Assessing the Contribution of Faith-based Organisations to Peacebuilding in the District of Abidjan, Côte D’ivoire

Abstract

The two civil wars in Côte d’Ivoire (2002-2007 and 2010-2011) enormously disrupted the socio-economic infrastructure of the country, mostly in the north, broke down the national cohesion and created more political, ethnic and religious segregation. This thesis evaluated the role of Faith-Based Organisations (FBOs) in peacebuilding of the District of Abidjan during the period 2002-2014. The overall objective of this study was to assess the contribution of Faith-Based Organisations to peacebuilding in the District of Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, from 2002 to 2014. The study’s specific objectives were to establish the causes of the civil wars in Côte d’Ivoire, to identify the activities and achievements of Faith-Based Organisations in peacebuilding within the District of Abidjan from 2002 to 2014, to examine the challenges encountered by Faith-Based Organisations in peacebuilding in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, from 2002 to 2014, and propose strategies for enhancing the effectiveness of Faith-Based Organisations in peacebuilding within the District of Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. The study adopted three theoretical approaches which were John Burton’s Human Needs Theory, Johan Galtun’s Peacebuilding Theory, and John Paul Lederach’s Conflict Transformation Theory. The research design and methodology was a descriptive survey research design that involved a probability sampling. A total of 96 respondends were sought from two major FBOs, namely the National Forum of Religious Confessions of Côte d’Ivoire (NFRC-CI) and the Community of Sant’Egidio Côte d’Ivoire. Scholars and researchers working in peace and conflict management were also interviewed in order to have their perception of the work of Faith-Based Organisations. Data were collected by using questionnaires filled by officials and members of FBOs and interviewing FBOs leaders, of which the reliability was secured by test-retest and Cronbach’s alpha and validity was achieved by reading through experts and piloting the questionnaires. The analysis was carried out using inferential statistics to go beyond data collected, analyse them and learn about the study population. The results indicated that 66.7 percent of the respondents were between 31 and 40 years, 83.3 percent of them had university education, and 91.67 percent of them were men. Respondents claimed that there are key underlying reasons that caused the two wars such as political marginalisation, economic inequality between regions, ethnoreligious differences and the bad management of the 2010 presidential election. Some of the FBOs’ contributions were to encourage an interreligious dialogue, conduct youth peace education, conduct mediation sessions, while cooperating with local and international partners. But due to the lack of human and financial resources, the mistrust from political actors, and the excessive use of volunteers, their actions had some limitations. The study draws a conclusion that FBOs are a central point in peacebuilding, reconciliation and social cohesion, hence the necessity of increased involvement of women, the youth, interfaith dialogue strengthening, attainment of sustainable funds, increase of peace education, and political neutrality. The outcomes suggest key policies such as the creation of peaceful atmosphere by addressing the root causes of the Ivorian civil wars and locally-led initiatives to reconcile Ivorians. They also provide useful information firstly to the government and relevant state institutions, then to FBOs leaders, and also to development partners to develop sustainable approaches of peacebuilding in post-conflict society with all-encompassing inclusivity and local owership.