The Sunday News
Judith Phiri, Sunday News Reporter
A grouping of churches under the banner of Churches Convergence on Peace Consortium (CCOP) will on Thursday hold a peace march that will see parties committing themselves to the holding of a violent free election through the signing of Ukuthula-Runyararo Peace Covenant in Bulawayo.
CCOP is a national church group that is focused on building capacity of churches at grassroots levels to promote peace and cohesion.
In a press statement executive director of the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance Reverend Useni Sibanda said the Peace March which would be attended by all Zimbabweans would be a proclamation and reinforcement to the call for peaceful elections by all stakeholders.
He added: “The Peace March will be followed by Ukuthula-Runyararo Peace Covenant signing ceremony that will cement the commitment of political parties at provincial level to the promotion of peace during the campaign period going into the elections.”
Groups that have confirmed attendance include churches, political parties, civic society and independent commissions.
“The CCOP project will work closely with Independent Commissions in monitoring human rights violations and assisting victims of violence. Church leaders in the targeted project areas will be trained on conflict transformation and dispute resolution,” he said.
Rev Sibanda added that church leaders would collaborate with different stakeholders under the structures of Local Peace Committees to address different disputes in communities.
The Southern Region activities of the consortium are being coordinated by the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance while those in the Northern region will be coordinated by the Zimbabwe Council of Churches and the Zimbabwe Divine Destiny organization.
The Churches Convergence on Peace (CCOP) Consortium is a faith-based Consortium comprised of Dan Church Aid (DCA), Zimbabwe Christian Alliance (ZCA), Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) and Zimbabwe Divine Destiny (ZDD) that seeks to address a deep culture of violence and intimidation in communities before and during elections and high levels of structural violence at different levels of the Zimbabwean society.
Rev Sibanda said church organization would be working in the 10 provinces of Zimbabwe, with ZCA working namely in Bulawayo, Midlands, Mat North and Mat South while the Zimbabwe Council of Churches would be working in Harare, Masvingo and Manicaland with Zimbabwe Devine Destiny will be in Mashonaland West, Mashonaland Central and East.
“The project has been supported by Danish Church Aid and the European Union,” said Rev Sibanda.
