Plea over support for conflict-ravaged countries

Ireland must send a clear message to people in countries affected by severe conflict and poverty that it is there to support them in the long term, it was urged today.

Christian Aid, a development agency, said the country has a crucial role to play in international conflict resolution and worldwide poverty reduction.

Margaret Boden, the charity’s general secretary in Ireland, said: “Since 2003, through Christian Aid’s partners on the ground, Ireland has contributed to the development work of local people in countries affected by severe conflict and poverty.

“This is vital work that must continue with the support of the Irish Government and people, to create a more secure and equal society for all. We need to send a clear message to people living with conflict and trying to rebuild their societies that we are with them for the long term.”

Around 21 Christian Aid partners from Afghanistan, Colombia, Sierra Leone, Israel and the Palestinian Territories joined together at a conference in Dublin to share experiences of their countries’ particular conflicts and the effects it has on their long-term development.

In an address to the Securing The Future: Conflict And Development conference, Dr Ahmad Zia Shams, an Afghan partner, said: “Without this conference it would have been impossible for me to understand as fully the context of the other four conflicts or to see all the similarities and differences between them and what Afghans are experiencing at home.

“This opportunity to come together and support each other in the struggle we find ourselves in is invaluable. It is a reminder to everyone of how much we can do when we work together.”

Dr Shams said the partner organisations must build on solidarity with each other, the Irish people, the Irish Government and the international community.

“We need to raise awareness of what is happening in our countries, so that everyone applies pressure on their governments and on international institutions to address the poverty affecting our people because of conflict and to ensure that policies are not made that undermine our work on the ground,” he said.

The Reverend Harold Good, one of the independent witnesses to the IRA’s weapons decommissioning last year, told those gathered of the Irish experience of conflict and peace. He said there was a need for inter-community work and negotiation.

“Discussion with all those involved is the way forward. We were all part of the answer in Northern Ireland: those directly affected, the churches, civil society, governments, the international community and members of the public,” he said.

“Ordinary people must be allowed to make decisions about their own futures, through peaceful and democratic means. It is the same for Afghanistan, Colombia, Sierra Leone, Israel or the occupied Palestinian Territories.

“The solutions must be led by local people, but Ireland can also be part of the answer for peace in our world if we act courageously and collectively.”