Delegation of West African Church, Grassroots Leaders Decry Mano River Region Crises to UN, U.S. Policy Makers

3/11/2003

From: Carol Fouke, 212-870-2252 or 2227 (New York) e-mail: news@ncccusa.org or Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526 (New York and Boston) e-mail: jdragin@gis.net

News Advisory:

-- Delegation of West African Church, Grassroots Leaders Decry Mano River Region Crises to UN, U.S. Policy Makers

-- Ecumenical supporters of NEPAD say, "Without peace and forgiveness, there can be no sustainable recovery or development."

WHAT: Global humanitarian aid agency Church World Service is sponsoring a West African delegation of ecumenical and grassroots leaders to the U.S. this month to raise international and U.S. awareness and support for the critical needs, current crises, and fragile recovery in the African Mano River Region countries of the Republic of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

WHEN AND WHERE: The CWS West Africa Delegation will meet in Washington, D.C., tomorrow (3/12) and Thursday (3/13), with government officials -- including the National Security Council Department of African Affairs; the Committee on International Relations/Subcommittee on Africa; the Congressional Black Caucus; the West Africa Working Group, Library of Congress Research Unit; and with congressional members including Thomas G. Tancredo, Frank Wolf, Barbara Lee, and Chuck Hagel. Delegates will also visit Gambian and Guinean embassies in Washington.

The West African delegates, CWS executives and Africa specialists met with a high-level roundtable at he United Nations, New York, yesterday (3/10) and participated with the UN NGO community in an Ecumenical Working Group today (3/11) -- affirming the pivotal role of churches and civil society in promoting peace with justice in Africa.

The West African delegates will also participate in New York area advocacy events, including a panel on "Ecumenism Working for Peace and Justice in Africa," Sunday March 16 at St. Bartholemew's Episcopal Church, New York.

SPONSOR: International humanitarian aid agency Church World Service, hosts for the March delegation, led a three-week exploratory delegation to the Mano River region last July and subsequently designated the area as a pivotal region for attention in the organization's major CWS Africa Initiative.

BACKGROUND: Since the 1980s, the Mano River sub-region of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea has experienced armed insurgency and sustained conflict that continues to spread across borders, producing a severe humanitarian crisis. In the last decade, Liberia and Sierra Leone's civil wars have provoked the exodus of more than one million refugees to neighboring Guinea and Cote d'Ivoire. Chronic fighting has internally displaced one to two million people, led to collapse of local infrastructures in much of the region, and generated some of the worst human rights atrocities in recent history.

Churches across West Africa are rising to the challenge -- bringing parties to peace talks to demobilize and reintegrate ex-combatants (including child soldiers), advocating for reconciliation, human rights, and grassroots empowerment based on the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). Working in partnership with West African religious leaders, Church World Service is promoting greater international attention and support for the region.

Delegate profiles, complete itinerary and press kits are available. In-person and phone interviews on request.