Kigali, Rwanda
“Faith In Harvest: Sowing Seeds of Climate Resilience” in Partnership with African Union
Faith For Our Planet, in partnership with the African Union (AU), conducted a workshop at the AU Interfaith Week in Kigali, Rwanda on November 8th – 9th 2023. The event titled, “Faith in Harvest: Sowing Seeds of Climate Resilience,” focused on the critical role of faith communities in addressing climate change and its impact on food security.
“Faith in Harvest: Sowing Seeds of Climate Resilience,"
The event themes were based on learning the climate science behind Sub-Saharan Africa’s most pressing climate challenges (floods, droughts, and deforestation) and how faith groups are central to their mitigation, discussing the shared value systems within the region’s diverse religious groups, and what they say about environmentalism to revisit and/or better conceptualize climate action within faith traditions, identifying challenges and solutions for faith communities to better integrate faith-based values in their ongoing/desired climate action plans, and developing plans to integrate FFOP’s global network to facilitate local faith community efforts to combat climate change.
The workshop featured esteemed speakers and experts who have made immense contributions to the fields of environmental preservation, religious communities, and civil society, including, Prof. Eale Bosela, DRC Human Rights Commissioner and Chair of the African Union Interfaith Dialogue Forum, Hazel Dixon, Global Head of Diaspora Engagement, African Union, Dr. Usta Kaitesi, Chief Executive Officer of Rwanda Governance Board (RGB), Bernadette Arakwiye, AFR100 Manager, WRI Africa 2, Rev. Juli Kandema, Vice President of Rwanda Interfaith Platform for Dignity and Peace, Joseph Hammond Vice Chairman, Commonwealth Africa Initiative, and Shiraz Ahmad, International Director, Faith For Our Planet.
Additionally, Over 50 faith leaders, government ministers and policymakers, youth representatives, and stakeholders from across the African Union were in attendance.