Youth Interreligious Parliament: ASFIT’s New Project to Foster Dialogue

In Ghana, there exists a concerning pattern of unresolved conflicts stemming from various issues such as religious, political, ethnic, land, and chieftaincy disputes. 

These seeming ‘non-active’ conflicts have led to mistrust, discrimination, and in some instances, escalated into armed confrontations. In addition, the lack of safe spaces for constructive dialogue and the absence of essential soft skills like negotiation, dialogue, and ADR contribute to the perpetuation of the cycle of violence in many parts of Ghana.

To address above challenges, we are exciting to initiate the Youth Interreligious Parliament: Convening for Dialogue and Action project which is kindly supported by the Kofi Annan Foundation changemakers initiative.

This project will empower and engage 30 young people from five communities with diverse religious and cultural backgrounds in the West Mamprusi Municipality of the North East Region.

This project will be implemented by the ASFIT together with local and international partners whose collaboration will be critical to the project’s success. 

It will include both online and face-to-face training sessions to equip youths with soft skills such as negotiations, non-violent communication, mediation, and conflict resolution. The establishment of the Youth Interreligious Parliament will provide a platform for open and inclusive dialogue for young people to contribute to issues of peace and security discussions.

The Youth Interreligious Parliament initiative aligns with several of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including Goal 16 – “Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions,” Goal 4 – “Quality Education,” and Goal 17 – “Partnerships for the Goals”.