wfn.org | African Religious Leaders Urged to Use their Influence to

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>]

African Religious Leaders Urged to Use their Influence to Pre-empt Conflict
Acknowledging Sudan's Complex History Key to Effective Response to Conflict
Situation 

NAIROBI, Kenya, 29 March 2004 (LWI) * "Religious leaders have to find the
capacity to strengthen the will of Africa to say 'we will not be pushed to
fight wars that we do not understand,'" Rev. Dr Mvume Dandala, general
secretary of the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) urged participants
in a sub-regional summit of the Inter-Faith Action for Peace in Africa.

Dandala noted that it is not so much the declarations of religious leaders in
conferences such as the current one, March 27-29, that are important but the
stakeholders' willingness and capacity to implement what they have committed
themselves to. The East, Central and Horn of Africa sub-regional meeting is
the second such gathering in a follow-up process of the Inter-Faith Action
for Peace in Africa, an initiative of African religious leaders officially
launched in Johannesburg, South Africa in October 2002. 

The AACC general secretary commended the various inter-faith networks
represented in the first continental summit for living up to the religious
leaders' Johannesburg Declaration and Plan of Action, by pursuing and
implementing relevant activities in their respective countries and regions. 

Dandala stressed the crucial role of dialogue in helping move communities
from confrontation to reconciliation: "Our success in building inter-faith
harmony would translate into Africa's contribution to global peace in a world
that is tearing apart from religiously motivated wars." The role of religious
leaders, he added, goes beyond speaking privately about peace. He stressed
the need to speak to the respective governments and remind them that the
continent needs political leaders who can uphold peace. 

The AACC general secretary officially opened the regional summit that is
hosted by the Inter-Faith Youth Peace Initiative * Kenya. Presentations at
the regional meeting included country reports on local inter-faith activities
for peace since the Johannesburg summit; analysis of conflict in the region
focussing on emerging conflict trends and challenges; and avenues for
engagement in the New Partnership for Africa's Development, NEPAD, especially
concerning issues on peace, security and democracy, political and economic
governance. Discussion also revolved around truth commissions and democratic
transitions, and their implications for the region.

Strategies for Inter-religious Dialogue in Sudan

"The most striking aspect of the situation in the Sudan is its complexity,"
Rev. Samuel Ador, executive secretary for church and society, Sudan Council
of Churches (SCC), said in his country presentation to the regional
conference focusing on the theme "Faiths Building Bridges of a Culture of
Peace Together." Any response to the issues confronting the Sudanese people,
he noted, must take into account the nation's "complex construction" evident
in its 573 tribes and around 150 languages. 

He said the crisis of identity and religious complexity led to the still
unresolved conflict between the South and North. The SCC hoped that the peace
talks going on in the Kenyan town of Naivasha would bring just and lasting
peace to Sudan.

The conflict pitting the mainly Islamic and Arabized north against the
largely African traditional and Christian south has continued for 34 years,
and resulted in the deaths of over one million people. Africa's largest
country, Sudan has a population of an estimated 35 million people, of which
some 4 million have been forced to flee their homes and become refugees in
other countries, or internally displaced persons.

Both formal and informal inter-religious dialogue processes exist in the
Sudan, Ador explained. He pointed out that informal dialogue among different
religious groups functions "very well at the grassroots level." This type of
dialogue, he explained does not need organized workshops or conferences as
people "normally share life and concerns at ease."

Ador described dialogue as an effective instrument in bringing people of
different backgrounds and views together by finding a common and acceptable
basis for mutual understanding. He spoke of the establishment of the Sudanese
Inter-Religious Dialogue Association (SIRDA) in 1994. The SIRDA was formed
following a 1993 government-organized conference on inter-religious dialogue.

In the 1990's a series of international conferences were held in the capital
Khartoum, but they were controversial and did not really deal with the
situation in Sudan, Ador explained. "There was a feeling in the churches that
these conferences were aimed at polishing the image of the Government of
Sudan without willing to address the problems of the minorities of the
South," he said.

In January 2003, a 46-member independent inter-religious council, comprising
an equal number of Muslims and Christians, was launched. Its setting up was
recommended by the 2001 Khartoum International Forum for Inter-Religious
Cooperation and Peace, with the aim to address religious issues including
Christians' complaints of religious persecution in Sudan. A committee for
monitoring religious rights and freedom was formed in March 2004.

The SCC's inter-religious activities that involve both Christians and Muslims
include peace-initiative programs for women and youth; advocacy involving
dialogue at various levels; and a focus on communication and media. Christian
leaders are targeted with training workshops on the different levels of
understanding dialogue issues. 

The SCC's strategy for inter-religious dialogue is intended to contribute
toward the development of a Sudanese community where Christians and Muslims
can co-existence peacefully. This involves open sharing of relevant
information about each other and meeting regularly on a leadership level at
regional and national forums.

The Khartoum-based umbrella organization of 12 churches - Roman Catholic,
Orthodox and Protestant - has identified four priority areas in addressing
inter-religious dialogue. It focuses on building bridges between communities
to reduce inter-tribal fighting especially among pastoral groups; training on
and communication of peace issues; urging respect for religious rights and
freedom; and capacity-building for churches to enable them deal with
conflicts.(946 words)

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