First Regional Meeting of LWF-Led Inter-Faith Peace Summit

First Regional Meeting of LWF-Led Inter-Faith Peace Summit Kenneth Kaunda to Deliver Keynote Address at South African Conference

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa/GENEVA, 23 September 2003 (LWI) - The first regional follow-up meeting of the Inter-Faith Peace Summit in Africa, facilitated by the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), will take place 30 September-1 October 2003 in Johannesburg, South Africa, under the theme, "Promoting Peace and Harmony."

Dr Kenneth Kaunda, former President of Zambia will deliver the keynote address at the two-day Southern Africa Inter-Faith Conference, which will be officially opened by South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma.

The conference is a follow-up to the October 2002 Inter-Faith Peace Summit in Africa which produced "The Johannesburg Inter-Faith Declaration - Embracing the Gift of Peace," a joint affirmation of inter-faith responsibility for safeguarding peace in Africa.

Many of the major conflicts on the African continent are fueled by religious differences and the essence of the declaration dealt with ways of promoting co-existence and mutual understanding, as well as strengthening co-operation for collective intervention in violence-affected areas. Similar regional meetings are planned for Western Africa and the Eastern/Central region.

The Southern Africa follow-up conference will feature around 60 delegates from eleven Southern African countries. Those represented include Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. All delegations attending the conference will be giving a report on the state of peace or lack thereof, and inter-faith dialogue and cooperation for peace in their respective countries.

Participants include religious leaders from the Christian, Muslim, Baha'i, Buddhist, Hindu and Jewish faiths, and African Traditional Religions. Speakers at the conference will include the summit coordinator, LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko, and Rev. Dr Mvume Dandala, All Africa Conference of Churches General Secretary.

Representative media from Southern and Eastern Africa are invited.

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now has 136 member churches in 76 countries representing over 61.7 million of the 65.4 million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical and interfaith relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is LWF' information service. Unless specifically noted, material presented does not represent positions or opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of a article contains the notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced with acknowledgment.]

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