Preamble
THEME: "RELIGION, VIOLENCE AND PEACE IN WEST AFRICA

We, the members of the AECAWA (The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone) Commission for Inter Religious Dialogue, with participants from the Catholic, Protestant, Muslim and African Traditional Religion(ATR) communities, met for a study session at Accra from the 7" to the 10th of October 2002, and prayerfully reflected on the theme: "Religion, Violence and Peace in West Africa".

Observations
The Commission notes with concern the spread of the culture of violence in West Africa. Violence in its various forms is undermining the security and stability of the countries in this region. Among the forms of violence identified, we note the following:

Physical violence, in the form of armed robbery, civil war, massacres etc.

Structural violence: the use of political, cultural and social structures to oppress, discriminate, exclude or sideline individuals and groups.

Economic violence, whereby national or international economic arrangements deny the majority of the people their basic needs.

Domestic violence, which involves the abuse of women and children within family relationships.

Religious violence, whereby religion is abused for various motives.

The causes
Some of the causes of violence are:
Infringement on the religious rights of other people, with the intent of subjugating the
or enforcing their conversion.

Governmental favour of one religion over the other, leading to marginalisation and discrimination.

Suspicion, ignorance or misunderstanding of the others' religion, leading to provocation words or action.
Abuse and expIoitation of religion for political aims.
Poverty and lack of educatìon, leading to explotation of the economic and sociological
situation people find themselves in.
Easy access to and commercialization of deadly weapons.

Resurgence of ethnocentrism in national and local politics.

Disrespect for democratic institutions and the rule of law.

solutions

We encourage all religious bodies in West Africa, particularly organs that promote Justice and peace, in their efforts to eradicate violence in all its forms from our society. We ask them in particular:

To collaborate with governmental organs and other agencies for the promotion of justice and peace.

To promote government respect for constitutional provisions on human rights.

To promote government neutrality towards the different religious constituencies in its jurisdiction.

To campaign for governmental equity towards different ethnic or local interests.

To campaign against political corruption and the consequent non payment of salaries and abandonment of development projects.

To campaign for an honest and well equipped police force.

Where violence has a religious dimension, we encourage inter religious dialogue. To carry on dialogue fruitfully, we call to mind certain basic guidelines:

Dialogue can flourish only in conditions of religious liberty and social equality.

Dialogue, for Catholics, cannot be separated from the general mission of the Church in preach the Gospel to all nations.

Dialogue demands that we hold to our own religious identity (outlined for Catholics in the documents of the Church, especially The Catholic Catechism and Dominus Jesus) and respect the integral religious identity of our partners in dialogue. Acceptance of others, however, need not mean agreement with their religious beliefs and practices.

Dialogue does foster a change in attitude: from misunderstanding to understanding, from disdain or indifference to respect and care, from nursing past grievances to forgiveness and reconciliation.

To promote dialogue, the local religious bodies should organize workshops and other forms of education in the principles and practicalities of dialogue.

It is our wish that all people of good will, may be open to the spirit of dialogue, which entails openness to others, acceptance, respect, willingness to listen and understand, and readiness to give and receive.

Most Rev. Dr. Joseph D. Bagobiri Rev. Fr. Vincent G. Nyoyoko
Bishop of Kafanchan Secretary
Chairman, AECAWA IRDC