Preventive diplomacy is ‘action to prevent disputes from arising between parties, to prevent existing disputes from escalating into conflict and to limit the spread of the latter when they occur’ (Boutros-Ghali 1992: par 20). Ubuntu societies maintained conflict resolution and peacebuilding mechanisms which also served as institutions for maintaining law and order within society. Casey is the director of the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University and was formerly the director of the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Religion and Global Affairs. This is a communal prayer; hence, the use of the pronouns we, us, our, petitioning God for rain. African Traditional Religion in the singular to refer to the whole African religious phenomena, even if we are, in fact, dealing with multiplicity of theologies. It is therefore clear that the link between peace and development cannot be denied. If it is appropriately utilised, it can enhance the continent’s efforts to promote peace. E. Bolaji Idowu: Olodumare. They carry obligations of giving and receiving. 2. The process concludes with an act of reconciliation between the representatives of the victims and the representatives of the perpetrators. Among the countries of East, Central and Southern Africa we find a cultural world-view known as ubuntu. Though it would be more difficult to move beyond such cases, the emphasis would still be on restoring the broken relationships caused by the death of a member of the community. Continuing, the same report suggests that, if there was no laying down of arms, the old women, naked and on their knees, would crawl towards the foolhardy combatants and say to them: And if the assailants still refused to see reason and marched on the village, they would suffer the ultimate punishment for having disobeyed and obliged their ‘grandmothers’ to expose their nakedness.”[9]. African Traditional Religions In African Traditional Religions (ATR), people have deep and firm faith in the existence of a creator God who is unseen and is the nodal point of peace, social justice, and harmony. The idea behind this world-view of ubuntu is that ‘a person is a person through other people’. Some have argued that Somaliland might be the first genuine African nation state because it was created using indigenous cultural norms of governance. The African post-colonial nation states have not had a good record of promoting social harmony and establishing networks to provide services that people need to survive. There are spiritual leaders, kinds of priests or pastors in most traditional African religions. Somalia has effectively become a proxy battlefield for the so-called ‘war on terror’. Interestingly enough we find that in Africa there are indigenous traditions for peacebuilding that can teach us a lot about healing and reconciliation, which create the basis for re-establishing social solidarity (Zartman 2000). Treat all people with kindness, regardless of race, gender orientation, sexual orientation, religion, etc. Tutu himself would always advise victims – if they felt themselves able to do so – to forgive. Second, it sees peace in universal dimensions. People were afraid to cheat on other people. African Religion affirms and acknowledges the continuation of life beyond death. Traditional African religion is very popular and arrived here with our North and West African ancestors. “Let her get up and go to work!” is one of the petitions in this prayer. The actual process involved five key stages: To be frank, this process was not always straightforward, and there would naturally be instances of resistance in following through the various stages of the peacemaking process. It speaks of the very essence of being human. To enable culture to begin to play a significant role in the reconstruction of Africa, it will be necessary to establish education and training programmes based on progressive African cultural values for officials, civil society actors and citizens – keeping in mind that not all traditions are empowering, particularly on issues with regard to gender equality. Sources: Annetta Miller, compiler: African Wisdom on War and Peace, Pauline Publications Africa, Nairobi 2004; J. Obi Oguejiofor, “Resources for Peace in African Proverbs and Myths,” Article on the Internet Website: http://www.afrikaworld.net/afrel/obioguejiofor.htm; Kofi Asare Opoku, essay contribution: “African Perspectives on Peace,” in a forthcoming book, in personal communication (April 2010); and Private collection. The summary that David Shenk makes at the end of his survey of different covenants in African life is very appropriate here. Unfortunately, I have to limit myself to the constitutional position of just two of the many religions in the country, as space and time do not allow for more. Continued leadership and vision on all sides will be required to see some of these initiatives through. These notions feed into the attitudes and values that we choose to embrace, which in turn determine how we interact with each other. We pray Thee, O Lord our Father, to send us the rain. The paper will conclude by examining the strategies that can be adopted for increasing the use of indigenous approaches to building peace and social solidarity in Africa. It deals with their cosmology, ritual practices, symbols, arts, society, and so on. We have seen that potentially African Religion is clearly committed to peace, and in various ways it undertakes ways that teach, encourage, and promote it. This means they are generous, hospitable, friendly, caring and compassionate. Fifth, peace is grounded in a spiritual dimension. cit., pp. African traditional notion of peace. The petitioner asks that the spirits of his or her father and grandfather would “Leave me to live here in success.” That means he or she wants to live with the spirit world in peace. In the sense that, they are potentially one: human beings who should live in peace and harmony with one another and nature around. Concretely, during the AU Summit of July 2005, the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union began exploring possibilities of facilitating travel between countries (Konare 2006). Second, this prayer seems to petition peace and reconciliation, for leaders of the world: “May their heads agree!” It implies that where there is agreement there is peace. People raise their spiritual eyes towards God and petition God for peace. We take another prayer, from the Gikuyu people, also of Kenya. This Ghanaian Adinkra symbol means \"except for God\" and symbolizes the supremacy of God. Aylward Shorter: Prayer in the Religious Traditions of Africa, Oxford University Press, New York and Nairobi, 1975, p. 71. As noted earlier, under the timeless Acholi world-view a conflict between two members of a community is regarded as a problem which afflicts the entire community. In particular, four major areas of activity were identified, namely: preventive diplomacy, peacemaking, peace-keeping and post-conflict peacebuilding. It is a prayer for universal peace: Into the wilderness, into the virgin forest.[6]. This makes the people free and open for peace and reconciliation. A third example of prayer for peace comes from the Ewe peoples of Ghana and Togo. In this way a combination of tradition and modernity can enable Africans to reconstruct their continent by drawing upon their cultural heritage (Wa Thiong’o 1993, Salih 2001). Social cohesion is fragmented and the persistence of violence and abductions has thoroughly undermined the levels of social trust and solidarity (Govier 1998). It will also examine how these approaches emphasise the importance of promoting social solidarity. Peace with the invisible world is necessary for peace on the visible level. Universal Peace Federation is an NGO in General Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations We support and promote the work of the United Nations and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals Copyright ©2006-2020 Universal Peace Federation. : The African Proverbs: Collections, Studies, Bibliographies, CD-ROM). After this conflict, which has lasted more than twenty years, there is now an opportunity for ensuring that peace is built, based on a commitment to unity, power and wealth sharing. The whole earth needs peace, not just one country or one part of it. First, as it is addressed to God even without mentioning that word, it assumes that God is the author of peace. Therefore, what is required is to find a way to combine the best lessons that tradition has to offer with progressive modern norms and standards for the protection of human rights. In terms of its definition, Tutu (1999:34-35) observes that: Ubuntu is very difficult to render into a Western language. It provides a value system for giving and receiving forgiveness. My recent one-page article: "Islam: More than a Religion" has inspired a lot of emails—some positive, some negative.Whether you are for or against what I have written, I appreciate hearing from you. Graybill, Lyn 1998. In the context of the ubuntu societies found in Southern Africa, disputes would be resolved through an institution known as the inkundla/lekgotla which served as a group mediation and reconciliation forum (Nomonde 2000). The religious beliefs generate and establish corresponding religious practices and behaviour enshrined in the communal view of society governed by the law Elsanousi joined the Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers 2014, and today Dr. Elsanousi works on themes including mediation and peacebuilding in Central African Republic, promoting religious freedom in Muslim majority countries and preventing violent radicalization, especially in the Middle East and North America. If everybody is willing to acknowledge this (that is, to accept the principles of ubuntu), then people may either feel a sense of having been wronged, or a sense of responsibility for the wrong that has been committed. RELIGION AS A PERCENTAGE OF WORLD POPULATION: 1.3 percent OVERVIEW. Sr. … Every African people has its wealth of proverbs, wise sayings, riddles, songs, and symbols. The covenant between person and person is usually a parity covenant in that it is ‘reciprocal—that is, both parties bind themselves to each other by bilateral obligations.’ It appears that, originally, the Yoruba made this kind of covenant before the tutelary divinity of the Earth, and hence the generic name for covenants is Imulè, which means literally, ‘Drinking the Earth together’ or ‘Drinking together from the Earth.’ The ritual, in general, is as follows: A shallow hole is dug in the ground; water is poured into it, and a kola nut is split and cast into the water. O peace! O peace to the gardens![5]. Nevertheless, an ongoing reflection and re-appraisal of this notion of ubuntu can serve to re-emphasise the essential unity of humanity and gradually promote attitudes and values based on the sharing of resources and on cooperation and collaboration in the resolution of our common problems (Khoza 1994, Maphisa 1994). The UN Peacebuilding Commission might gain some useful insights from the work that is being done at the grassroots level and can also contribute towards strategies to disseminate the knowledge about indigenous approaches to building peace. However, forgiveness, when granted, would generate such a degree of goodwill that the people involved, and the society as a whole, could then move forward even from the most difficult situations. [8]. The recent inroads made by the Acholi system of reconciliation into government policy suggests that there is an opportunity based on this model for promoting the legal acceptance within national constitutions of alternative forms of restorative justice. In this sense, it emerged from the efforts and desire of Somali clans to unify into a state. African citizens need to be provided with the opportunity towards fostering greater social solidarity and greater Pan-African solidarity. For a long time it will continue to exist; it will not be easily wiped out by these other religions or by secularism. The work for justice and peace must be the agenda for all of us; it must be our joint work for justice and peace. 3 Leo Frobenius, The Voice of Africa, Vol. It promoted the doctrine that the European culture and way of life were superior to the African. African Traditional Religion in the singular to refer to the whole African religious phenomena, even if we are, in fact, dealing with multiplicity of theologies. When you want to give high praise to someone we say, ‘Yu, u nobuntu’; ‘Hey, he or she has ubuntu’. In a later post I will discuss some of the differences or contrast between African Traditional Religion and … In his book No Future Without Forgiveness, Archbishop Desmond Tutu suggests that these principles helped to guide the thoughts and actions of some of the perpetrators and victims who came before the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to confess and forgive (Mani 2002, Villa-Vicencio & Verwoerd 2000, Graybill 1998). O peace to children! Lund, Michael 2001. [4]. Only when there is such peace can he or she prosper, have success, and lead a meaningful life. 1. Ideally, these strategies have to also target the young Africans across the continent, since it is they who will secure a more peaceful future for the continent. In this regard, a reflection in common, much like that in the dialogue with Islam, should underlie any pastoral activity. Historically, slavery and colonialism destroyed the base upon which Africans could define themselves. Several strategies are required to ensure that this indigenous wisdom does not disappear completely from the face of Africa. Public consensus also plays a significant role in the post-conflict situation, particularly when social pressure is utilised to monitor and encourage the various parties to implement peace agreements. Villa-Vicencio, Charles & Verwoerd, Wilhelm (eds) 2000. Liberia has elected Ellen Sirleaf-Johnson as the first woman President in Africa, after a conflict that devastated the country. Each side gives up something for the sake of peace and reconciliation: it gives up that which otherwise could injure, damage, or destroy the other. We can witness these dynamics of group identity and their impact on conflict situations across the world. The Acholi have maintained their conflict resolution and reconciliation mechanism called the Mato Oput which also served as an institution for maintaining law and order within the society. 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