March 14, 2005 Reconciliation in Africa to be Topic of Library of Congress Seminar

WHAT: Scholars, government officials and members of the academic community have been invited to participate in an all-day seminar titled “Examples of Reconciliation: Africa’s Contributions to the Global Community.”

The conference is sponsored by the Africa Section of the African and Middle Eastern Division and the Office of Scholarly Programs at the Library of Congress in collaboration with the African Presidential Archives and Research Center of Boston University, the Africa Society of the National Summit on Africa, the Nigerian Peoples’ Forum, the U.S. Institute of Peace and the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University.

WHEN: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday, March 21

WHERE: Mumford Room, sixth floor of the Madison Building of the Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C.

WHY: During the 20th century, an estimated 188 million to 203 million people lost their lives as a result of manmade crises such as war, genocide or famine. By 1997 there were some 20 million to 25 million people internally displaced in 20 countries, half of them in Africa. According to the Institute for Development Studies, during the last two decades of the 20th century alone, 28 sub-Saharan African counties were engaged in violent conflict.

Even in the midst of every major conflict, however, there are individuals like former South African Presidents Nelson Mandela and F. W. de Klerk who try to find ways of reconciling with their foes. More research is needed to document the ways in which these peacemakers’ lives have been changed by their actions.

PROGRAM

9 a.m. - Welcome

9:20 to 9:30 a.m. - Opening Remarks

Sulayman S. Nyang, professor of African government and political science, Howard University

9:30 to 10:30 a.m. - Session I: Religion and Reconciliation—Lessons Learned

Co-chairs: David Smock, director, Religion and Peacemaking Initiative, U.S. Institute of Peace, and Vincent Ahonkhai, president of the Nigerian Peoples’ Forum

NIGERIA

Rev. James Movel Wuye, co-founder of the Muslim/Christian Youth Dialogue

Forum, Kaduna, Nigeria

Imam Istaz Muhammad Nurayn Ashafa, co-founder of the Muslim/Christian

Youth Dialogue Forum, Kaduna, Nigeria

RWANDA

Athanase Hagengimana, Kluge Fellow, John W. Kluge Center, Library of Congress

10:45 to 11:45 a.m. - Session II: Truth and Reconciliation Commissions—Lessons Learned

Chair: Antoine Ntambobwa, ambassador of the Republic of Burundi to the United States

RWANDA

Zac Nzenga, ambassador of the Republic of Rwanda

SOUTH AFRICA

Barbara Masekela, ambassador of the Republic of South Africa

UGANDA

Edith Ssempala, ambassador of the Republic of Uganda

1:30 to 2:30 p.m. - Special Session: Reflections of Former African Heads of State on Reconciliation

Chair: Prosser Gifford, head, Office of Scholarly Programs, Library of Congress

AFRICA GENERAL

Ketumile Masire, former president of Botswana, Lloyd G. Balfour African President in Residence,

African Presidential Archives and Research Center at Boston University

BURUNDI

Pierre Buyoya, former president of Burundi, visiting senior fellow, Watson Institute for

International Studies at Brown University

2:30 to 3:30 p.m. - Session III: Implications of Sub-regional Issues for Reconciliation

Chair: Timothy Bork, founder, National Summit of Africa

GREAT LAKES

Myron Golden, director, Francophone West and Central Africa, Africare

HORN OF AFRICA

David H. Shinn, adjunct professor of the practice of international affairs, George Washington

University

WEST AFRICA

Juanita Jarrett, Mano River Women’s Peace Network

3:30 to 4:30 p.m. - Session IV: Culture and the Media as Tools for Reconciliation

Chair: Laverne Page, area specialist, Africa Section, African and Middle Eastern Division, Library of Congress

AFRICAN MEDIA

Krishna Kumar, senior social scientist, U.S. Agency for International Development

RWANDA

H.R.H. King Kigeli V, Jean-Baptiste Ndahindurwa

Samputu-Ingeli Dance Troupe of Rwanda, winners of the 2003 KORA

(ALL Africa Music) Award

4:30 to 4:45 p.m. - Concluding Remarks

Sulayman S. Nyang, professor of African government and political science, Howard University