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The general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) led an interfaith delegation to Sudan on Tuesday to promote the south-north peace process among Sudan’s political and religious leaders on the second anniversary of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
The Rev. Dr. Ishmael Noko headed a four-person team comprised of representatives of the Inter-Faith Action for Peace in Africa (IFAPA) to meet with members of the political leadership in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, and with the government of south Sudan in Juba.
During its Jan. 9-13 visit, the interfaith delegation aims to encourage both political and religious leaders to sustain the peace process from the January 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
A historic comprehensive peace deal was signed on Jan. 9, 2005, between the government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army that ended Africa’s longest civil war. The conflict, which was ongoing for over 20 years, pitted the Muslim north against Christians and animists in the south, leaving some 1.5 million people dead.
The peace agreement allowed for the south to be autonomous for six years and then vote to decide whether to remain part of Sudan, or become independent. The deal did not include Darfur, which is a separate and relatively newer conflict.
In Khartoum, the delegation will meet with the country’s vice president Ali Osman Taha, first vice president, and president of the government of south Sudan Salva Kiir Mayardit, among other senior government officials. The delegation will also hold discussions with representatives of religious bodies including the Sudan Council of Churches, and women and youth associations, and others.
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In Juba, meetings will be held with officials of the South Sudan government, community-based associations, and religious leaders. In addition, delegates will meet with representatives from the Ugandan government and the Lord’s Resistance Army for peace talks.
"Religious overtones have dominated the complex conflicts in the Sudan, Uganda and other countries in that region," LWF’s Noko told the Lutheran World Information (LWI) on Monday. "Religious leaders must therefore use responsibly their moral authority to reduce conflict by mediating and encouraging the conflicting parties to dialogue.”
IFAPA is a pan-African body initiated by the LWF general secretary in 2002, with the hope to bring Africa’s religious to work together to promote peace on the continent.
