Celebrating Cultural Diversity, Tolerance and Social Cohesion
Posted by: Webmaster on May 19, 2009 8:31:13 AM|
The World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development is celebrated each year on the 21st of May. The Day provides us with an opportunity to deepen our understanding of the values of cultural diversity and to learn how to “live together” better.
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This is also
constituted under the UN Educational, Social and Cultural Organisation
universal declaration on cultural diversity. The UN General Conference adopted the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity in Paris, France, on November 2, 2001. It was the 249th resolution adopted at the 57th session of the General Conference. This reaffirmed the need for inter-cultural dialogue to prevent segregation, marginalisation and fundamentalism.
The Agency for Cooperation and research in Development (ACORD) has embraced the value of diversity: “We respect and celebrate diversity both within communities we work with and within our own organisation”. ACORD therefore joins the rest of the world in celebrating cultural diversity and safeguarding the mainstay of development and coexistence.
Africa’s Dilemma: Marginalised Communities and their Rights
Africa in particular continues to witness various forms of socio-political upheavals and as a result, the continent bears the brunt under the claws of ethnic, social and political intolerance as well as gender-based discrimination. Minority groups in many countries in Africa are often given a cold shoulder or under-represented in national decision-making processes and their priorities are more likely to be overruled or ignored. As these groups continue to occupy the periphery in national preoccupations, their vulnerability is heightened. They often lack support from the mainstream, suffer from trauma and are exposed to invasion by neighbouring hostile groups (militia, armed warriors, bandits, cattle-rustlers or migrating communities).
Most countries in Africa have experienced the refugee crisis in one form or another. Rwanda, Burundi, Chad, Sudan, Angola, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo are a few cases in point. Refugees fleeing persecution in their home countries are examples of the direct consequences of intolerance. In most cases, population displacements are as a result of cultural or political differences and misunderstandings. In most scenarios, the disturbance in the socio-cultural order leads to deaths, injuries, loss of property and livelihoods, complex challenges involving resettlement and distribution of resources.
Cycles of Violence
The northern regions of Mali are home to several different ethnic groups, each occupying a particular environmental niche. These include the Songhois (agriculturalists), Tamasheqs, Maures, Arabs and Peulhs and Bozos (fishermen). Within each group, a number of distinct layers are found; for example the Tamasheq comprise at least four strata – nobles, marabouts, vassals and former slaves.
The main consequences of marginalisation for the low-status groups are: lack of access to means of production, lack of participation in decision-making, and the social and sexual division of labour which exploits them and overloads them with work, increasing their vulnerability. In addition, they experience day-to-day discrimination based on stereotypes and prejudices which tend to discredit and denigrate them (Cycles of Violence; Judy El-Bushra and Ibrahim Sahl, ACORD, 2005).
Working in Common Cause with Marginalised People
The Community Social Peace and Recovery Model is one of the peace-building approaches being used at the grassroots level for bringing communities to negotiate their peaceful coexistence. It is a strategy to bring peace process and negotiations in the hands of the community, and conduct an in-depth analysis of the causes and impacts of conflict. ACORD piloted this methodology in post-conflict Burundi and received the Entrepreneuring Peace Change-Makers Innovation Award for this work in 2007.
"A lot of people who fled have returned home; we work with them daily and share a lot of things. During dialogue sessions, people readily come to share their personal accounts of what happened during the post-election violence’, says Ronald Okemo, a peace agent from Kisii in Kenya.
ACORD's response to the challenges of Africa is firmly based on a belief that people themselves are the agents of change and actors of their own development. People's ability to take action on the causes of poverty is what will transform Africa's future. ACORD believes those people suffering under poverty, economic, social and political inequality are best placed to explore the root causes of injustice, identify strategies for solutions, and act upon them to bring about positive changes at national, regional, Pan African and international levels. For more information visit http://www.acordinternational.org
The northern regions of Mali are home to several different ethnic groups, each occupying a particular environmental niche. These include the Songhois (agriculturalists), Tamasheqs, Maures, Arabs and Peulhs and Bozos (fishermen). Within each group, a number of distinct layers are found; for example the Tamasheq comprise at least four strata – nobles, marabouts, vassals and former slaves.
The main consequences of marginalisation for the low-status groups are: lack of access to means of production, lack of participation in decision-making, and the social and sexual division of labour which exploits them and overloads them with work, increasing their vulnerability. In addition, they experience day-to-day discrimination based on stereotypes and prejudices which tend to discredit and denigrate them (Cycles of Violence; Judy El-Bushra and Ibrahim Sahl, ACORD, 2005).
Working in Common Cause with Marginalised People
The Community Social Peace and Recovery Model is one of the peace-building approaches being used at the grassroots level for bringing communities to negotiate their peaceful coexistence. It is a strategy to bring peace process and negotiations in the hands of the community, and conduct an in-depth analysis of the causes and impacts of conflict. ACORD piloted this methodology in post-conflict Burundi and received the Entrepreneuring Peace Change-Makers Innovation Award for this work in 2007.
"A lot of people who fled have returned home; we work with them daily and share a lot of things. During dialogue sessions, people readily come to share their personal accounts of what happened during the post-election violence’, says Ronald Okemo, a peace agent from Kisii in Kenya.
ACORD's response to the challenges of Africa is firmly based on a belief that people themselves are the agents of change and actors of their own development. People's ability to take action on the causes of poverty is what will transform Africa's future. ACORD believes those people suffering under poverty, economic, social and political inequality are best placed to explore the root causes of injustice, identify strategies for solutions, and act upon them to bring about positive changes at national, regional, Pan African and international levels. For more information visit http://www.acordinternational.org
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Celebrating Cultural Diversity, Tolerance and Social Cohesion
May 20, 2009 12:02 PM
Re: Cycles of Violence, ACORD Publication
This publication can be accessed through the website or upon request.