By Aminata S Kuyateh
The African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS)—The Gambia Wednesday, in collaboration with Ford Foundation West Africa, commenced the training of twenty religious and traditional leaders across different countries in Africa on religion and international human rights.
The three-day transformative consultation and training program for religious and traditional leaders showcased the vital role of these leaders in promoting democracy and human rights.
The training is hosted under the theme ‘from traditional to transformative—empowering religious and traditional leaders for democracy, rule of law, and human rights.’
Hannah Foster, ACDHRS Executive Member, said the role of religious leaders is to preach to their congregation to do the will of God, which has a link to human rights.
“For the past years, we have seen that the African Centre for Human Rights has not been engaging religious and traditional leaders, and we must examine the parallel lines between human rights and religion,” she said.
She said that the role religious and traditional leaders play in society is the same as that of human rights advocates.
The participants were from twenty different countries in Africa.
Dr. Nana Busia, who speaks on behalf of the participants, said many training sessions were conducted by the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS), but this time around the Centre wants to focus on the African tradition and religious leaders.
“Before colonisation and the coming of the modern laws, we had our traditional leaders existing. Now that we have problems with our current governments, therefore, we have to engage our traditional and religious leaders to mitigate those problems because the public listens to them,” he said.
Dr. Busia said religious and traditional leaders are very influential in society, and if it comes to peacebuilding, if they are not involved, it will be difficult for that peace to be attained.
Sadik Nyass, representative of the Governing Council of the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS), said the event is meant to build a democratic society and to do away with the humanitarian challenges women and children face in Africa.
He said that there are only a few differences between what religious leaders teach and what traditional leaders do because their ultimate aim is to make sure that there is peace within the environment they are leaving. “As a human being, it is not right for an individual to kill, and that is the same thing that traditional rulers and religious leaders preach,” he said.
Saffie Sankary Farage, the PS at the ministry of lands, who delivered a statement on behalf of her Minister, said human rights are the basic freedoms and protections every human being deserves, like the right to speak freely, to live without fear, and to be treated equally, while democracy is about people having a voice, making sure those in charge are accountable to the public, and ensuring fairness and transparency in the way ‘we are governed.’
“Globally, we are facing significant challenges, including threats to democratic governance, rising conflicts, and the resurgence of both military and constitutional coups that undermine the rule of law and peace. Political instability in many regions, combined with the rise of extremist ideologies, has placed increased pressure on institutions and communities across the globe and more especially in Africa,” she said.
