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Our
StrategyPeacebuilding / Conflict Resolution
Church World Service sees Africa as a continent full of hope, diversity, hospitality, and rich cultures, where men and women — our neighbors — arise each day with a renewed sense of hope for a post-conflict Africa. This vision calls for an evaluation of the continent’s priorities as it expands its position in the global arena. Peacebuilding interventions address transitional conflicts as well as teach a new generation about conflict resolution and a culture of peace. Africa itself holds many of the answers to its challenges.
To support Africa’s own initiatives toward peace and conflict resolution, CWS concentrates its efforts in five areas:
Peace & Security: Church World Service engages the U.S. Congress, members of the U.S. administration, the international community, and the UN Security Council to address the root causes of conflict and threats to security. Its advocacy also includes educational resources, such as the “Facts Have Faces” series and our web-based advocacy tool, “Speak Out.”
Eminent Persons Ecumenical Program for Africa (EPEPA): African church leaders believe that they must be proactive in peacebuilding and conflict resolution and that the African ecumenical family must be heard. Church World Service engages the All Africa Conference of Churches, World Council of Churches, regional fellowships, national and ecumenical councils, and political and community leadership in a model based on the African council of elders. This model was successfully tested during the Liberia peace talks in Ghana. There, leaders demonstrated a strategy that can now be replicated day-to-day in other communities.
School Safe Zones (SSZ): Church World Service is building a model program whose key concept is that schools must be free of conflict and violence, including military conscription, if the youngest generation of Africa is to learn and develop. In the summer of 2003 this model was adopted as a pilot program by the Kenyan government, which is working with Church World Service on a broad partnership which includes leaders from the faith community and public and private sectors. The effort includes the expansion of basic healthcare services, as well as improved water and sanitation facilities, at schools where children will feel welcome and nurtured. The program is envisioned in multiple African countries, spreading a culture of peace.
Seminars on Trauma Awareness and Recovery (STAR): The first African STAR training was conducted in Sierra Leone in January 2004, and was hailed as a tremendous success. Now with its partner, Eastern Mennonite University's Conflict Transformation Program, Church World Service is laying the groundwork for an indigenous STAR program in West Africa. When this model is created, the CWS-EMU partnership will replicate it in other conflict-affected areas within the continent. By training and equipping church partners, leaders, and caregivers to 1) discern and respond to various levels of trauma, 2) offer mediation and peacebuilding facilitation and resources, and 3) provide service in places of violent upheaval and disaster, Africa's capacity to address future crises will be dramatically improved.
Peace & Livelihood: Some of the world’s longest running conflicts are in Africa. Peace remains fragile as the capacity to cope and rebuild is overwhelmed. Communities need to be sustained throughout. Church World Service works in partnership to improve the education, literacy, and vocational skills of conflict-affected populations, raising their capacity to secure food resources and to rebuild their lives.