Concord Times (Freetown)
Abdul Karim Koroma
23 June 2008
Freetown — Executive director of Forum of Conscience (FoC) Friday briefed the parliamentary oversight committee on human rights and paramount chiefs in on the objective of the Fambul Tok project at the House of Parliament.
John Caulker said the purpose of the seminar was to present a new born baby, whose conception and nurturing has been long, arduous and daunting.
"The purpose of the training was to popularize the concept of Fambul Tok. The mandate of the outreach unit is essentially to sensitize and mobilize communities on the aims and objectives of the project. They also facilitate information sharing between communities," he said.
He said the scheme is a partnership between FoC, a human rights organization and catalyst for peace, a US-based foundation which supports locally rooted reconciliation processes in post-conflict African societies.
"The overall goal of Fambul Tok was to design a robust framework for peace and reconciliation in the country based on local traditional mechanisms of reconciliation in order for communities to own the process," he said.
He said the pilot phase in the Kailahun district is coming to an end adding that there was need to explore other districts for implementations.
"We expect to gradually cover all fourteen political districts in the country. The lessons learnt during the pilot phase are expected to be used in the other districts to further ease of the implementation." Six years after the rebel war, he said, there was still need for sustainable peace throughout the country.
Earlier the chairman of the occasion Hon. Eric Jumu recalled that he knew an ex-combatant who wanted to kill the person who killed his mother.
He called on Fambul Tok to reconcile the people of this country after years of war and political instability.
Chairperson parliamentary oversight committee on human rights Hon. Elizabeth Lavalie said the recommendations of the truth and reconciliation commission are yet to be implemented.
"I hope that FoC will sensitize the public about the reasons of the rebel war because the war is still steering us on the face," she said.
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