Dear Colleagues,
Greetings of peace and blessing from URI Africa. Hope this message finds you well.
This is to inform you that URI Africa took part at the Consultative meeting of faith-based organizations in Africa on AGENDA 2063 of the African Union held in Nairobi, Kenya from November 5 to 7, 2014.
AGENDA 2063 is both a Vision and an Action Plan of the African Union. It is a call for all segments of African society to work together to build a prosperous and united Africa based on shared values and a common destiny.
In their 50th Anniversary Solemn Declaration, the Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU), while acknowledging past successes and challenges, rededicated themselves to the continent’s accelerated development and technological progress. They laid down a vision and eight ideals to serve as pillars for the continent, which AGENDA 2063 will translate into concrete objectives, milestones, goals, targets and actions/measures. AGENDA 2063 strives to enable Africa to remain focused and committed to the ideals envisaged in the context of a rapidly changing world.
AGENDA 2063 is a global strategy to optimize the use of Africa's resources for the benefits of all Africans through discussion among all stakeholders. AGENDA 2063 is an approach to how the continent should effectively learn from the lessons of the past, build on the progress now underway and strategically exploit all possible opportunities available in the short, medium and long term, so as to ensure positive socioeconomic transformation within the next 50 years.
To make this a reality and to bring the voices of all Africans from all walks of life and sectors, consultations on AGENDA 2063 were organized by the African Union in different sectors and topics: Women, Youth, Regional Economic Communities (REC), Diaspora, Civil Society, Ministries in charge of Economy, Finance and Planning Experts , Technical Experts, Academia and Think Tanks, as well as the Private Sector.
Meanwhile, consultation meetings for faith based groups in Africa on AGENDA 2063 were organized at the Desmond Tutu Conference center in Nairobi, Kenya from November 5 to 7, 2014 by the African Union Commission in partnership with All African Conferences of Churches. URI Africa actively participated in the meeting; URI Global Council Trustee Rattan Channa and myself acted as representatives.
The objectives of the meeting were:
- Share experiences on developments in Africa, lessons learned and the evolution of AGENDA 2063- The Africa We Want.
- Solicit views and input on the draft AGENDA 2063- Aspiration, Goals and Priorities.
- Appreciate how others can be inspired into taking active role in Africa’s development and transformation in the context of AGENDA 2063.
- Discuss the role of faith groups in AGENDA 2063 and generate commitments from these groups.
Coming together for this consultation meeting help the participants not only to reflect and give input on AGENDA 2063, but it also helps us to get to know each other, to build friendship and understanding, network, and to establish working partnerships for faith based groups with African Union Commission on common issues, as well as to celebrate the cultural and religious diversity we have.
On behalf of members of United Religions Initiative from diverse religions, spiritual expressions and indigenous traditions throughout Africa and the rest of the world, I expressed our appreciation to the African Union Commission for organizing the consultative meeting for faith based groups in Africa on AGENDA 2063 in partnership with All African Conference of Churches
I also appealed to the participants of the meeting at the closing session to consider the following points as part of the recommendation:
- To commit ourselves, to deepen our solidarity with one another, to broaden the space for common action and reflection among various faith communities in Africa on the implementation, follow up, popularizations, outreach and evaluation of the AGENDA 2063;
- To call upon the organizers of the consultation meeting to come up with a clear mechanism and means of communication to coordinate the follow up of the recommendations made by the participants on AGENDA 2063 and a committee to be established to facilitate this;
- To reach out to different religious leaders, interfaith organizations and traditional leaders in Africa who are not represented in this meeting to bring them on board on AGENDA 2063;
- To have a network for different religions, interfaith and faith based organizations in Africa on AGENDA 2063 at national, sub-regional and continental level on regularly bases;
- To enhance the working partnership on the issue of AGENDA 2063 with sub-regional and regional organizations in Africa like IGAD, EAC, COMESA, SADC, ECA, UNEP, African parliamentarian Union, African World Bank, etc;
- To address also the role of faith based organizations in Africa on environmental protection and to encourage them in addressing the climate change in Africa as each religion and spiritual philosophy has a long-standing tradition of ecological stewardship;
- To affirm the needs of the teaching of the Golden Rule which says “Treat others the way you want to be treated” as it is a fundamental principle that addresses critical issues such as democracy, human rights, respect for each other, gender equality, social development, interfaith harmony, constructive dialogue among nations, conflict prevention, and building right human relationships;
- To call upon all member states of the African Union and all stake holders to join hands together to promote the teaching of the Golden Rule “Treat others the way you want to be treated” as it is one practical action to promote peaceful co-existence among different religious and cultures;
- To call upon African Union member’s states to support in the implementation of the African Union Interfaith Dialogue Forum which was established in 2010;
- To call our respective government to introduce inter-religious and inter-cultural education to build understanding and to avoid wrong image of the others and to overcome the fear of the unknown;
- To call upon religious, elders and traditional leaders in Africa to provide a powerful example in their common rejection of violence and to uphold universal values of respect for life and the dignity and rights of all individuals as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
- To call upon the African Ministry of Education to introduce peace education as part of the school curriculum.
May Peace Prevail on Earth!
