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Faith Leaders Pledge to Step Up Peace-Building Work
Africa: Christian and Muslim Clerics committed to work jointly to bring peace in Horn of Africa.
Africa: Christian and Muslim Clerics committed to work jointly to bring peace in Horn of Africa.
Addis Abbaba
Christian and Muslim religious leaders have made a joint commitment to intensify their fight in the struggle to build lasting peace in the Horn of Africa.
The faith leaders called on governments of the region, people of good will and stakeholders to join the campaign.
"We make a joint and firm commitment towards the journey of building peace in the Horn of Africa and invite all the people of goodwill, the Governments of the region and other stakeholders to join us," the leaders said in a statement at the close of a recent meeting in the Ethiopian capital.
The July 30-31 meeting in Addis Ababa was called to deliberate on peace building, healing and reconciliation in the Horn of Africa within the context of inter-faith relations in the region.
The leaders said that they were deeply concerned about the endemic conflicts and persistent insecurity especially in Somalia, Sudan and Northern Uganda. They promised to seek and deepen their understanding and analysis of the root causes and agents of the conflicts.
"We, the religious leaders representing the Christian and Muslim faiths from the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) countries, resolve to sustain and intensify our prayers for peace in the Horn of Africa," the statement said.
They cited economic stagnation and poverty, mistrust and suspicion, massive violation of human rights and other policies of exclusion and marginalization as major causes of these crises. The spiritual leaders pledged to actively continue engaging in sincere inter-faith dialogue, trust building and collaboration for peace in each of the countries and in the region.
They said they will remain committed to the cause of peace, justice, healing, and reconciliation in the Horn of Africa and seek "to do everything within our capacity to reduce further escalation of violent conflict in the region."
They as well declared that they will establish linkages with Africa Union (AU) and IGAD, engage in value-based holistic civic education, initiate coordinated advocacy and lobby strategies for peace in the region and engage in humanitarian assistance to the affected population in the region.
The meeting was organized by the African Council of Religious Leaders, Religious for Peace (ACRL-Religions for Peace) and All African Conference of Churches (AACC). Other participants included: Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa (FECCLAHA), Djibouti, Kenya, Sudan, Uganda and Somalia.
Source: Catholic information service
