KAMPALA — The Inter-religious Council of East Africa Secretariat and Global Peace Foundation Uganda chapter have launched the first edition of the Family Festival, aimed at celebrating the family, faith, freedom, and the vision of One Family under God. The festival, to be presided over by President Yoweri Museveni, will revive African Renaissance and promote traditional extended family values and interfaith cooperation.
Speaking at the launch, Peace Service Ambassador Milton Kambula, President of the Global Peace Foundation Uganda Chapter, emphasized the importance of reviving African values and empowering communities to address challenges facing the continent.
“We are meeting to celebrate the vision of One Family under God, a path of reviving the African renaissance. We are motivated that once again Africa is becoming the centre of world peace, with kings and religious leaders uniting and building the capacities of families and communities can help us raise a new population that can build a new Africa for the future,” Amb. Kambula Milton said.
Amb. Kambula said that the festival is expected to culminate in the establishment of a policy framework to support the implementation of the African renaissance through the revitalisation of inter-religious councils and associations of Kings and Queens across the continent to lead peace building, the unity and socioeconomic transformation of Africa.
“It is hoped that through these efforts, the festival will contribute to the promotion of African values and the empowerment of communities to address the challenges facing the continent which include; youth unemployment , corruption, terrorism, violence, poverty, crime, immorality, human rights abuse, poor governance and environmental degradation,” Amb. Kambula emphasized.
He urged African leaders to invest in families as a way of solving development bottlenecks and promised that the festival will train parents on how to raise children who can benefit their families, communities, and the African continent.
“Parents have a role of nurturing children of character , civic virtues , entrepreneurship and innovations.”
Amb. Kambula added that school teachers will be aligned with parents and elders in the community on a common shared vision, best practices and whole of society parenting and mentorship curriculum so that a complete child is produced to serve the public and private sectors of Africa.
Co-chair Council of Presidents of the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda, His Eminence Metropolitan Jeronymos Muzeeyi, noted that the festival will provide a platform to explore best practices in peace building and share ways to address poverty, education, and community health initiatives. He emphasized the need to protect and defend the family, freedom, and religious and cultural values.
“Under the influence of globalization, the traditional African family system is increasingly getting challenged and weakened as new family patterns emerge and get diffused over the continent. As your top religious leaders in Africa, we believe that there is a lot at stake if we fail to stand up to protect and defend the family, freedom and our religious and cultural values,” Muzeeyi said.
The festival, to be held at Kololo Independence grounds on June 29th, 2024, will feature keynote speaker Dr. Hyun Jin Moon, Chairman of the Global Peace Foundation. Over 20,000 people, including former Presidents and leaders from the continent, are expected to attend. The event will include tree planting, debates, religious freedom roundtable, youth startups empowerment drives, tourism activities, community service for peace, exhibitions, and environmental conservation initiatives.
Minister of Public Service, Wilson Muluri Mukasa, Co-chair of the festival national organizing committee, assured that the government has given its full support to the festival, and President Museveni is expected to attend with his family to inspire youth about the benefits of having a family.
The festival aims to establish a policy framework to support the implementation of the African renaissance through the revitalization of inter-religious councils and associations of Kings and Queens across the continent. It promises to be a celebration of African values, faith, freedom, and the vision of One Family under God.
