The Faith and Justice Network (FJN) in collaboration with the Council of Churches of Sierra Leone (CCSL) on Wednesday, September 21, 2022, commenced a two-day conference on ‘natural resource governance and financing for development’ to promote peace and stability across Mano River Union countries.
The conference which will end today brings together church leaders from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
According to the Vice President of FJN Board of Directors, Rev. Dr. Nuwo-James Kiamu, church leaders and members are part of citizenry, and therefore have tremendous role in promoting stable democracies for a peaceful society.
He said that the FJN creates space for citizens’ engagement to influence social participation to contribute to overcome poverty and inequalities in the delivery of public service.
The President of CCSL, Rev. Henry Samuels said, “As we assemble here on this International day of peace, we should be thankful to God that within our region there is the absence of war. Peace we know do not only mean absence of war, but the presence of an environment that promote development and progress of all of humanity.
In her keynote address, the General Secretary of Mano River Union, Ambassador Madina Wasseh Esq., said that she is delighted to join in commemorating the International Day of Peace, and to deliberate a critical topic.
She said that conference creates the platform to promote cohesive and integrated MRU.
She said, “Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on 21 September, a day the UN General Assembly declared years ago to be devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, through observing 24 hours of non-violence and ceasefire.”
Wasseh Esq. said the 2022 theme for the International Day of Peace is “End Racism. Build Peace”.
She said that the topic of concern to them in this part of the world and our sub-region today is not quite to focus on racial discrimination but rather “how can the governance of our natural resources be more of a blessing to us than a curse? How can we work together attracting finance for development? How can we make these resources the foundational benefit for us all and to positively impact climate change.”
She said that the achievement of true peace entails much more than laying down arms, adding that It requires the building of societies where all members feel that they could prosper and plan development to improve their conditions.
She said that MRU strong commitment in advancing Peace and Security is anchored on the 15th Protocol of the Mano River Union on Peace, Security and Defense, which was signed on June 2012, by the Heads of State, mandating the MRU Secretariat to foster regional stability through peace building initiatives.
She said that the MRU Sub-region is endowed with natural resources including a large forest cover as well as large scale mineral resources to manufacture technological instruments and equipment to advance the cause of the human race and many more.
She said that a vast array of norms, institutions, and actors influence decisions on natural resources, emphasizing the need for civil society organisation (CSOs) including the faith-based organizations to inform themselves of these development and governance issues, so that they could find a seat around the policymaking table to help guide the process.
She said that, to attract proper long-term financing for development using the natural resources of the sub-region would require commitments to ensuring that transparency is central and the benefits are clearly stated.