Religion and Peacemaking

Programs and Activities

The Religion and Peacemaking program actively supports faith-based organizations working in the field in zones of conflict and post-conflict environments around the globe.

Services and support provided by USIP over the years have ranged from organizing special conferences and seminars to encourage interfaith dialogue to providing technical assistance to professionals working in the field on issues such as post-conflict ethnic and religious reconciliation. Some examples of completed and ongoing projects include:

Sudanese Interfaith Dialogue

Envisioned as an opportunity to apply lessons learned from USIP's experience working with various religious groups in the Balkans and elsewhere, in the fall of 2004, the Religion and Peacemaking program initiated discussions with the New Sudan Council of Church and the New Sudan Islamic Council about co-sponsoring an interfaith dialogue project for Christian and Muslim leaders in Sudan.

The interfaith dialogue project in Sudan reinforces the prospects for peace following the signing of a north/south peace agreement. While religious differences are only one source of division between north and south, religion has been a seriously divisive factor in the decades-long civil war in Sudan.

In July 2005, the Religion and Peacemaking program co-sponsored a conference with the Sudan Inter-Religious Council for sixty Christian and Muslim leaders from the north and south to discuss the role of Sudanese leaders as peacemakers, and as active participants in constructing a culture of tolerance.

The declaration from the conference was published in all the leading Sudanese newspapers. Participants described the conference as the most open and honest dialogue between religious leaders in Sudan ever held.

• Read about a recent event featuring Professor Al-Tayib Zain, from the Sudan Inter-Religious Council

Banda Aceh, Indonesia

On the northern tip of the island of Sumatra, in Indonesia, is Banda Aceh, where the Religion and Peacemaking program has worked with the Peace Education Program to create a manual for the ulama (religious scholars) and madrassas on peacemaking, democracy, justice, religious pluralism, and tolerance, based on Islamic texts.

This unique teaching manual will be taught in Banda Aceh’s madrassas to broaden the thinking of students to have a more pluralistic understanding of the world.

Arab Group for Muslim-Christian Dialogue, Lebanon

Based in Beirut, Lebanon, the Arab Group for Muslim-Christian Dialogue has existed for twenty-five years and has a vast network of Muslim-Christian peacemakers in the Arab world.

The Religion and Peacemaking program recently co-sponsored a historic conference with the Arab Group for Muslim-Christian Dialogue in September 2005 which brought together 45 Arab Christian and Muslim scholars, academics, and religious leaders to discuss Teaching About the Religious Other, a July 2005 Special Report by David Smock. Representing eight different countries, the four day conference developed educational strategies to overcome religious stereotypes and misunderstandings.

Participants in the conference highlighted the need to re-humanize each other in their respective textbooks and to build upon the common values, histories, cultures, and ethical teachings in their religious traditions.

The Arab Group for Muslim-Christian Dialogue discussed obstacles and gave testimonials of their particular situation. The group intends to develop educational manuals to use for inter-faith dialogue at the high school, university, and seminary levels.

The Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy

The Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. dedicated to studying Islamic and democratic political thought and to merging these two streams into a modern Islamic democratic discourse.

The Religion and Peacemaking program supported CSID’s programs in examining how democratic reform can be institutionalized in the Muslim world.

The program sponsored a workshop on Islam, Democracy, and Good Governance in Saudi Arabia, and a three day conference on “Implementation of the Shari'ah in a Democracy: The Nigerian Experience” in Nigeria.

Interfaith Mediation Centre, Nigeria

As part of its effort to promote interfaith peace, the Religion and Peacemaking program supported the Interfaith Mediation Centre in bringing peace between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria’s Plateau State where thousands of people have been killed in sectarian violence.

The Centre brought together religious leaders and mediated a peace agreement between Christians and Muslims in the region where the most people were killed.

Iraq

The Religion and Peacemaking program is working with the Iraqi Institute of Peace (IIP), the premier inter-religious organization in Iraq. With USIP support, IIP has been effective in involving Sunni leaders in the constitution-writing process, as well as working on interfaith reconciliation between Christians and Muslims.

The program is working with IIP to support its vital work on religious freedom, conflict prevention/resolution, post-conflict stability, interfaith dialogue, women and democracy, youth involvement, human rights, and the media, in relation to religion and peace.

Iranian Interfaith Dialogue

Planned in collaboration with the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy and Catholic University, USIP organized a visit to the United States by an interfaith delegation from Iran in 2005.

Discussions with U.S. religious leaders focused on religious issues and the purpose was to reinforce moderate religious thought in Iran and to promote peaceful coexistence.

This effort is part of larger efforts by USIP to engage Iranian religious scholars and to facilitate discussion with their American counterparts on a range of issues including interfaith cooperation and the compatibility of Islam and democracy.

Mideast Interfaith Discussion

Developed in an effort to support the Alexandria Process for religious leaders from Israel and Palestine to jointly promote peace, USIP continues to support efforts of the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East to convene a series of special projects and activities designed to promote interreligious and interethnic discussion and understanding in the Middle East.

In January 2004, as part of this effort, a conference in Cairo brought together 25 prominent Muslim clerics from the West Bank and Gaza to discuss interfaith peacemaking.

The conference engaged participants in a dialogue about the principles of nonviolence, encouraged participants to subscribe to the principles outlined in the Alexandria Process, and facilitated discussion about delegitimizing violence based upon the principles of Islam.

Religion, Conflict, and Education

Designed to build upon USIP's work related to education in zones of conflict and the role of religion as a source of conflict and peace, the Religion and Peacemaking program hosted a two-day consultation on teaching about the religious "other" in schools, universities, and seminaries internationally.

The focus was the three Abrahamic faiths and gave particular attention to countries where there is conflict between two or more of the Abrahamic faiths. This project is built in part on an earlier project with the Chicago Theological Seminary to develop teaching materials for Christian seminary students on Islam and Judaism.

• Teaching About the Religious Other
  USIP Special Report, July 2005
• Zones of Conflict
• Teaching Resources: Sample Syllabi

Supportive & Facilitation Activities

The Religion and Peacemaking program staff seeks to be supportive of peacemaking efforts by faith-based organizations. Staff alert faith-based organizations to opportunities for peacemaking initiatives, and put organizations in touch with experts and other organizations that can be helpful to them in their peacemaking work.

The program is assisting several training and education programs aimed at enhancing the peacemaking capacities of faith-based organizations. The program also provides advice to organizations that request assessments of their program plans.

While the program does not have funds to assist the peacemaking efforts of these organizations, these organizations are eligible to submit applications to the annual grant competitions organized by USIP's Grant program.