African religious leaders to discuss ways of prevention of incitement

Religious actors from different African countries will be meeting next week in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa to dwell upon ways of preventing incitement, which could lead to atrocity crimes.

Religious actors representing different faiths from a broad range of countries are expected to attend the meeting on May 9-11 to deliberate on the role of religious actors in preventing incitement to violence which could lead to atrocity crimes, said a statement from UN Economic Commission for Africa.

They will work together over two days to develop a strategy to prevent and counter incitement to discrimination, hostility and violence in the region, said the statement.

They will learn to recognize what constitutes incitement, identify best practices and lessons learned by peer religious leaders and actors for the prevention of incitement and examine ways in which religious actors can act fast and decisively to identify, counteract and prevent incitement, particularly in situations where there is an imminent risk of violence, it noted. Endit