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May PEACE Prevail in Sierra Leone!
May PEACE Prevail on Earth!

CADS International
Involvement/Conferences, Festivals, Etc.

The Peace Brigade International (PBI) 20th Anniversary Conference -- Konstanz, Germany and in Romanshorn, Switzerland -- October 26/27, 2001.

For two decades, Peace Brigade International (PBI) has been pioneering new methods of protecting human rights and promoting nonviolent conflict transformation. CADS Sierra Leone is Joining PBI to Celebrate their 20th Anniversary!

The program of events got from PBI is an important document providing us with clear coverage of what CADS expects to find in Konstanz, Germany and in Romanshorn, Switzerland. The Center looks forward to making the best out of this conference to demonstrate how the Center is making a difference in Sierra Leone in terms of our recognized contribution to a better and more sustainable peaceful future in Sierra Leone.

There are crucial issues pertaining to Sierra Leone the Center would share during the conference in Konstanz, Germany and in Romanshorn, Switzerland -- Our civilian, non-military effort toward providing positive and lasting peace in Sierra Leone through sustainable development programs.

About a decade ago, majority of the ordinary people of Sierra Leone were groaning under the yoke of the APC regime. The plague of corruption still continued to eat deep into the economic and political system which the people were longing to cure. It was exactly during this desperate search for a cure that the man called Foday Sankoh, announced over the BBC that he and his followers were going to gun chase the inept APC from the seat of power.

Foday Sankoh in 1991, pointed his finger at the collapse and chronic corruption in the APC government as justification for his armed rebellion in the country. His explanation and seemingly genuine intentions were obviously tenable to almost every Sierra Leonean who was impotent and helpless in the face of the dehumanizing and degrading cycle of self inflicted problems. Some especially students, had before the military and political adventurism of Sankoh, suggested war as the only way forward. And when Sankoh started the war in the Eastern Region of Sierra Leone, it was widely believed that his justification and campaign for an armed rebellion went down well with the people. The young and able-bodied men joined the bandwagon.

But in 1992, something happened which made almost everybody genuinely feel that Sankoh's dream had been realized. The news was that the APC government had been over thrown by what later came to be known as the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC). This event which became a milestone in the history of the country, automatically nullified Sankoh's objective to bring down the APC government.

But, some observers have even ventured to say that the NPRC regime, though short lived, was more corrupt and ruthless than the APC they had so loudly condemned.

Sierra Leone, from this background analysis, is going through an unending chapter of violence, death and destruction that is unprecedented in her history. Thousands of people have been killed, over a million have become displaced and living in inhuman conditions and scores have been incapacitated for the rest of their lives.

The scale of destruction and loss of life, the psychological impact of both on the population has been devastating; and we the people are divided in our views and opinions as to what approach is necessary to bring about an end to this war started in 1991 by Foday Sankoh. This is where the questions of options come to play.

Apparently there are two options open to Sierra Leoneans - the military option or the peaceful "negotiated settlement". A lot of people believe, that the war must be pursued to its military conclusion, for in their views the terror tactics and the slash and burn strategy of the rebels has fully demonstrated that Foday Sankoh's justification and campaign for an armed rebellion against corruption has been misplaced, and his RUF's sole aim is to destroy life and property of the ordinary. Such feelings are genuine and must be respected.

But as agents of development initiatives that has as its basis ULTIMATE PEACE THROUGH SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS, CADS holds that, regardless of our pain and loss, nothing surpasses the collective pain that, we feel as a people - Sierra Leoneans - and no loss of earthly possessions no matter how costly, can be compared to the systematic destruction of Sierra Leone as a country.

The CADS Sierra Leone Peace Strategy is thus borne out of the urge to contribute toward providing positive and lasting peace in Sierra Leone through sustainable development programs. The citizens of Sierra Leone are currently faced with critical situations in their development efforts as majority of them are poor and unemployed, and are haunted by the threatening hazards of a senseless rebel war. This war has since the early 1990s not only threatened economic growth but also presented a deterrent to peace, security and good governance. The numbers of people killed, properties destroyed and the rate of displacement of peaceful citizens as refugees by this war can be counted over a million.

While many factors are responsible for this unfortunate situation, the lack of practical knowledge and education on the essence of peace through sustainable development programs by the citizens of this country, and the phenomena of authoritarian governance, greed and social exclusion have played a vital role in this calculus.

It is against the above background that there is this urgent need for CADS Sierra Leone to address the problems of war and instability, and the need for unique strategies in development endeavors, like what we have tried to do with the invention of the Communal Farming System (CFS) Strategy in agricultural sector development.

The Communal Farming System, our unique strategy in agricultural sector development, is a new vision of agricultural development that addresses the interest of all those rural people willing to farm and who could do so productively and profitably. It is a highly efficient and economically viable, market-directed farming system, characterized by a wide range of communal farm sizes, which will be regarded as the economic and social pivot of Sierra Leone which will eventually influence the rest of Sierra Leone's economy.

Our presentation in Switzerland and Germany will get participants to appreciate the link not only between good governance and peace but also between good governance, peace and development and economic prosperity.

Our presentation methodology will be in the manner of ten (10) themes or program strands:

1. The Role of Civil Society in Peace Building
2. The Role of NGOs in Peace Building
3. Women and Peace Building
4. The Military and Peace Building
5. The Youths and Peace Building
6. Civil Defense Forces in the Sustenance of Peace
7. The Role of Traditional Rulers in Peace Building
8. The RUF Factor: Reconciliation and Forgiveness.
9. The Role of ECOWAS in Peace Building
10. Negotiated Peace Settlement through strengthening of sustainable development programs to create jobs for youths in the society.

We acknowledge the exceptional significance of the upcoming 20th Anniversary Conference of the PBI as it genuinely offers NGOs the opportunity "to demonstrate how they contribute to a better and more sustainable future in their countries - buttressed by PBI's two decades of commitment in pioneering new methods of protecting human rights and promoting non-violent conflict transformation.

To Join PBI to Celebrate its 20th anniversary, PBI invites:

- international and national politicians
- organisations and institutions working in the field
- people involved in conflict prevention and resolution
- members of NGOs and communities they support
- human rights defenders
- peace and human rights researchers
- friends and the general public to join us for a two-day international conference.

To Participate Contact:
PBI Coordination Switzerland
Röne Stäheli
Peace Brigades International - PBI
Schweiz Quellenstrasse 31, CH - 8005 Zürich Tel. / Fax : 01 / 272 27 76
E-mail : pbizurich@dataway.ch
Website: http://www.peacebrigades.org/

Peace Brigades International (PBI) is a non-governmental organisation which promotes nonviolent transformation of conflict and protects human rights. PBI works in areas of violent conflict where local organisations committed to nonviolent social change are under threat. Working only on request from such organisations, PBI sends teams of volunteers backed up by an international network of support to carry out protective accompaniment, peace education work, independent observation and reporting. PBI has currently an average of 50 volunteers on service in Colombia, Indonesia/East Timor and Mexico, and is member of the SIPAZ joint project in Chiapas, Mexico.

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