| Reconciliation Processes in Africa: Faith-Based Initiatives |
| This collection of internet sources provides access to web sites of selected religious or faith-based organizations engaged in reconciliation efforts in the African countries. Although selective, inclusion of a site by no means constitutes
endorsement by the African and Middle Eastern Division of the Library of Congress. Every source listed here was successfully tested before being added to the list. Users, however, should be aware that a successful connection may sometimes require several attempts.
For additional research and bibliographic materials on reconciliation processes in African countries consult the Library's online catalog.
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| ACHOLI RELIGIOUS LEADERS PEACE INITIATIVE (http://www.acholipeace.org/) |
| The site describes the activities of this organization including its Justice and Peace Commission and the Kacoke Madit (KM). The latter “is a non-profit making forum dedicated to identifying and implementing practical initiatives to end the armed conflict in Northern Uganda by peaceful means. It was formed in 1996 by Acholi people of Northern Uganda living in the Diaspora, in response to the escalation of the armed conflict affecting the districts of Kitgum and Gulu. It is now a world-wide network which brings together Acholi communities, groups and organisations working towards restoring peace, and promoting peace-building, reconciliation and development initiatives aimed at ensuring sustainable peace and prosperity.”
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| AFRICAN WOMEN OF FAITH NETWORK REPORT (http://www.wcrp.org/RforP/womens%20program/Annual%20Report%2003-04%20women.pdf) |
| Founded 2003 as the first regional sub-network of the Global Network of Religious organizations of “Religions for Peace”, the NGO promotes multi-religious cooperation for peacebuilding in Cote d’Ivoire and in other African countries.
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| ALL AFRICA CONFERENCE OF CHURCHES (http://www.aacc-ceta.org/) |
| “The Continental Advocacy Research on Governance, Ethics and Morality with a special focus on: Angola, The Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Ghana will empirically examine key governance concerns in the continent with reference to the situation obtaining in the above-mentioned countries and the churches participation in them and its influence in public policy formulation processes.”
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| BUILDING PEACE IN NORTHERN UGANDA : COSMAS ORYEN LAM (http://www.mcc.org/respub/pon/0012.html) |
| Describing the work of Cosmas Oryen Lam, this essay was published in the Peace Office Newsletter, vol 30 no. 1, January 2000, as part of its Worldwide Peacemaker series. “In the Acholi language, our word for reconciliation is mato afot – literally ‘drinking afot.’ Afot is a tree. This tree has got a bitter heart and when there are two parties that have quarreled or who have had conflict, then mato afot is the climax ceremony that is between me and you. The root of the afot is smashed and put in a vessel. You drink from it and I drink from it. It is very bitter. We swallow the bitterness. We swallow it because we want to restore the relationship.”
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| BURUNDI TRAUMA HEALING AND RECONCILIATION CENTER (http://www.quaker.org/fptp/agli/burundi%5Ftrauma.htm) |
| “Faced with this sad situation, Burundi Yearly Meeting of Friends with the help of the Friends Peace Teams Project’s African Great Lakes Initiative, proposes the Burundi Trauma Healing and Reconciliation Center. The Center will help mobilize people to join together to contribute to the national healing of Burundi. It is only through a long and difficult healing process that Burundi will be able to ask forgiveness in order to allow conflicting communities to reinstate good, peaceful relationships.” |
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| CATHOLIC COMMISSION FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE IN ZIMBABWE (http://www.sokwanele.com/justice/menuarticles/CCJP.htm) |
| Established by the National Catholic Bishops’ Conference in 1972, the Commission is affiliated with the Pontifical Commission for Justice and Peace in Rome and has active contact with Commissions in other countries.
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| CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE (http://www.catholicnews.com) |
| Links to recent CNS stories about the church on the continent. |
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| CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES (http://www.catholicrelief.org) |
| The official international relief and development agency of the U.S. Catholic community. |
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| CHIEFS OF DINKA AND NUER STIR CROWDS, EMOTIONS AND PERFORM RITUALS
DINKA-NUER WEST BANK PEACE AND RECONCILIATION CONFERENCE IN SOUTHERN SUDAN / DR. WILLIAM O. LOWREY
(http://www.africaaction.org/docs99/sud9902.htm) |
| This “Dinka-Nuer Press Release #2" issued Feb. 20, 1999, by the New Sudan Council of Churches (NSCC) describes “a historic exchange of visits by Dinka and Nuer Chiefs and community leaders on the West side of the Nile River in the Regions of Bahr el Ghazal and Western Upper Nile. The attached report from Dr. William O. Lowrey, who is serving as the NSCC Facilitator of this peace process, gives an eye-witness account of the events.”
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| CHRISTIAN INTERNATIONAL PEACE SERVICE (CHIPS). ANNUAL REPORT, 2000-2001 (http://www.cips.org.uk/reports/report00%5F01.htm) |
| “The Christian International Peace Service (CHIPS), which was invited to bring trust and positive interaction to areas of tension in Uganda over 10 years ago, continues to operate in north-eastern Uganda between the Karamojong and the Iteso, and most especially in Moroto and Katakwi Districts.”
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| COMMISSION 'JUSTICE ET PAIX' DIOCESE DE MUYINGA, BURUNDI
(http://www.unoy.org/ANWK%5Forg%5FBU%5FDiocese%20de%20Muyinga.htm) |
| Written in French, the web page for this organization is resident on the African Network of Young Peace-Builders site which offers information on many initiatives. “La mission première de la commission est donc d’annoncer la justice: une éducation à la justice et aux valeurs morales et sociales positives; par une formation à la non violence active et à la capacité de transformer les situations de conflits en situation de paix, de concorde et de réconciliation.”
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| CONGREGATIONAL HEALING: LESSONS FROM AFRICA / BY KARL DORTZBACH
(http://www.commongroundjournal.org/v01n01/v01n01p1.html) |
| “Nyirarukundo was a Hutu Presbyterian pastor in his 70s. He was known in his community as a man of God who loved his flock. But the love was severely tested one day when six Tutsis came knocking on his door seeking his protection from the savage militias who were hunting them.”
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| The DELEGATION REPORT (http://www.quaker.org/fptp/agli/delegation.htm#uganda) |
| “From January 3 through 23, 1999, a seven member delegation from the Friends Peace Teams Project's African Great Lakes Initiative visited Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi. ... The purpose of the mission was to visit Quakers and others involved in peacemaking activities in the Great Lakes Region of Africa, explore African Quakers' participation in peacemaking, reconciliation, and trauma healing and assess the possibility of placing a long-term Peace Team in the area.”
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| FORGIVENESS AND RECONCILIATION IN BURUNDI / REVIEW BY BILL SAMUEL (http://www.quakerinfo.com/horns.shtml) |
| “This article is a review of Unlocking Horns: Forgiveness and Reconciliation in Burundi, by David Niyonzima and Lon Fendall, Barclay Press, 2001, 129 pages.” |
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| IF WE HAD KNOWN WHAT WE JUST LEARNED /BY CELESTIN MUSEKURA & PRUDENCE KANTENGWA (http://www.alarm-inc.org/alarmold/R2001000.htm) |
| “From 18th – 22nd December 2000, ALARM organized and facilitated a successful workshop in Conflict Management and Pastoral Care and Counseling in Burundi, Bujumbura. This conference brought together about 157 pastors from various evangelical churches and 13 denominations across the country of Burundi ... The purpose of the training was to provide skills and tools to church leaders in Burundi in how to deal with ethnic conflicts, that have devastated the country and divided even churches. ... Topics covered were the Place of Christian Leaders in the Questions of Tribalism and Ethnicity Leadership& Mentoring, Forgiveness & Reconciliation, and Basis Counseling Skills.”
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| INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP OF RECONCILIATION (http://www.ifor.org/Zimbabwe/) |
| The International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) is an international spiritually-based movement composed of people who commit themselves to active nonviolence as a way of life and as a means of transformation - personal, social, economic and political. IFOR has consultative status with the United Nations (ECOSOC and UNESCO).
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| JYAK (http://www.hurinet.or.ug/jyak.html) |
| “Founded by Bishop Nelson Onono Onweng as a peace club in 1988 to change the culture of violence in Uganda. JYAK became a branch of International Fellowship of Reconciliation(IFOR) in 1997, was registered as an NGO in 1991. JYAK started Gulu community vocational school in 1991 and contributed significantly to the creation of the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative (ARLPI) in 1998.”
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| The KAMENGE PROJECT (http://www.quaker.org/fptp/agli/) |
| “The goals of the Kamenge Reconciliation and Reconstruction Project were to engage in conflict resolution training and workshops and to rebuild the residence/guest house at Kamenge Friends Church destroyed during the fighting which began in 1993. Our Kamenge Project team, with individuals ranging from age 20 to 57, brought with us a diversity of life experiences, beliefs, and racial/national origins (7 Burundians, 1 Tanzanian, 1 Canadian, 1 British, and 4 Americans). ...
The Kamenge Project is sponsored by Burundi Yearly Meeting and the African Great Lakes Initiative of the Friends Peace Teams Project.” |
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| MENNONITE CENTRAL COMMITTEE (http://www.mcc.org/areaserv.html) |
| Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is a relief, service, and peace agency of the North American Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches.
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| OXFAM PROGRAMS AND CAMPAIGNS (http://www.oxfaminternational.org/eng/about.htm) |
| Oxfam International is an international group of independent non-governmental organizations dedicated to fighting poverty and related injustice around the world. The Oxfams work together internationally in more than 100 countries to achieve greater impact by their collective efforts. It promotes peace building from the bottom to the top.
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| PEACE, SECURITY AND RECONCILIATION WITHIN THE MANO RIVER UNION (http://www.wcrp.org/RforP/Conflict/Mano%5FRiver%5F022503.html) |
| The Inter-Religious Council of Guinea (IRCG) hosted a meeting of faith based organizations work on ways to solve the conflict(s) caused with the large influx of refugees from Liberia and Sierra Leone in the country.
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| PILGRIM CENTER FOR RECONCILIATION: RESTORATION IN RWANDA AND BURUNDI
(http://www.kingdomoil.org/kingdomfund/intl/intprofile%5FPilgrimCenter.htm) |
| “The Pilgrim Center leads healing retreats to restore Christian relationships in Rwanda and Burundi where the Church was divided through the systematic massacre of 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu men, women and children by an extremist Hutu government in 1994. To date, 900 Rwandans and 900 Burundis have learned ‘the way of forgiveness’ in three-day retreats ... A majority of these 1,800 are church leaders who now work to bring transformation and healing to their own congregations.”
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| QUAKER PEACE CENTRE (http://www.quaker.org/capetown/aboutqpc.htm) |
| “Our mission is to build a non-violent society where diversity is celebrated, the energies of conflict are turned into a positive transforming power and where the democratic rights of every individual are respected, protected and pursued.”
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| RECONCILIATION CONFERENCE: SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF THE CENTRAL AFRICA VISION 2000 (http://www.cav2000.org/sights%5Fand%5Fsound.htm) |
| The mission of the Central Africa Vision 2000, Inc., is to partner with churches and communities of different ethnic groups to bring about peace and justice through reconciliation in central Africa.... Ths site provides a photographic and audio report of the 1999 Reconciliation Conference in Bukavu, Congo. Jennifer Jones reports live from Central Africa on WMSJ's (drawnear.org/wmsj) morning show hosted by Donny Webb. Also, this site contains information on other regional conferences. (RealPlayer is required for audio.)
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| A UGANDAN PEACE INITIATIVE / BY JOHN LAMPEN (http://fptp.quaker.org/62uganda.html) |
| This article appeared in Peace Team News, Summer, 2001, Volume 6, Issue 2, about the activities of JYAK. For more information about JYAK see its separate entry in this bibliography. “In 1997 the Ugandan Fellowship of Reconciliation (JYAK) arranged an exchange visit between women from Soroti and Kasese districts. Quaker Peace & Service funded this. The Kasese group asked for more training in peace work, and a seminar was arranged ... After this first visit in 1998 the Rwenzori Peace Bridge of Reconciliation was formed, with women and men as members. The same trainers gave further seminars in 1999 and 2000, and the group was very active in between. Slowly they worked to convince the local MPs, government and police that such work had no party-political agenda, and that it had a real part to play in the community. One of their activities was to found peace clubs in the local secondary boarding schools.”
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