The Council for Peace and Reconciliation in Congo (CPRC), a network of Congolese Christian peace activists, has joined the United Methodist Church and other churches to end the 25-month-old war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. CPRC recently organized a one-day conference in the capital, Kinshasa, to discuss the prospects for peace in Africa's third-largest country.

Participants in the one-day event discussed different strategies to end the war that has devastated their country. Some said that one of the difficulties in ending the armed conflict has been the failure to address some of the issues that caused it. "If we expect to end the current crisis in our country, we must first carefully study its root causes," said one of the participants. Once an objective analysis is done, then "we can take appropriate steps to devise a sustainable solution to the conflict," she added.

Many thought the conflict in Congo had trickled in from ongoing conflicts in neighboring countries. Referring to ethnic conflicts in Rwanda and Uganda (two of the major players in the Congolese conflict), several participants said that peace initiatives to end the war in Congo must be duplicated to address the conflicts in those two countries.

Two Congolese Mennonites, Pastor Mukambu Ya'Namuisi and Mrs. Eleanor Kilabi, both fresh from a training in conflict transformation at the Summer Peacebuilding Institute in Harrisonburg, Virginia, were the main panelists. They called on their compatriots, especially Christians, to work for peace and promote justice and reconciliation throughout their country. "Peace is a collective effort, which requires contributions from everyone," said Pastor Mukambu. In the past few months, Congolese churches have launched peace initiatives designed to end the fighting in their country. In February, United Methodist Bishop Onema Fama and other Congolese religious leaders organized a forum to discuss the conflict in Congo. The three-week meeting was largely funded by the General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church.

The Catholic church is also working to find a peaceful solution to the current crisis in Congo. On several occasions, Catholic leaders have called on the two sides to halt the fighting and resort to dialogue to resolve their differences. The Catholic community of St. Egidio in Rome, which played a role in ending the Mozambican civil war, offered to do the same for the conflict in Congo.

War broke out in Congo in August 1998 after Burundian, Rwandan, and Ugandan troops invaded eastern Congo allegedly for security reasons. They accused the Congolese government of harboring insurgents from their respective countries. The Congolese government denied the charge and accused its neighbors of violating its "territorial integrity and national sovereignty for economic and territorial ambitions."

Thousands of people, including United Methodists from all three Congolese annual conferences, have lost their lives for war-related reasons, including direct violence from the belligerents. Many have been internally displaced and others have fled into neighboring countries. The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is involved in endeavors to care for those affected by the war.

October 26, 2000

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