August 19, 2016 By Patrick Jaiah Kamara
The Council of Churches in Sierra Leone (CCSL) has held a consultative meeting with various stakeholders in the country to map out strategies that would limit violence among youths.
The meeting that was held yesterday at their Kinghaman Road office, attracted stakeholders from the security sector, religious leaders, political parties’ representatives, and the Sierra Leone Teachers Union among host of others.
The meeting according to the CCSL Chairman of the Advocacy Committee, Reverend H.A Samuels, was to initiate ideas that would limit the spat of violence in recent time.
He noted that CCSL wanted to bring about an initiative that would bring about an environment of peace as stated in the Book of Hebrews in the Holy Bible.
He maintained that the council was moved by Agape love-a sacrificial love that works in the best interest of all regardless of ethnicity and creed, adding that the council was guided by values of integrity, tolerance and dignity of all persons.
“We can do better to address the causes and factors related to the growing violence within the country as we are the oldest Christian Civil Society Organization in the country,” he said.
Chairman of the Standing Committee, Bishop A. Temple said the CCSL plays the role of priestly, pastoral and prophetic and also encourages the church to speak with a single voice and provide moral leadership.
He said the CCSL has made efforts in the past to mediate conflicts that had emerged within political groups in the country, noting that they were qualify to engage in the advocacy initiative to address issues pertaining to violence.
“We need to better understand the results of ethnicism and regionalism in searching for causes and contributing factors of violence,” he said, adding that they need to comprehend the relationship between violence, the impact of idleness and the growing drug and alcohol culture, domestic violence and lawlessness.