Damietta initiative: sowing the seeds of peace at the grass roots level

(Vatican Radio) The Damietta Peace Initiative is a Franciscan inter-faith driven peace enterprise for Africa built around the core values of nonviolence, reconciliation and respect for creation. A key part of the initiative is to form Pan-African Conciliation Teams throughout the continent who are trained to monitor tensions and conflict in their local areas and learn to intervene quickly when these tensions can give rise to violence. The International Director of the Damietta Initiative is Father Kees Thonissen who spoke to Vatican Radio’s Susy Hodges

Listen to the extended interview with Father Thonissen:

Father Thonissen speaks about the aims of the Damietta Initiative, in which African countries they are present and says one of their success stories is in the ethnically mixed city of Jos in central Nigeria which has been the scene in the past of many violent clashes between Muslims and Christians.