Collapse in West Africa not inevitable, says church agency
-30/11/06
A major US church
Collapse in West Africa not inevitable, says church agency
-30/11/06
A major US church aid agency is challenging the conventional wisdom among global analysts is that the West African nation of Guinea is teetering on the brink of a collapse that could destabilize the region.
Commentators say neighbouring Liberia has finally resolved its civil war, while Sierra Leone is struggling to maintain a fragile peace and Cote díIvoire remains volatile.
But the head of New York-based global humanitarian agency Church World Service is determined to look beyond that gloomy assessment.
The Rev John L. McCullough, recently returned from a consultation in the struggling country, says “war is completely avoidable in Guinea” – even with its corrupted government, collapsed economy, and poverty so crushing that the majority of its 8.8 million citizens have little or no reliable access to food, water, health care, education or government services.
Declared McCullough: “Guinea does not have to fall into chaos and a deepening crisis. It is absolutely preventable. There is no reason for there to be a civil war or a regional conflict in which rebels from neighbouring countries come in and the whole region becomes destabilized.”
If chaos does result, “It would be in large part because the international community failed to appropriately respond to the conditions that beset the Guinean government and the people,” says the executive director and chief executive officer of Church World Service (CWS).
In addition to the corruption and poverty that plagues Guinea, the misery quotient in a nation that has been home to nearly a million war refugees from Sierra Leone and Liberia for more than a decade, is raised even higher by the withholding of aid by international funding sources like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) because of government corruption.
“Everyone is aware that those who profit from corruption need to be held accountable, but sanctions-even if they’re designed to punish or to lead to the removal of people in power–end up increasing the suffering of poor people. Under sanctions people who don’t have food aren’t going to get food,” laments McCullough.
A statement released by McCullough and Baffour D. Amoa, Secretary General of the Fellowship of Christian Councils & Churches in West Africa (FECCIWA), following the 16-21 November meetings, included an appeal to international funders to begin talks aimed at lifting the sanctions so that Guinea will have access to the money it needs to combat the country’s staggering economic crisis and the resulting social problems.
CWS Associate Director for Mission Relationships and Witness Moses Ole Sakuda and representatives from the Christian Council of Guinea, also attended the meetings.
The group originally went to Guinea in a show of solidarity with Bishop Albert Gomez, the Anglican Bishop of Guinea and president of the Christian Council of Guinea. On the agenda was discussion around possible threats to Christian witness in the overwhelmingly Muslim country. Not only did the Guineans warmly welcome the international delegation, but officials also extended to them opportunities for far reaching dialogue.
“We went there to discuss religious pluralism and really expected the conversations to be pretty much relegated to that sphere but we ended up talking to a very interesting and influential cross section of the society, and hearing a number of views that were quite similar,” McCullough says.
The delegation met with the minister of state in charge of presidential affairs-a key player at a time when it is widely feared that the possible death of the aging and ailing President Lansane Conte could leave a power vacuum that might result in war – and with the general secretary of the National Islamic League, the highest ranking official of that faith tradition.
They also met with members of Parliament from both the political party in power and opposition parties; with business and civic leaders; with religious leaders from the Christian and Islamic faith traditions; and with the United States ambassador and United Nations officials.
The conversations, which McCullough called “striking in the unity of opinion about the state of Guinea expressed by different people,” resulted in a quick and significant shift in the delegation’s focus.
“We certainly took advantage of every opportunity to say that Christian witness is important and that laws governing religious matters should be respectful of the different religious traditions and should allow equal access to government and society for all faiths. In the process, we were able to raise the profile and the stature of the Christian Council there, but the key thing is that we ended having a conversation much broader and much more instructive and productive than we had anticipated.”
McCullough said the delegation found that there were other more significant and pressing issues on the minds of the people they met with. “They seemed very embarrassed that Guinea is considered to be the most corrupt government in the world and they were all very aware that their government is not working and that it’s not providing services and meeting the needs of the people.”
That message of national deterioration and societal dysfunction was echoed over and over again in different meetings by people from all sides of the political spectrum. Such unified recognition of the problems the country must address, McCullough believes, presents a golden opportunity for a meeting of minds.
“It is necessary for the various sectors of the society to have a frank and productive national dialogue around these issues so that together they can discuss their similarities and differences and begin articulating a national vision and a workable strategy for lifting Guinea out of its misery. Bishop Gomez and the Christian Council of Guinea can play a very critical role in facilitating this dialogue.”
McCullough said CWS and other international colleagues would support the Council in an effort to provide a forum or platform for such a dialogue. He cautioned, however, that Guineans – who said the group’s visit reassured them that some people in international community care what happens there-must take advantage of any opportunity “to come together around the collective table” and chart a course to success as a nation.
He concluded: “This visit was a powerful witness in terms of Christ at work in the midst of a really broken and suffering society, says McCullough. I think that what came through is that while things are the way they are now, that’s not the way things have to be. It doesn’t require a massive infusion of new cash to save Guinea. It requires cooperation and the application of common sense.”
Collapse in West Africa not inevitable, says church agency
-30/11/06
A major US church aid agency is challenging the conventional wisdom among global analysts is that the West African nation of Guinea is teetering on the brink of a collapse that could destabilize the region.
Commentators say neighbouring Liberia has finally resolved its civil war, while Sierra Leone is struggling to maintain a fragile peace and Cote díIvoire remains volatile.
But the head of New York-based global humanitarian agency Church World Service is determined to look beyond that gloomy assessment.
The Rev John L. McCullough, recently returned from a consultation in the struggling country, says “war is completely avoidable in Guinea” – even with its corrupted government, collapsed economy, and poverty so crushing that the majority of its 8.8 million citizens have little or no reliable access to food, water, health care, education or government services.
Declared McCullough: “Guinea does not have to fall into chaos and a deepening crisis. It is absolutely preventable. There is no reason for there to be a civil war or a regional conflict in which rebels from neighbouring countries come in and the whole region becomes destabilized.”
If chaos does result, “It would be in large part because the international community failed to appropriately respond to the conditions that beset the Guinean government and the people,” says the executive director and chief executive officer of Church World Service (CWS).
In addition to the corruption and poverty that plagues Guinea, the misery quotient in a nation that has been home to nearly a million war refugees from Sierra Leone and Liberia for more than a decade, is raised even higher by the withholding of aid by international funding sources like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) because of government corruption.
“Everyone is aware that those who profit from corruption need to be held accountable, but sanctions-even if they’re designed to punish or to lead to the removal of people in power–end up increasing the suffering of poor people. Under sanctions people who don’t have food aren’t going to get food,” laments McCullough.
A statement released by McCullough and Baffour D. Amoa, Secretary General of the Fellowship of Christian Councils & Churches in West Africa (FECCIWA), following the 16-21 November meetings, included an appeal to international funders to begin talks aimed at lifting the sanctions so that Guinea will have access to the money it needs to combat the country’s staggering economic crisis and the resulting social problems.
CWS Associate Director for Mission Relationships and Witness Moses Ole Sakuda and representatives from the Christian Council of Guinea, also attended the meetings.
The group originally went to Guinea in a show of solidarity with Bishop Albert Gomez, the Anglican Bishop of Guinea and president of the Christian Council of Guinea. On the agenda was discussion around possible threats to Christian witness in the overwhelmingly Muslim country. Not only did the Guineans warmly welcome the international delegation, but officials also extended to them opportunities for far reaching dialogue.
“We went there to discuss religious pluralism and really expected the conversations to be pretty much relegated to that sphere but we ended up talking to a very interesting and influential cross section of the society, and hearing a number of views that were quite similar,” McCullough says.
The delegation met with the minister of state in charge of presidential affairs-a key player at a time when it is widely feared that the possible death of the aging and ailing President Lansane Conte could leave a power vacuum that might result in war – and with the general secretary of the National Islamic League, the highest ranking official of that faith tradition.
They also met with members of Parliament from both the political party in power and opposition parties; with business and civic leaders; with religious leaders from the Christian and Islamic faith traditions; and with the United States ambassador and United Nations officials.
The conversations, which McCullough called “striking in the unity of opinion about the state of Guinea expressed by different people,” resulted in a quick and significant shift in the delegation’s focus.
“We certainly took advantage of every opportunity to say that Christian witness is important and that laws governing religious matters should be respectful of the different religious traditions and should allow equal access to government and society for all faiths. In the process, we were able to raise the profile and the stature of the Christian Council there, but the key thing is that we ended having a conversation much broader and much more instructive and productive than we had anticipated.”
McCullough said the delegation found that there were other more significant and pressing issues on the minds of the people they met with. “They seemed very embarrassed that Guinea is considered to be the most corrupt government in the world and they were all very aware that their government is not working and that it’s not providing services and meeting the needs of the people.”
That message of national deterioration and societal dysfunction was echoed over and over again in different meetings by people from all sides of the political spectrum. Such unified recognition of the problems the country must address, McCullough believes, presents a golden opportunity for a meeting of minds.
“It is necessary for the various sectors of the society to have a frank and productive national dialogue around these issues so that together they can discuss their similarities and differences and begin articulating a national vision and a workable strategy for lifting Guinea out of its misery. Bishop Gomez and the Christian Council of Guinea can play a very critical role in facilitating this dialogue.”
McCullough said CWS and other international colleagues would support the Council in an effort to provide a forum or platform for such a dialogue. He cautioned, however, that Guineans – who said the group’s visit reassured them that some people in international community care what happens there-must take advantage of any opportunity “to come together around the collective table” and chart a course to success as a nation.
He concluded: “This visit was a powerful witness in terms of Christ at work in the midst of a really broken and suffering society, says McCullough. I think that what came through is that while things are the way they are now, that’s not the way things have to be. It doesn’t require a massive infusion of new cash to save Guinea. It requires cooperation and the application of common sense.”