dc.description.abstract | Wars, armed violence and insecurity continue to blight Africa, contributing to human
suffering and obstructing human development across much of the continent. Preventing
and reducing violent conflict has become a key priority not only for African governments
and peoples, but also for international organizations and the rest of the world. This
research project examines not only the religious dimension of violent conflicts and
insecurity in Sub-Saharan Africa, but also, accounts for the role of faith-based actors
involved in peacebuilding, probing their capabilities and effectiveness as well as the
challenges that assail their roles as conflict managers in order to make recommendations
on various ways in which key stakeholders and governments can incorporate faith based
actors in key decisions for faster peaceful conflict resolution in the future. It aims to
contribute to improvements in conflict prevention and reduction policies and programmes
in Africa.
This study notes an increase in religious violence in Sub-Saharan Africa and identifies
that religious organizations could be a powerful yet underutilized tool in the prevention
and resolution of many African conflicts. It further notes that religious traditions,
scriptures, rituals and symbols, since they have powerful narratives, may easily become
the cornerstone of ethnic or nationalist projects that divide people. But they can equally
create narratives of human dignity and reconciliation. It also presents a varied range of
religious actors such as ordinary people, leaders, grassroots organizations, NGOs,
transnational networks, and organized institutions who can be very instrumental in
peacebuilding work though they cannot replace the other work needed to resolve other
interlocking problems (e.g. inequality, marginalization, structural malfunctioning, state
failure, global dependence dynamics, etc.) related to conflict and peace. | en_US |