By KEMO CHAM

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Liberian peace activist and Nobel laureate, Leymah Gbowee, has said that grassroots action is the best way to achieve sustainable peace.

She said that women can play a central role in combating intolerance and intercommunal violence by leading people in the society to embrace values of good coexistence. He added that these are the values espoused by the Human Fraternity, an international initiative that she leads and which helps in advocating coexistence.

Gbowee is a member of the Higher Committee for Human Fraternity, which coordinates the activities of the peace initiative inspired by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar in Egypt.

The initiative has an annual award called Zayed Award for Human Fraternity, the latest edition of which is slated for this March in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

While speaking about the event, Gbowee said that there could be no human fraternity without women and girls, stressing the “unique role” women have to play in strengthening communities across Africa.

“There is no sustainable development in the absence of peace. Africa must ensure that conflict and post conflict interventions are part of development. Unleashing the power of women will ultimately help transform the continent,” she stated.

Gbowee jointly received the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, alongside Ellen Johnson Sirleaf who made history as Africa’s first ever female president. The two women were celebrated for their role in bringing peace to Liberia, after about 12 years of civil war.

Gbowee was recognised for her non-violent peace movement under her Women of Liberian Mass Action for Peace, which helped bring to end the second Liberian civil war in 2003.

The Higher Committee for Human Fraternity comprises religious leaders, scholars and peacemakers. It was inspired by a visit by Pope Francis to Egypt, the first ever visit by the head of the Catholic Church to the Arabian Peninsula. The idea is contained in the ‘Document on Human Fraternity’ which was signed by the Pope and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed Al-Tayeb, who is considered Sunni Islam's highest authority in jurisprudence.

The Higher Committee for Human Fraternity and the Zayed Award are just two of the initiatives that resulted from the document. It has also since resulted in the construction of the Abrahamic Family House.

The document brings together all people of goodwill from all faiths, belief systems and cultures, with the hope that many others will be inspired to propagate peace.

Gbowee also stands out in Liberia and across the world for the attention she pays to gender equality in her activism, a position she champions as a member of the Higher Committee for Human Fraternity, to which she was appointed in 2019.

Other members of the Committee include former heads of state and experts in peacebuilding and intercultural dialogue.

"Though many leaders shy away, this document has fulfilled one of my wishes, and that is that one religious leader would be vocal enough to call for gender equality and for the recognition of women's rights," Gbowee was quoted in a report ahead of next month’s award ceremony.

“Now, our duty as the Higher Committee is to implement the Document so that we can see changes in the different issues affecting women," she added.

The Zayed Award celebrates people who work across divides to achieve the previously impossible goals of unity and peace.

Gbowee said it is a source of real-world changeas it recognises people who create understanding from difference, and inclusion among diversity. It brings people “together to advance humanity. And by doing so, to advance peace,” she said.

The award is named in honor of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the late ruler of Abu Dhabi and founder of the United Arab Emirates. The founders say it celebrates his legacy of championing peaceful coexistence.

Potential awardees include both individuals and entities advancing peaceful coexistence in the world. There is a US$1mllion prize for an awardee each year, to support the continuation of their work. The price is split if it’s a joint award.

A total of people has so far received the award, starting the joint award to Pope Francis and the Grand Imam Of Al Azhar in 2019, the maiden edition.

Last year French-Moroccan activist Latifa Ibn Ziaten shared the award with UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

Ms Ziaten, founder of the Imad Association for Youth and Peace, was recognised for her activism against extremism. She dedicated her life to promoting understanding between and within communities following the tragic murder of her son in a terrorist attack in Toulouse, France in 2012.

Ms Ziaten works closely with families and communities to prevent youth radicalisation and seeks to spread the message of human fraternity through peaceful means, such as dialogue and mutual respect.

Gbowee hopes to see the award and its honorees inspire civil society across Africa to embrace the values of human fraternity.

“Human fraternity must be exemplified at all levels for sustainable peace to exist,” she said.