wfn.org | LWI 2008-085 African Religious Leaders Seek Urgent Intervention to End Resource-Based Conflict in Co

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African Religious Leaders Seek Urgent Intervention to End
Resource-Based Conflict in Congo 
IFAPA President Noko Says Crisis Can Be Prevented

KAMPALA, Uganda/GENEVA, 12 November 2008 (LWI) –
Representatives of a Pan-African grouping of faith leaders say
the mineral resource-based conflict in the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC) could be prevented if signatories to peace agreements
honored their stated commitments.

Key leaders of the Inter-Faith Action for Peace in Africa
(IFAPA) also appealed to the continent's religious leaders to
urgently engage political leadership in the DRC and neighboring
countries to end a crisis for which civilians continued to suffer
the greatest atrocities.

"Are we not moved by the inhuman conditions of those [internally
displaced] mothers and children? Is it not correct to say that
while this war is raving, the mineral resources are being taken
out of the country for the benefit of others other than the
citizens of the DRC?" remarked IFAPA president and general
secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Rev. Dr Ishmael
Noko, in his keynote address to the third IFAPA Commission
meeting, taking place, 10-13 November, in Entebbe, near the
Ugandan capital Kampala. Established in 2002, IFAPA comprises
representatives of Africa's seven main faith traditions.

In the past few weeks, fighting has intensified between
government soldiers and rebels allied to dissident general
Laurent Nkunda in the mineral-rich eastern DRC region, especially
North and South Kivu, with relief agencies reporting massive
displacement of civilians. Nearly 200,000 people, according to
United Nations’ relief agency reports, are receiving emergency
assistance near the city of Goma, while an unknown number is said
to be cut off in the nearby forest. 

Noko urged fellow religious leaders "to have the courage and
take leadership" in meeting with leaders of the parties in the
DRC conflict "for the sake of our children and their future." He
emphasized decisive action was urgently needed "for unless we do
so, war and conflict are gradually becoming part of the DNA
[intrinsic characteristic]" of politics in Africa. "Will we allow
that transformation to become complete?" he asked the commission
members. 

"This is not a political problem. It is a resource-based
conflict on who occupies vital points. Some people are looking
for key geographical area," said IFAPA Commission member Rev.
Gilbert Boissa, president of the National Inter-Religious Forum
in the DRC. He noted that peace agreements, especially the
December 2006 pact on security, stability and development signed
in Nairobi, Kenya, had been broken, giving groups reasons to
resume fighting. 

According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the fighting
in eastern DRC has displaced an estimated one million people
since 2006, with various clashes pushing more than 300,000
Congolese to neighboring countries, while the DRC itself hosts
almost 300,000 refugees who have fled war in neighboring
countries. 

"New groups are emerging in the district of Ituri. It also
indicates the presence of foreign armed groups who continue to
compete with the national army on several fronts, attacking
defenseless civilians," said Boissa.

"Sexual abuse and forced recruitment of children into armed
groups are reported in areas of conflict. Rape continues to be
used as weapon of war. Many women are subjected to attack," noted
Boissa. 

He said the DRC IFAPA network was working with other faith-based
organizations in advocating the protection of civilians,
reuniting families and lobbying for peace and the peaceful
delivery of humanitarian aid.

Boissa urged the IFAPA Commission to agree on a special
committee to look into the DRC issues, including the convening of
a peace conference to help the Great Lakes region heads of state
to revisit the Nairobi peace pact. He proposed the establishment
of an interfaith observatory mechanism which could monitor,
control and audit the regional situation.

"It is in the implementation where the problem is. The pacts get
blocked," added the DRC religious leader. 

The LWF is present in the Central African country through its
member church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Congo, and the
Department for World Service country program for Rwanda and DRC.
(661 words)

(By Nairobi-based LWI correspondent Fredrick Nzwili)

>*        *          *

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