A House of Peace for Central Africa

For a life without fear

In the Central African Republic, hunger and violence determine people's everyday lives. The country in the heart of the African continent can record many negative records. Those born here have the lowest life expectancy in the world, only a few inhabitants have enough food and infant mortality is the second highest in the world. Nearly six years after the outbreak of the civil war, in which militias of the Christian majority face those of the Muslim minority, Unicef has recently warned of a further escalation of the humanitarian crisis.

For years, the House of One Foundation has supported the only interreligious peace initiative in the region. Already in 2013 the spiritual leaders of the Catholic and Protestant Christians - Cardinal Dieudonné Nzapalainga and Pastor Nicolas Guerekoyamè-Gbangou - as well as the Muslims - Imam Omar Kobine Layama - jointly founded the "Plateforme des Confessions Religieuses de Centrafrique" (PCRC), an interreligious peace platform, in the ZAR. With great courage and personal risk the religious leaders and their supporters face the conflict parties, who fight less for religious affiliation than for diamonds, gold, uranium, tropical wood and power.

The clergy are project ambassadors of the House of One. And more than that: they plan to propagate the idea of the House of One in their country and found a "Maison de la Paix", a house of peace for Christians and Muslims in the capital Bangui. Currently, with the support of the architects of the House of One, KuehnMalvezzi, students at the universities of Weimar and the Togolese Lomé are developing ideas for such a construction.

he project is supported by the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). The Catholic theologian Ulrich Nitschke, head of the "Values, Religion and Development" department at GIZ, talks about the role of the House of One in the peace process in Central Africa.

House of One: Mr. Nitschke, why does the GIZ support the cooperation of the House of One with the interreligious platform in Bangui for a "Maison de la Paix"?

Ulrich Nitschke: We are looking at which religious actors are particularly active in interreligious cooperation. In addition to large relief organizations such as Misereor or "Brot für die Welt", this also includes smaller initiatives that have a peace-building effect in their own society through interreligious cooperation and conflict-sensitive work. In this sense the House of One is a very good contribution, because the three Abrahamitic religions together build a house with their own sacred rooms as well as a central room, which is open to all religious communities of the world as well as those without religion, plus the idea of the prayer house.

Religions are often perceived as drivers of conflict, less often as peacemakers. What is special about the House of One?

The House of One clarifies the idea of peaceful coexistence and peaceful cooperation in our own world. It shows that religions can also be peacemakers in many respects. The House of One is a model project of interreligious coexistence in which above all respect for one another is developed and no egalitarianism is practised. The roots of each independent religion are closely examined in order to see how interreligious cooperation is possible in respect for others. It is this work of content that constitutes the House of One.

What exactly makes the House of One so valuable for your work?

Our world is more and more marked by conflicts. When I started working in development aid 25 years ago, there were perhaps 12 to 15 states where we talked about fragility, the absence of any rule of law. Today there are 45. The Central African Republic - like the whole region, which includes the Democratic Republic of Congo - is characterised by the collapse of state structures after the colonial period. In such countries, concepts such as interreligious cooperation are particularly important for us.

Why?

Religion is often used for exclusion and to deny another population group access to resources. We want to support local initiatives, such as the interreligious platform in Bangui, with models of interreligious cooperation - the House of One is simply exemplary in this respect. It is one of the few law enforcement agencies in the region that can bring people together and facilitate understanding across ethnic, religious and national boundaries. It's great if we can support a "Maison de la Paix" that follows the concept of the House of One.

A House of One that can have a positive impact on developments - could this task play a stronger role in the future?

I believe that the educational programmes of the House of One play a central role in the interreligious spectrum, but also in peace education. The Maison de la Paix has a strong impact on peace education. That is exactly what the colleagues from the interreligious platform value so much. They have developed their own strategic plan in which one area is clearly international cooperation in the field of peace education in schools and kindergartens. In my opinion, this is the right approach: the House of One provides interfaith guided tours for schools and works in peace education. The concept in the "Maison de la Paix" can profit considerably from this.

Do you already see the House of One in other joint projects with the GIZ?

The crucial thing now is to network all religious actors who are already active in the CAR in the platform and to jointly determine the next steps at the so-called CAR Round Table.

Who belongs to this round?

These are for example Misereor, Caritas, Missio, Arbeitsgemeinschaft Entwicklungshilfe e.V. (Development Aid Association), the Archdiocese of Cologne, the Forum Ziviler Friedensdienste (forumZFD). Here the House of One is of course a small partner. It is not a big relief organisation like Misereor, it plays a different role.

Namely which one?

In order to contribute the content work for the Maison de la Paix to the interreligious platform. I regard this as an important strategic consulting approach that needs to be expanded. Now that peace is hanging by a thread, the interreligious platform cannot be left alone. The warlords are far from satisfied, peace work on the ground has not been consolidated. We need much better cooperation between all actors, including in the international arena. This is where the international partnership organisation "International Partnership on Religion and Sustainable Development" (PaRD) comes in...

...of which also the House of One is a member...

That's it. We hope to achieve a better cooperation of all members at the Round Table ZAR. It is about creating the way to a peaceful society where people can live without fear of death and hunger. That is our goal.