The Lutheran World Federation

Second Inter-Faith Action for Peace in Africa Summit

Religious, Secular Leaders Call for New Attitudes, Renewed Acceptance for a Healthy Africa

Religious leaders in a procession prior to the official opening of the Second IFAPA Summit near Johannesburg, South Africa.  © LWF/A. Vlachakis

Second IFAPA Summit: Working Together for Peace in Africa

The Second Inter-Faith Action for Peace in Africa (IFAPA) Summit opened here on April 21 with religious and secular leaders affirming the need for concerted efforts toward preventing conflicts and averting human-made catastrophes.

A “healthy Africa” cannot be achieved unless conflict and instability is resolved and prevented, said IFAPA convenor Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko, General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). He was delivering his opening address at the summit called to review IFAPA’s activities since it was launched in October 2002. Over 240 representatives of eight faith traditions drawn from all over Africa, as well as observers from Europe and North America are attending.

“In order to bring about a new Africa, we need new attitudes toward each other. We need new respect for and acceptance of each other as religious leaders. And we need to reduce the desire and pursuit of revenge in political life.” Religious leaders, he cautioned, cannot afford to be partisan.

Keynote speaker Dr Usman Bugaje, chairperson of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs in the Nigerian Federal Parliament, delivers his address to summit participants.
© LWF/A. Vlachakis

It was further suggested by Dr Usman Bugaje, chairperson of the House of Committee on Foreign Affairs in the Nigerian Federal Parliament, that consideration should be made to stigmatize religious leaders who were accomplices in fueling conflict.

In the summit’s keynote address titled, “Working Together for Peace in Africa,” - the theme of the Second IFAPA Summit – Bugaje, however, said the religious elite should be encouraged to open up and debate rigorously interpretations and positions, especially those with the potential to trigger conflicts either within or outside their communities.

LWF General Secretary, Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko (right) and Mr Hamadi Ould Meimou (left), who delivered a message from Mauritanian President, Maaouya Ould Sid’Ahmed Taya.
© LWF/A. Vlachakis

In his statement of support to the IFAPA initiative, Mauritanian President, Maaouya Ould Sid’Ahmed Taya, emphasized the supremacy of dialogue between the leadership of Africa’s diverse religions and cultures as an effective way of preventing extremism and violence.

In a message conveyed to the summit's participants by the country’s commissioner for human rights, Mr Hamadi Ould Meimou, the Head of State noted that the IFAPA initiative provided “the world with an example of tolerance and reconciliation under religious and cultural diversity.”

“We don’t agree with those who consider international terrorism as an aspect of fight between civilizations and religions… .The phenomenon of terrorism is linked neither to a given religion nor to a definite culture,” Taya noted.

Mr Olara Otunnu, United Nations Under Secretary General and Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, makes a point during his presentation to religious representatives attending the Second IFAPA Summit.
© LWF/A. Vlachakis

The challenge to religious leaders to provide positive and compassionate leadership was also stressed by Mr Olara Otunnu, the United Nations Under Secretary and Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.

Otunnu noted that many conflicts were created by leaders. “There is no room for indifference, there is no room for inaction. Religious leaders must highlight their role to prevent wars,” he concluded. Please click here for the full LWI story.

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The Lutheran World Information (LWI) published the following news stories on the Second Inter-Faith Action for Peace in Africa (IFAPA) Summit: