Angolan Faith Community Celebrates Peace Accords in Cabinda

|TOP|The Council of Christian Churches of Angola (CICA) will hold an ecumenical service of gratitude for the signing of peace accords in Cabinda, next Saturday in Cidadela stadium.

The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for Peace and Reconciliation in Cabinda marks the end of 45 years of violence afflicting this Angolan province, the richest in the country because of its oil, gold, diamonds, phosphate, uranium, potassium and exotic woods.

The peace accords in Paz Cabinda were signed on August 1 in Namibe Province, by the Minister of Territory Administration, Virgílio de Fontes Pereira, and António Bento Bembe, leader of the Cabinda Forum for Dialogue (FCD).

Acting President of the Republic, Roberto Victor de Almeida attended the ceremony.

|AD|The document outlines the attribution of a special status for the Cabinda enclave, based on the respect of the Constitutional Law and other legislations in force in the Republic of Angola as a united and indivisible nation.

The Angolan Council of Christian Churches (CICA), based in Luanda, is an ecumenical institution founded in 1977 to be the Angolan faith community's guiding institution in the country, as well as the prophetic voice of its member institutions.

CICA's mission is to contribute to the peace process and to strengthen ecumenism in Angola. Its role is one of a motivator and facilitator to its members as it supports churches' implementation of projects at the grassroots level. CICA provides guidance and technical assistance in community assistance and development, literacy, vocational training, community health (including HIV/AIDS), development of youth, ecumenical cooperation, and peace education and reconciliation. CICA supports activities and ecumenical offices in 17 of Angola’s 18 provinces.

Twenty-five staff from two organisations, CICA-Angola and KOINONIA-Brazil, are participating in this project. Forty member institutions of CICA-Angola and KOINONIA-Brazil, and the churches-at-large in Angola and Brazil, are indirectly participating.