And that, said Reverend Daniel Ntoni-Nzinga, is where the country's churches find themselves as they promote a new initiative to start dialogue and bring an end to years of civil war. Peace cannot be a gift of the international community, it has to come from our people with the help of the UN and international community.
Concrete action is needed to strengthen civil society in Angola.
We hope that with a new UN office we will be able to develop a working agenda. Breaking new ground Last month, Angolan churches held a peace congress in Luanda at which they adopted a ten-point programme as a starting point to bring an end to the civil war which has raged since independence from Portugal in 1975. It called on the government, churches and civil society to support nationwide education programmes on democracy, tolerance, the promotion of non-violence, reconciliation, and moral values. Human rights, it said, should be introduced into school syllabuses. The congress was a milestone for Angola.