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Update on Plowshares Peacebuilding Initiatives in Africa, August 28th, 2003
 
Possible Break-Through in Zimbabwe  

Based on continued workshops and consultations in Zimbabwe this past July, the Plowshares Team is cautiously hopeful about this country’s emergence from a multi-year presidential and governmental crisis.  Selected religious leaders, many of whom have been equipped with negotiation and mediation skills by staff from the Center for Conflict Resolution in Cape Town and Plowshares, are brokering an agreement with the ruling Zanu-PF party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

It now appears hopeful that a power sharing agreement can be worked out so that President Mugabe could resign early in the new year to make way for a provisional constitution and a new general election. This would be followed by a new constitution drafted by the new Parliament and approved by the Supreme Court. Plowshares and CCR staff have also been equipping leaders of not-for profit organizations, other religious leaders and journalists to be advocates of a peace process and effective mediators in addressing the immediate problems facing the country and other countries in the region. Plowshares has worked with the Zimbabwe Council of Churches, NOVASC and the Mediation Network toward these goals for more than ten years.

Report from Uganda

Other promising progress comes from continued work in Uganda with the Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC) and the Program on Development and Rehabilitation (PDR) of the Church of Uganda. These two organizations have hosted previous Plowshares events for peace skills training.  The intensive one-week July workshop focused on equipping community and religious leaders to develop case studies of local conflict intervention situations.  Plowshares staff also consulted with religious, academic and non-profit leaders about conflicts in Uganda especially the delivery of medical and development services in conflict areas. 

The most critical challenge facing Uganda is the war between the government and the Lord's Resistance Army on the northern border with the Sudan.  This conflict continues to destabilize the Horn of Africa and block development programs in this vulnerable region of East Africa. This tragic conflict has led to great suffering and cost the lives of thousands of children who have been kidnapped and forced to serve as child soldiers and sex workers. A coalition of religious leaders, many equipped in a Plowshares’ programs, have gained sufficient credibility to negotiate a truce and, we hope, end this war against children. Working with our primary Plowshares partners in Uganda – UJCC and PDR - and staff of the Plowshares Uganda Medical Project (PUMP) which is delivering remarkable medical and dental services to one of the poorest parts on Uganda, we came away with strong signs of hope.

Hope from South Africa

This work in Africa by Executive Director Robert Evans and Duke University Intern Matthew Bennett concluded in South Africa with long-range planning sessions with our partners at the Center for Conflict Resolution at the University of Cape Town and Craig Arendse, the Director of Mediation and Transformation Practice.  Both organizations are working with Plowshares to develop a program in South Africa for a delegation from Indonesia’s Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. This delegation is part of a larger joint initiative between the Ministry and Plowshares, "Human Rights, Democracy and Conflict Transformation: Addressing the Roots of Terrorism.”  The planning process involved a meeting with Archbishop Desmond Tutu which called for advance preparation for the delegation as well as reviewing strategies for conflict areas from Zimbabwe to Iraq and Ireland and the Middle East.  As Desmond declared, "The Church's role in conflict is to give people hope; if we can't do that we should shut our doors."

Plowshares mission of providing training and consultation for local leaders to build peace and stability provide the grounds for this hope. Alice and Bob Evans return to South Africa for the first two weeks in September to co-lead a workshop for Southern African mediators and religious leaders on "Conflict Resolution in Civil Society: a Case Method Approach."  Matt Bennett travels to Uganda for four months to study development economics and to work with Plowshares Ugandan partners.