A one-year campaign geared at promoting peace in the Great Lakes Region is set to be launched next month. The one-year campaign, dubbed “Peace in Great Lakes” is being championed by top clerics of the Catholic and Anglican churches from Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Minister for Local Government, James Musoni, on Tuesday met the clerics in Kigali, and discussed peace-building and reconciliation efforts in the region. According to a statement from the Local Government ministry, the delegation was led by Bishop Servilian Nzakamwita of Byumba Catholic Diocese. It also comprised Archbishop Rwaje Onesphore of the Anglican Church of Rwanda, Msgr Bahati of the Anglican Church in Bukavu, DRC, Fr Vincent Gasana, the secretary general of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Church in Rwanda, among others. During the meeting, the clerics announced that the “Peace in Great Lakes” campaign will officially kick off on December 1 in Goma, DRC and close on December 1, 2014. “The campaign aims at inviting the public, especially the youth, to embrace peace and reconciliation as the only way to sustainable peace and development,” they told the minister. Among the strategies the clerics plan to use include partnerships between religious communities, community mobilisation and joint pastoral letters issued by church leaders to be read out in all parishes and religious communities. The minister urged clerics to draw indicators clearly showing expected milestones, challenges and success stories for self-assessment. He pledged government’s support towards the campaign.
