Women Call for a War-Free Country on Major Africa Interfaith Summit

The Second Inter-Faith Action for Peace in Africa (IFAPA) Summit has been taking place near Johannesburg since 21st April. Despite women’s rights often being neglected in Africa, the summit has seen active participation of female leaders in presenting their hope for the country. Peacemaking between religions, AIDS, poverty, violence and many other hot issues were addressed.

"Mother's Cry for a Healthy Africa", a women interfaith campaign was launched within the summit on 22nd April. It seeks to support programmes targeted at the healing and counselling of post-war victims, which was first initiated in the "Mothers and Daughters Pre-summit" attended by over 100 women drawn from all over Africa on 18th-20th April.

With reference to the theme of this year’s summit "Working Together for Peace in Africa", the statement of solidarity for the campaign declared its determination to overcome conflicts and maintain peace in the wake of its huge destruction.

The statement said, "...men and women alike have been perpetrators and victims of violent conflicts and wars in Africa. Such conflicts, they regretted, had destroyed the spiritual, economic, social and political well being of Africa."

The statement affirmed that "women are the cornerstone of social harmonisation and the integration of African societies, and thus could not be excluded from issues that deal with peace and security." They noted that the intervention of inter-faith women in peace building would introduce a dimension that would help lead to comprehensive and sustainable peace in Africa.

The statement responded to the speech made by the South Africa’s Minister of Minerals and Energy - Ms Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka on the pre-summit, saying that women are key contributors to the socialisation of the mind and therefore crucial players in peace building. She also said that the quest for peace cuts across religious faith.

"African women should unite against war, everybody has to be concerned because peace is for the common good," Ms Dandi Lou Amanan, a former social worker with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in conflicted-affected areas and founder of Vision and Action of African Women Against Wars in Ivory Coast pleaded shortly after women and men participants sang "We shall overcome".

It has been a very valuable opportunity for leaders of all faiths to break down the wall of difference and come together to create a better future for Africa in the midst of ongoing religious conflicts in many African nations.

The event, coordinated by the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and hosted by the National Religious Leaders Forum of South Africa, has brought together over 240 participants from all over Africa, as well as observers from Europe and North America.

There are eight faith communities represented at the summit namely, African Traditional Religion, Baha'i, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Rastafarian.