JENA launches campaign to promote peace in Africa

The Director of Jesuit Justice and Ecology Network Africa (JENA), Rev Father Charles Chilufya, has attributed Ghana’s ongoing economic development to the peaceful co-existence of different ethnic and religious groups as well as the political stability the country has enjoyed for several years.

According to him, “Ghana is one of the most fortunate countries in Africa and in the world,” enjoying stability, relative peace, a high rate of economic growth and increasing prosperity.

He described the country as an “oasis of peace,” which initiated the need for Africans to unite, an action which led to the formation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU, now African Union (AU).

Launch

Rev. Fr. Chilufya was speaking at a launch of a peace campaign by JENA in Accra on March 4, 2020, dubbed: “Silencing the Guns.”

The campaign aims to promote prevention, management and resolution of conflicts in Africa, which forms part of the African Union’s (AU) Agenda 2063.

“Ghana took leadership and initiated the process of uniting Africa for peace, prosperity and wellbeing,” he noted.

The AU Heads of State and Government in 2013 adopted the Silencing the Guns by 2020 initiative as a flagship project that aims to end all conflicts in Africa by 2020.

The Jesuit Justice and Ecology Network Africa (JENA) is a diverse community of faith inspired Jesuit NGOs, also known as Social Centres, related Jesuit Institutions, individual Jesuit peace and development activists and scholars driven by a vision of a just, poverty-free, peaceful and ecologically regenerative Africa.

JENA operates under the aegis of the Justice and Ecology Office of the Jesuit Conference of Africa and Madagascar (JCAM).

Campaign

Touching on the campaign, Rev. Fr. Chilufya said preventing conflicts in Africa as well as averting the passing of the burden of conflicts on future generations would require that leaders on the continent took seriously the youth dividend who formed over 70 percent of the continent’s population.

He added that “we need to empower young people and give them means to become responsible and capable individuals, but more importantly help them to realise their own dreams.”

He was of the view that despite the AU leaders’ resolution not to pass the burden of conflict to future generations, about 600 million young people in Africa were unemployed, uneducated or in insecure employment, hence making them vulnerable to taking up arms.

That, Rev. Fr. Chilufya, said African leaders needed to take deliberate actions to address the issues so as to make the continent peaceful for both living and unborn generations.

He explained that “while good progress has been made in reducing state-driven conflicts, recurring conflicts in several regions are rolling back gains already made in achieving lasting peace.”

“Guns are still active in Libya, South Sudan, the Central African Republic (CAR), the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Lake Chad Basin, which includes Chad and parts of Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon,” he said, stressing “Violent extremism in the Sahel and parts of the Horn and Eastern Africa is also a challenge.”

Rev. Fr. Chilufya noted that “disarming alone is not enough” and that “there is need to find sustainable solutions to build peaceful and resilient communities.”

Objectives

The “Silencing the Guns” campaign, which will encompass regional youth exchange forums, a photography and video campaign, an exhibition and media advocacy, is expected to target directly 100,000 young people who directly participate in the exchange forums, photography and video campaign.

Govt pledges

The Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, who was the Guest of Honour in his remarks urged Ghanaians not to take for granted the peace and stability the country was enjoying, particularly as the country approached this year’s general elections.

"Don't compromise the peace and tranquility we enjoy, upon which our economy is built," he implored all Ghanaians, pledging that the Akufo-Addo-led government would continue to consolidate the country’s peace building process.