Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Agenzia Fides) - Civil war can be stopped. Burundi and Sierra Leone were the countries chosen to benefit from a development programme promoted by the United Nations newly formed Peacebuilding Commission charged with helping countries which recently came out of a civil war
Superficial and vague information often gives international public opinion a false idea of Africa as a continent with endemic wars, a sort of curse of mysterious origin. Instead Africa’s wars are caused by problems which can be solved. The choice of these two countries is significant and a motive for hope that other conflicts on the continent may soon come to be an end.
In 2002 Sierra Leone ended a ten year civil war with atrocities against civilians including the crime of child soldiers. Last week former Liberian president Charles Taylor was extradited to the Hahue in Holland to stand before the International Penal Court on charges of sustaining Sierra Leone rebels who committed crimes against the people.
In Burundi civil war exploded in 1993. The peace agreement, signed in 2000, confirmed in Dar es Salaam in April 2003, stopped fighting between the government forces and the main Hutu rebel group Defence of Democracy FDD who joined the transition government and in February 2005 a new Constitution was approved by referendum. There followed elections for parliament and local administration won by the Hutu parties. On 18 June in Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) a first treaty was signed between the Burundi government at the FNL rebels the last rebel movement (see Fides 19 June 2006).
The UN Peacebuilding Commission was created on 20 December 2005, to help countries which have stopped a civil war to complete a successful transition from war to peace. The Commission has 31 member countries and includes as observers International Monetary Fund, the World Bank. UN secretary general Kofi Annan, said the Commission represents a symbol of hope and perseverance: hope for millions of people all over the world struggling to keep their societies on the fragile path to peace and perseverance because enormous difficulties have to be overcome in this process.
Annan said the UN has the responsibility to help nations and societies recover from the devastation of civil war and to prevent new violence. Conflicts have diminished in number but there have also been an unacceptable number of broken peace accords and fresh outbreaks of violence. Annan says the causes are lack of funds, lack of international coordination, tendency of international actors to withdraw from peace missions too soon. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 26/6/2006 righe 46 parole 600)
