The Inter-Faith Action for Peace in Africa (Ifapa) said it would develop media monitoring tools relating to inter-religious issues to improve awareness and ensure that Africans are more than just passive consumers of media products.
In recommendations made at the conclusion of a three-day conference in Diani at the South Coast, Ifapa -- which brings together Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Bahai and African Traditional Religion -- said these partnerships would drive its agenda of reconciliation and harmony not just among faiths but among the populations.
The lobby group will also seek to advance its messages of peace through such activities as music festivals, community education, and outreach programmes.
The conference brought together 75 participants drawn from more than 30 countries, and its focus was to discuss the interventions needed in the African states facing conflict through educating communities, organising peace activities, forming partnerships and engaging in dialogue.
Ifapa's president, Rev Dr Ishmael Noko, said the organisation was focusing on taking development to the grassroots so as to avert conflicts.
"We are engaging government representatives, the private sector and leaders from all religions in the search for peace in Africa," he said.
Commenting on Kenya, Dr Noko urged politicians to stop pointing fingers at each other.
"It is the responsibility of Kenyans to ensure that peace prevails at this time when political temperatures are high because of the
International Criminal Court... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ...
issue. No one should judge the suspects until after the trial," he said.
On the turmoil in Libya, the latest arena of the Arab uprising, Rev Noko said that military intervention by President Muammar Gadaffi was not a solution to peace but was bound to culminate in more bloodshed.
In a speech he presented at the gathering, Nation Media Group chairman Wilfred Kiboro said that the scale and diversity of conflicts in Africa was daunting and gave examples of Morocco, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt Sudan and Somalia. Others he noted were Kenya, Burundi, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast and Zim-bob-we.
"Peace can only come from within by each one of us committing to live in peace. However,
The ever-popular
However...
human nature being what it is, peace will not be achieved where there is no social justice, and no equitable distribution of resources," he said.