CTII was honoured to be a part of Pre-International Peace Day Roundtable Series organized by the Bahá’í International Community Addis Ababa Office and the Beyers Naudé Centre for Public Theology at Stellenbosch University. 

On Wednesday 16th September, members of CTII journeyed out to Stellenbosch, to meet and engage with religious leaders and community activists in a roundtable discussion event, honouring International Day of Peace.  

Three panelists – Sarah Oliver, Cecil Plaatjies and Tahirih Mathee – set the scene for the discussion, addresses the need for sustained multi-faith-collaboration, paradigm shifts and action for peacebuilding that go beyond technical or political legalities (like treaties and disarmaments). Participants explored how the values and unifying power of faith can be harnessed to build lasting conditions for peace and prosperity across the continent.

The purpose of the event was to bring diverse representatives from the African continent together to deliberate on an important pillar of the African Union’s Agenda 2063, “A Peaceful and Secure Africa.”  It was themed “Drawing on the Power of Religion to Cultivate Conditions for Peace”.

CTII Board member Velie Nstume, shares her reflections on the event: 

“My reflections from yesterday’s meeting are drawn from key insights I picked up as you were presenting. Listening felt like hearing a call to people like me — people who identify as peace workers.

One eye-opener for me was the emphasis on being honest about the challenges of collaboration. Thank you for bringing this to the fore, Sarah. I personally believe we often expect too much from ourselves and overrate our abilities. Collaboration is no child’s play, as it involves working with difference, and uniting difference is tough, though achievable.

The inside-outside strategy was also a call to be holistic rather than partial in our work — again, tough but doable.

I was also deeply moved by Cecil’s call to revisit our stance as people of faith. As he said, “if my neighbor is suffering, then my faith is incomplete.” For me, he expanded the whole meaning of neighbor, and I found myself feeling challenged. I may not be able to change the whole world alone, but I felt there is more to do, starting with redefining, understanding and applying the concept of peace in better ways.

Finally, Dr. Matthee called us to action — to consistently uphold human dignity by rejecting exclusivity and superiority, and promoting interdependence as “the order of God’s creation.”

One of the questions addressed by the panel was: 

“What shifts are needed to transform interfaith dialogue from institutional information-sharing into tangible, unified action for social justice and peace across African communities?”

Here below are the five shifts Cecil Plaatjies, CTII Chairperson shared in response:

1.⁠ ⁠From leaders to people.

Move dialogue from institutional heads to grassroots communities. Let youth and ordinary members act together in streets, markets and schools.

2.⁠ ⁠From theology to shared pain

Focus on common suffering. Unite around what we agree to be wrong – hunger, corruption, violence, unemployment – using Ubuntu. “I am because we are” 

3.⁠ ⁠From projects to power 

Move from small charity projects like feeding schemes to justice. Use a united voice to challenge the systems and power structures that cause poverty and injustice

4.⁠ ⁠From Donor Funded to Community-Owned. 

Stop the dependence on donor funding. Pool internal resources – tithes, zakat, land into a shared justice fund so that action is sustainable and belongs to the community. 

5.⁠ ⁠From Peace as Silence to Peace as Justice. 

Redefine peace not as quiet or neutrality, but as active justice. Interfaith must take the side of the poor and marginalised, not remain neutral.

Building on these 5 shifts, Jenny Canau (representing CTII and Euphrates Institute), emphasized a need to start with ourselves as the next step and to hold a “Caring for the Carer’s” retreat specifically for Interfaith practitioners. This would allow a space to deeply share our own pain, build understanding and trust, so we can serve each other as interfaith practitioners, while serving our communities from a place of peace and humility.

It was lovely to hear both Sarah and Cecil reflect on learnings from the collaboration and experimentation undertaken by the CTII in building community and friendship across difference. We indeed have a lot to offer to this essential undertaking of our time, aware of the terrible loss of women we just experienced last week, and in the light of South Africa’s upcoming local elections in November.