Swift Response
“Until very recently, we in Ghana have enjoyed relative interfaith peace in comparison with neighbours such as Nigeria, The Gambia and Sierra Leone,” explains His Royal Highness Togbe Kwame Akoto V. “This was shattered in late 2008 when violence broke out between traditional worshippers and Christians in my area (Tanyigbe, Volta region).
“A traditional masquerade was unmasked by some Christian adherents – which was felt to be a violation. For their part, the Christians felt the masquerades disrupted their outdoor worship. There were injuries and a number of churches were burnt down; it took the intervention of us community leaders to stop the conflict spreading.”
Building on crisis talks, in January this year the Commonwealth Foundation funded a workshop for thirty media professionals, community and faith leaders from Ghana – also The Gambia, Cameroon, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. The meeting was spearheaded by Ghanaian NGO Royal Care and Support, of which King Akoto V is Executive President. The main goal was to create a network capable of keeping interfaith dialogue going on a continual basis.
Respect and Understanding
“Respect and Understanding” and interfaith dialogue have become Commonwealth watchwords in recent years. In 2007 a high-level Commission chaired by Nobel Prize-winner Professor Amartya Sen released a report on the issue, “Civil Paths to Peace.” In response, Commonwealth Heads of Government, meeting in Uganda agreed to extend the conflict prevention side of their work – with young people, women, education, and the media as priority areas.
The Commonwealth Youth Programme held consultations on the issue in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific, and peacebuilding be-came the theme of the Commonwealth Youth
Ministers Meeting in 2008.
Reporting to another prominent Ghanaian, Kofi Annan, the UN found in 2005 that “Relatively cheap investments in civilian security through police, judicial and rule-of-law reform, local capacitybuilding for human rights and reconciliation [and for] public sector service delivery can greatly benefit long–term peacebuilding...Failure to successfully implement such programmes will result in youth unemployment and fuel the development of criminal gangs and violence and ultimately a relapse into conflict.” (UN Secretary General’s High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change)