After three days of fruitful discussion and vivid experience sharing, the religious leaders from Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania as well as representatives of political parties of Tanzania signed a Joint Interreligious Declaration on Peace, Democracy and Development. The document which had been drafted by an interreligious working group had been refined and finalized in an extensive plenary discussion before it was signed by all participants.
The topics discussed in five different panels were “National Constitutions and the Freedom of Religion in Africa”; “Current Developments in Christian - Muslim Relations in Africa”; “Religious Leaders for Democracy and Good Governance”; “Poverty Alleviation - A Precondition for Peace and Development”; and “Creating an Infrastructure for Peace: Successful Interfaith Initiatives”. Each panel was opended by a presentation and then commented on by several discussants, giving experts and religious leaders of different faiths from the participating countries the opportunity to take an active role during the deliberations.
The Vice-President of Tanzania, Dr. Gharib Bilal, officially opened the dialogue.
The speech of the Vice President as well as the Joint Interreligious Declaration on Peace, Democracy and Development can be found in the sidebar on the right.