis in Liberia is
resolved, he said.  When you put out a fire, to get it to stay out, you
have to put it out at its source.  In our region, the fire started in
Liberia and spread, Bishop Johnson said.

Sierra Leone - whose 11-year civil war ended in January 2002 - wont have
lasting peace, he said, if Liberia is not resolved.

Another delegate, Mr. Prince Porte, a member of the Liberian Council of
Churches Executive Committee and Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in
Liberia, agreed.  He said international non-governmental organizations put
the cart before the horse when they sponsor refugee assistance and
development projects in West Africa without addressing the prior question -
the need for peace.

We want to stop the war, Mr. Porte said.  If we dont stop the war, we
will always have refugees.  To have sustainable development, you have to
stop the fighting and sustain the peace.
Mr. Amoa further elaborated on the need for peace.  Make an investment in
an environment of instability gets you nowhere, he said.  Most gains have
been wiped away, and we look on helplessly as our infrastructure
deteriorates.  Let us have peace.  Then we can talk about development.

A particular concern in the region is the proliferation of small arms and
light weapons, delegation members said.  Bishop Johnson commented, Here in
the United States everyone is talking about weapons of mass destruction.
Lets talk about small arms.  Even in this country people are shooting each
other with small arms.

He also pointed to the problem of national budgets going for debt servicing
and military expenditures rather than social spending.

DELEGATION VISIT IS PART OF CWS FOCUS ON AFRICA

The Mano River sub-region is a geographic cornerstone of Church World
Services blossoming Africa Initiative to forge a coalition among
churches, businesses, governments and the United Nations to address critical
issues in Africa.  A Church World Service delegation visited Liberia, Sierra
Leone, Guinea and The Gambia in July 2002, and in September, CWS brought
leaders of 31 African national ecumenical councils to Nairobi, Kenya, for
joint program planning.

This return visit of West African church leaders began with most delegates
arrivals on March 6 and meetings at the Church World Service offices in New
York City on March 7 for orientation and to set their priorities for the
visit.

On Saturday, delegates addressed a forum at St. James Episcopal Church in
New York City, and were hosted at a reception at St. Bartholomews Episcopal
Church.  On Sunday, most spoke in local churches and then joined the third
annual Manhattan CROP WALK to raise funds to fight hunger in the United
States and around the world.

And on Monday and Tuesday, they met with officials of the United Nations,
non-governmental organizations and the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal
Church before going on to Washington, D.C., where they have meetings
scheduled with the National Security Council Department of African Affairs;
the Committee on International Relations/Subcommittee on Africa; the
Congressional Black Caucus; the West Africa Working Group, Library of
Congress Research Unit; and with congressional members including Thomas G.
Tancredo, Frank Wolf, Barbara Lee, and Chuck Hagel. Delegates will also
visit Gambian and Guinean embassies in Washington.

Bishop Johnson offered his high commendation to Church World Service for
the itineration, especially at a time when there is a crisis with Iraq and
North Korea and fire again in Gaza.

Affirmed the Rev. John L. McCullough, CWS Executive Director, welcoming the
delegation, You come here at a very important moment  because of events
that will shape how we understand each other as a community of nations
around the world.

Its a particularly volatile time, he said.  I look forward to our
engagement with leaders of the United Nations, the U.S. government and the
churches on what is the quality of world we want and how will we support
each other.

WEST AFRICAS CHURCHES ARE WORKING FOR PEACE

Churches across West Africa are rising to the challenges of their region -
bringing parties to peace talks to demobilize and reintegrate ex-combatants
(including child soldiers), advocating for reconciliation, human rights, and
grassroots empowerment in dialogue with the New Partnership for Africas
Development (NEPAD). Working in partnership with West African religious
leaders, Church World Service is promoting greater international attention
and support for the region.

Anglican Bishop Albert David Gomez of Guinea, President of the Christian
Council of Guinea, said that at one time, Guineas eight million citizens
were hosting one million refugees.  Now the official tally is 300,000, but
that counts only refugees in camps.  Many refugees live alongside the local
population.  Furthermore, many Guineans have been displaced especially from
the Guinea-Liberia border area.

Our churches are trying to do their best to bring back peace, give refugees
a better quality of life, fight against the circulation and proliferation of
small arms, and provide work for youth and women so they can live in
dignity, Bishop Gomez said.  We cant do everything ourselves.  We are
working with interreligious councils in Liberia and Sierra Leone, and now
with a forum of religions in Ivory Coast.

Bishop Gomez from Guinea described the shuttle diplomacy that churches -
along with their Muslim counterparts - are conducting between government and
opposition leaders; among the presidents of Liberia, Sierra Leone and
Guinea; with U.N. institutions, and between Muslims and Christians.  So
everybody can realize peace is something thats the result of the effort of
everybody, he said.

Continued Mrs. Madeleine Oulare Koundouno, In Guinea, 70 percent of the
population lives below the poverty level.  The Christian Womens Union of
Guinea, which brings together Protestants, Anglicans and Roman Catholics,
seeks to help women set up income-generating projects.

The union also collects clothing and other goods for refugees, visits
prisoners with food and prayers between Christmas and New Year, and takes
special responsibility for the maintenance of cemeteries - where, she noted,
Christians and Muslims are buried side by side.

Mrs. Victoria R. Bangura, a member of the Executive Committee of the Council
of Churches in Sierra Leone, said that for her country to move forward,
people - especially women - must be empowered.	An empty bag cannot stand,
she said.  Christians, please help us eliminate poverty in Sierra Leone.
We have good land.  If we have the means to cultivate it, our youth will be
occupied.  Help us eradicate HIV/AIDS.	Help us with education.

Mr. Amoa described FECCIWAs work - in partnership with its members in 12
out of the 15 countries in the Economic Community of West Africa -- to
address the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, HIV/AIDS,
disability, peace and corruption.

FECCIWA and the national ecumenical councils in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra
Leone actively promote Christian-Muslim interreligious approaches to peace
making and peace building, he said.

Under its good governance program, FECCIWA with the support of Church World
Service has started to motivate its membership to critically engage the New
Partnership for Africas Development (NEPAD) process, he said.  Toward that
end, FECCIWA organized a workshop on NEPAD in Accra, Ghana, Feb. 17-21 that
drew participants from nine West African countries.

A particular word that churches are bringing is the importance of
forgiveness and reconciliation in peacemaking efforts.

Unless you can help people forgive, it wont work, it wont last, said
Father Peter Gomez, Executive Member, The Gambia Christian Council, and head
of the Roman Catholic Mission of The Gambia.  Agreed Mr. Amoa, victims pain
needs to be healed to prevent bitterness and revenge that continues for
generations.

Perpetrators of wartime atrocities also need healing, Father Gomez said.
Their pain is deep and causes separation and increasing difficulty of
reconciliation.

West Africa Delegation members include:

Mr. Baffour D. Amoa, Secretary General, Fellowship of Churches and Councils
in West Africa (FECCIWA), and an associate with the Center for Management
and Institutional Development, Ghana

Mrs. Victoria R. Bangura, Member, Council of Churches in Sierra Leones
Executive Committee, and spokesperson on involvement of women in Mano River
peace efforts

Mrs. Comfort Freeman, President, Womens Initiative for Peace, and head of
the Lutheran Church Committee for Peace and Reconciliation, and Lutheran
World Federation (LWF) Coordinator, Office of Displaced People.

Rt. Reverend Albert David Gomez, President, Christian Council of Guinea,
Bishop of the Anglican Dioceses of Guinea, and Chairperson, Interreligious
Council of Guinea

Fr. Peter Gomez, Executive Member, The Gambia Christian Council, and head of
the Roman Catholic Mission of The Gambia

Anglican Bishop Rev. Dr. S. Tilewa Johnson, Chairperson, The Gambia
Christian Council

Mr. Alimamy Koroma, General Secretary, Council of Churches in Sierra Leone
(CCSL) and Chairman, Inter-religious Council of Sierra Leone

Mrs. Madeleine Oulari Koundouno, Chairwoman, Catholic Womens Fellowship,
and member, Christian Council of Guinea

Mr. Prince Porte, Moderator, Presbyterian Church of Liberia, member,
Executive Committee, Liberian Council of Churches. Mr. Porte currently
serves as Assistant Minister for International Cooperation and Economic
Affairs for the Government of Liberia.

Press kits and complete itinerary are available. In-person and phone
interviews on request.

###

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