March 27, 2003
by Jan Dragin

Ending a two-week mission to the United States, a delegation of West African church leaders has told the United Nations and U.S. government that there can be no sustainable development for West Africa without an immediate end to hostilities and without durable peace.

The March visit of the nine-person delegation of ecumenical and grassroots leaders from Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, The Gambia, and Ghana was sponsored by the global humanitarian agency Church World Service (CWS). They met with UN and U.S. government officials, church leaders, non-governmental organizations and public audiences, appealing for greater international support for the critical needs of West Africa's Mano River sub-region - and partners in the search for peace.

Returning home in the midst of war in Iraq, the group will continue efforts focused on cessation of hostilities; advocacy; institutional capacity building; implementation of a trauma counseling and recovery program; and establishing an Eminent Persons process to guide conflict resolution.

The delegation's visit with UN and U.S. officials reinforced the premise that the churches in Africa are playing a vital role in empowering civil society and promoting peace with justice. "I believe your visit will make a difference," said CWS Executive Director John McCullough. "We have to continue the journey. We have a lot more to do. I can assure you of the commitment of this organization to accompany you."

He argued that "the work we have to do is not only as the church but also forging a partnership with governments and others in the private sector . . . to be bold and brazen and extend the invitation and try together."

One of the shared priorities the delegation is taking back to West Africa is the Eminent Persons process, a latter day adaptation of the African tradition of bringing conflicts to tribal elders and talking the conflict out until it is resolved. McCullough said that CWS and its African partners were determining the best construct to help put that process in place across Africa, and "put money behind it." He assured the delegates that CWS would work with the UN and U.S. government "to be sure they do their part. We will stay on the case."

Liberia is key to peace

Delegates and policymakers agreed throughout the group's visit that peace in Liberia was central to creating stability for the sub-region. Ongoing conflict in Liberia and a resulting continued flow of refugees across borders is stressing neighboring countries who are themselves burdened with varying levels of unrest, post-conflict rehabilitation, poverty, and uprooted peoples. CWS senior advisor Victor Hsu said, "Liberia is like North Korea. If we don't deal with it now, the problem will be more serious later on. I think the crisis will engulf the whole African region."

U.S. Department of State Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Walter Kansteiner told the group that the policy toward Liberia was first of all one of "containment" and then rebuilding civil society within Liberia. Hsu said that "Kansteiner said the U.S. has made propositions for free, fair and open elections to Liberian President Charles Taylor, but that Taylor hasn't responded."

When the Liberian sanctions come up for annual review by the UN Security Council this May, the U.S. will consult with allies to see if further sanctions can be imposed, such as maritime shipping restrictions that would prohibit Liberia's exploiting the Flags of Convenience law, according to Kansteiner.

Finally, Kansteiner said that decent and functioning structures within society need to be strengthened and suggested that radio could play a major role in targeting the message of peace to the region. In many African settings, the only functioning institution in civil society is the church and that the church has a special role in addressing national problems.

Back on the agenda

In one meeting with government officials, Anglican Bishop Tilewa Johnson of The Gambia, chair of The Gambia Christian Council, said, " We can't do it alone." He called on the United States to put the West African sub-region "back on the agenda."

"Our churches are trying to . . . bring back peace, give refugees a better quality of life, fight against the circulation and proliferation of small arms, and provide work for youth and women so they can live in dignity," said Anglican Bishop Albert David Gomez, president of the Christian Council of Guinea. "We are working with inter-religious councils in Liberia and Sierra Leone, and now with a forum of religions in Ivory Coast."

"Your struggles are my struggles," said Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-California), who serves on the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on International Relations, Subcommittee on Africa. She questioned the Bush Administration's policies because "war on terrorism and on Iraq drains resources from development assistance and work to support peace and security on the continent."

Volatile situation

In Washington Richard C. Parkins, director of Episcopal Migration Ministries, talked with the West Africans, saying, "Dealing with the refugee crisis is part of peace and reconciliation. One of the crises is food."

Parkins said, "The World Food Program is responsible for providing food to all refugee camps of more than 5,000 people around the world - and most camps in Africa are at least that big." WFP has appealed for $84 million "and most donors aren't stepping forward." The U.S. has released $15 million in emergency food aid, but it's not enough, according to Parkins.

"Because the food crisis is so severe," Parkins continued, "there is fear refugees will be involved in civil disturbance. We have seen it in Tanzania but not yet in West Africa. It could lead to reaction by host governments against the refugees."

"It's really a concern that the problem will be particularly acute in Guinea," Parkins said. "Most refugees in West Africa now are Liberian," he added, "and Guinea says they can't take any more. So we have a very, very volatile situation."

Parkins told the delegation that one alternative is to allow modest cultivation around the refugee camps, "which has been a safety net in some parts of Africa." But some governments haven't allowed it. "So if there's anything you can do," he told the church leaders, "encourage local and national governments to be as hospitable as possible and to allow some farming and not to forcibly repatriate."

Liberian delegate Comfort M. Freeman of the Women's Initiative for Peace and head of the Lutheran Church Women's Committee told Parkins that the problem with cultivation in Liberia is that forest land has been invaded by armed men and refugees, and internally displaced people "are squeezed into small areas and can't move freely." She did report that since September the WFP has been giving rations on a regular basis.

New eyeglasses

Delegates spoke to members of Africa-vested NGOs and the public in a closing "Ecumenism Working for Peace and Justice in Africa" forum on March 16 at St. Bartholemew's Episcopal Church in New York City. Claudia McGeary, founder of Faith in Africa, introduced the event, and quoted the Rev. Michael Perry, foreign policy and Africa advisor for the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops, who said, "The world needs a new set of eyeglasses for Africa." Forum moderator Charles Simmons of St. Bartholemew's called for solidarity "with this most beautiful and tragic continent."

Liberian delegate Prince Porte said that the church in Africa today "has taken on the role of government in many African societies . . . involved in advocacy, humanitarian assistance, the fight against HIV/AIDS, education, and socioeconomic security. The church is even more relevant today in the face of civil war in many countries," he said, and the only hope for many. "That's why the delegation is here, advocating for the people."

Ghanaian Baffour Amoa referred to the biblical prophecy that the churches would "be called oaks of righteousness . . . they will rebuild the ancient ruins . . . they will renew cities." He said churches in Africa today are fulfilling that prophecy. "The church in Africa is seeking to enter the domain of economist long held out as the privy of political leadership."

Baffour said that there are not many church leaders who are comfortable enough to engage in debate of economic matters. "The church," he said, "should bring moral as well as religious perspectives to bear on the development of economic policies that promote human dignity and make the welfare of people the cornerstone of future economic policy."

Work of reconciliation

Alimamy Koroma told the Manhattan forum that in Sierra Leone, the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was a condition of the political settlement. "Our goal is to write our history and say Never agai' concerning the human atrocities that occurred during the conflict," he said.

Koroma said the TRC will eventually be dissolved, "but the work of reconciliation will continue to end war elsewhere in the region, rebuild physical and social infrastructure, and society. When everyone is sensitized, our governments begin to sit up straight," he added.

Victoria Bangura said that for Sierra Leone to move forward, people - especially women - must be empowered. "An empty bag cannot stand," she said. She called upon American Christians to help eliminate poverty in Sierra Leone. "We have good land. If we have the means to cultivate it, our youth will be occupied. Help us eradicate HIV/AIDS. Help us with education." She talked of women helping to bring young men ex-combatants and child soldiers "out of the bush," assisting them in re-integrating into society.

Freeman said that in Liberia appeals for peace over the last 12 years seemed "not to be yielding any fruitful results," and talked of massive displacement of women and children. She said women in Liberia met under the auspices of Lutheran church women and decided to rise up, "calling on the fighting forces to stop." With thousands of people killed and millions of dollars in property and infrastructure destroyed, she said, "Our children's future is blank. Where are we heading?"

Christian women in Liberia are pleading for "an unconditional ceasefire, dialogue, and acceptance of a neutral monitoring force." She believes women's participation in the peace process will be key. "Women bridge political and social gaps, have their finger on the pulse of communities and cultures, can move around and negotiate, and are able to find solutions at the grassroots," she said. "They have a remarkable ability," she said, "to cross conflict lines."

Role of the churches

In a high level roundtable at the UN March 10, Yvette Stevens, UN Special Coordinator for Africa and the Least Developed Countries, addressed the gathering of West African delegates and some 50 key UN officials and representatives of faith-based non-governmental organizations. She echoed the delegates' message that "conflict and development are mortal enemies."

Stevens said that the Mano River region thought it was immune from the civil strife raging in other parts of Africa, until civil war broke out in Liberia in late 1989, spread to Sierra Leone, and spilled over into Guinea. The breakdown displaced millions within their own countries and across borders, killed many, ravaged essential infrastructures, and in Sierra Leone incited some of the worst human atrocities of the 20th century. The fighting, still going on in Liberia, has now spread to the Ivory Coast.

"Africa has for a long time been on the UN agenda," Stevens said, but the link between conflict and development was not fully known until a special UN report in 1998. Stevens reinforced the UN's commitment to keep Africa on the front burner and said that the continent's future "rests on partnerships."

During the UN roundtable, held to a backdrop outside the UN of protests against the impending war with Iraq, Ruth Bamela Engo, UN Senior Economic Affairs Officer, OSCAL, affirmed the role of the churches and civil society in promoting peace with justice in West Africa. Engo said they represented "a tremendous source of moral authority, not only among their followers but also the broader community."

Baffour Amoa told the UN group that "in Africa and Latin America the voice of the church can no longer be ignored. In many countries (on those continents), the church is one of the few sectors with a grassroots network and is often the only functioning sector." In 1900 Africa had 10 million Christians, 9% of its population. Today the number is 360 million, or 46%.

"The church has a voice and must be listened to," said Amoa, or, as one UN official put it, "they are viewed by some African governments as nuisances - but necessary nuisances."

Youssef Mahmoud, director of the Africa II Division in the UN's Department of Political Affairs, closed the UN roundtable, urging organizations such as Church World Service "to build on the great energy of civil society in West Africa and make their voices better heard. It's the churches and other grassroots organizations that are moving the agenda for peace, bridging the gap between legitimacy and power."

Episcopal News Service
Jan Dragin is media consultant for Church World Service. Carol Fouke-Mpoyo of the National Council of Churches communication staff reported on the delegation's visit.