UGANDA: Interreligious and Ecumenism Department in Uganda Calls for Greater Efforts to Promote Co-Existence among Tribal Groupings
By Jacinta W. Odongo, Media Officer, Uganda Episcopal Conference
As part of its efforts to promote culture of peace and foster dialogue for social cohesion and community transformation, the department of Inter-Religious Dialogue and Ecumenism of the Uganda Episcopal Conference (UEC) held a review and planning workshop for religion-cultural leaders, Head teachers and Local Government Officials (LGOs) in the northern region of Uganda.
The workshop, which was held in Moyo District from November 2-6, 2016, attracted over 40 participants. The northern region was chosen because of the persistent cross-border conflicts between the people of Madi in Uganda and the neighbouring Kuku from Kajo Keji in South Sudan, despite having lived together for decades.
The UEC Executive Secretary of the Inter-Religious Dialogue and Ecumenism department said that the conflict between the two groups has left many homes devastated, businesses and individuals hurt physically and psychologically.
“Earlier this year, the department organized a series of workshops on conflict management, resolution and mitigation for these groups due to the great impacts of conflict in the region,” he said. “Thus, we saw the need to hold a review workshop to evaluate their work so far in promoting conflict resolution, reconciliation, peaceful coexistence and management of conflict.”
He noted that religion-cultural leaders and LGOs have the capacity to remove the existing mistrust, suspicion, fears and hostility among the respective peoples and in the long run, restore the good neighbourliness, and sustainable reconciliation through dialogue.
He called upon the leaders to incorporate messages of peace, tolerance, coexistence and pluralism into their speeches and sermons as well as educational and outreach activities in order to create a social awareness in the society. “The role of religious leaders and teachers has been recognised through history, especially when it comes to the issues of civilization, peaceful coexistence and harmony of communities. As a department we want to support the people of Moyo in finding a lasting peace,” he added.
As part of their recommendations, participants emphasized the need to incorporate use of social media in addressing and resolving the root causes of the conflict. They also said that religious perspectives play an important role in empowering native leaders and the disarmament of civilians.
Meanwhile, the department trained two youth groups in Community Theatre for Development to assist the religious-cultural leaders implement the awareness campaign.
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