The 3rd Forum of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on education for a culture of peace through intra and inter-religious dialogue is taking place in Lomé, Togo.
The Forum is being jointly organised by the ECOWAS Department of Human Development and Social Affairs and the Togolese government.
It has in attendance religious, political and youth leaders and other civil society representatives.
The forum comes at a time when West Africa is facing numerous deadly terrorist attacks as a result of religion being utilised to achieve ideological, political, economic and social ends.
The participants will find ways to foster dialogue among the different religious communities. It is to ultimately facilitate mutual understanding and nurture the spirit of tolerance and peaceful co-existence through education for a culture of peace.
The event will demonstrate the commitment of ECOWAS to foster a platform dialogue going by the organisation of the first and second editions in Niamey, Niger in 2016 and 2018.
The foregoing ECOWAS activities stem from the December 10,1999, protocol relating to the mechanism for conflict prevention, management and resolution, peacekeeping and security, and more recently the 2020/2024 priority action plan to eradicate terrorism in the region.
