The Archbishop of Bangui, Central African Republic, Monsignor Dieudonné Nzapalainga, and Imam Oumar Kobine Layama, President of the Islamic Community of the Central African Republic, both members of the Interfaith Peace Platform supported by the International Dialogue Centre (KAICIID), received on 4 February the Mundo Negro Fraternity Award 2016, in recognition of their work towards reconciliation, peacebuilding and promotion of interreligious dialogue in their country.

The prize has been awarded since 1994 by the Mundo Negro magazine and the Comboni Missionaries, in the context of the annual Africa Encounter, which this year will centre on “Islam and Christianity, dialogue under one roof”.

“Muslim-Christian dialogue is not a theory or an abstraction. It is a way of living,” said Monsignor Nzapalainga in an encounter with the Spanish press before receiving the award. “Interreligious dialogue is at the heart of Christianity and Islam. And the crisis in Central African Republic has given us this opportunity,” Imam Layama added. When explaining the conflict in CAR, they said that religion has been politically manipulated.

“We congratulate Monsignor Nzapalainga and Imam Kobine Layama for this recognition. They have been friends of the Centre, which has supported the reconciliation process in their country. We are glad to see that the international community continues to recognize their efforts and, from KAICIID, we will continue supporting their work,” said KAICIID Secretary General Faisal Bin Muaammar.

Mon. Nzapalainga and Imam Kobine Layama, together with the President of the Evangelical Alliance, Pastor Nicolas Guérékoyaméné-Gbangou, founded the CAR Interfaith Platform in 2013. This interfaith organization represents the three largest religious communities within the country, and promotes dialogue both as a preventive measure and as a means to seek peace. In the midst of war and in the current period of reconciliation, the three religious leaders persuade Catholics, Muslims, and Protestants to desist from further violence and end the cycle of revenge among their religious communities.

KAICIID has been supporting the CAR Interfaith Platform since 2015 and has recently awarded three individual grants to the Platform members to support their advocacy efforts for peace and reconciliation, promote the importance of interreligious dialogue in transforming conflict and to reduce tensions and violence in the Central African Republic. The grants directly support the leaders’ reconciliation and violence prevention field work in those areas of the country that suffer outbursts of violence. In these regions, together they directly engage all groups and call for reconciliation.