CPNN

TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY .

an article by Niandou Ibrahim

The REVE Project (Presentation of the Revaluation Project Living Together) is a joint initiative of CARE and the national NGO SOS Civic Niger financed for 20 months (January 2014 to August 2015). It is part of the fourth component called “Promotion of tolerance and dialogue” of the program “Instruments for Stability” funded by the European Union. This program is implemented under the project management of the High Authority for Peacebuilding and is part of a conflict prevention approach in Niger. The full REVE project includes other initiatives as well aimed at building resilience (youth employment, women’s empowerment, climate change adaptation, food security, emergencies). After the first 12 months of implementation, the project has achieved the following key accomplishments:

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Institutional frameworks

• Assistance to the Ministries of Interior, Decentralization, Public Safety and Religious Affairs to diagnose and provide advice concerning religious affairs within a strategic and priority plan

• Assistance to the Higher Communication Council to develop a strategic plan and initiate a media support program

• Assistance to the Niger Islamic Council to conduct diagnosis and develop a strategic and priority plan

Inter-religious dialogue

• A review of existing regional frameworks for inter- religious dialogue and the development of strategic plans

• Assistance with coordinating mechanisms for Catholic churches and Evangelical churches/missions to reinforce dialogue for peace.

Intra-religious dialogue

• A directory of religious organizations has been established in four regions to facilitate intra-religious relations

Meetings between organizations and local leaders on topics such as “the impact of sermons on political stability”

• Grants to communication projects for strengthening peace initiatives by religious organizations

Youth engagement for peace

• A directory of youth organizations with projects for dialogue

• The training of 120 young leaders as trainers for the culture of peace,

• Grants to youth association projects for peace building

Unanimously, these institutions and organizations (religious and youth) feel that important results have been obtained in such a short time thanks to open communication and an atmosphere of trust established among the actors.

The project will conduct a process of measurement and capitalization that will, in August 2015, draw upon and communicate the results contributing to a better future for CARE and its partners alongside the state, for conflict prevention and identification of the root causes of vulnerabilities in the Sahel.

(Click here for a French version of this article)

In the face of armed conflicts in the Sahara-Sahel, Can a culture of peace be established?

As often occurs, in the Sahara-Sahel, in the face of the terrible violence of religious extremists in Mali, there is a dialectic so that the more the violence, the more the demand for a culture of peace.