"Peace, stability recipe for development"

  1. Posted on Sunday 21 November 2010 - 07:43
    Purity
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    Purity Mwendwa Ndereva, AfricaNews reporter in Nairobi, Kenya
    Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki urges the international community to scale-up peace efforts in Somalia and Sudan by supporting initiatives of the Inter Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD). He was speaking at The Global Peace Convention 2010, held at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) in Nairobi this week.
    Kenya:Kibaki and Raila told Off by Clerics
    Global Peace Festival Foundation chairman Hyun Jin Moon said only a morally-centred leadership would lead Kenya and the world to peace and prosperity.

    "Development is not just about the economy. People must be helped to nurture their spirituality to render selfless service in their communities," he said.

    Ethiopian President Girma Wolde Giorgis said economic development was the key driver of peace and urged better policies to improve people’s lives. "I urge the international community to increase effort and commitment for peace efforts in Somalia. The efforts of Somalis deserve assistance," he said.

    Kenya’s Prime Minister Raila Odinga said peace was not just the absence of conflict and called for renewed efforts to wrestle poverty, disease, ignorance and bad governance.

    "We should not squander the enormous international goodwill we still have after we passed the new constitution. We should now tackle the main challenges to peace," Raila said.
    The PM discouraged negative ethnicity, saying it was a threat to peace and dissipated energy that could be useful in lifting Kenyans from poverty.

    Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka of Kenya said tackling the high rate of youth unemployment was key to opening the door to long-term stability. The VP lamented that many a youth languished in poverty and hopelessness despite possessing energy and valuable skills.

    "Corruption and lack of religious tolerance are serious obstacles to peace since they rob the country of opportunities for development," he said.

    Nigerian Information Minister Labaran Maku blamed the "peace deficit" in Africa on lack of visionary leadership and bad governance.

    "Africans are looking for leaders who will look beyond ethnic, racial and religious differences to take the continent to greater heights. Africa can do much better," he said.

    The Global Peace Convention 2010 was organised by the Global Peace Festival Foundation, which seeks to organise humanity under the slogan: One Family under God.

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