The Role of Religious Leaders in Conflict Prevention

During September KAS Tanzania joined with the IRCPT in Morogoro to conduct a training on conflict prevention for religious leaders. The event included diverse religious leaders from all over Tanzania. Overall 28 religious leaders attended, they were representing several denominations of Muslim and Christian communities. Attendees were engaged in fruitful discussions and shared their experiences openly during the three event days. The presenters, two well know religious leaders from IRCPT, brought several topics to discussion. Most importantly was the discussion of common concepts of peace and what might disrupt peace. Despite coming from unique backgrounds, participants were able to find common grounds. Furthermore, the threat of radicalized religious militants was of concern. This issue is particularly important as there are some cross border activities of radicalized militants and rebels that threaten to disrupt peace in Tanzania. Other issues mentioned were for example the social-economic situation and perspective for youth and young adults in urban and rural communities. Following the input of the presenters there were lively but civil discussions on the issues. The frequent group discussions and active participation lead to good common understanding between the participants. Everyone concluded the training with the agreement that similar trainings should be conducted and awareness for a positive understanding of peace should be promoted.