Peace-building initiatives in Casamance

A three-year project designed to help the Casamance region of southern Senegal recover from nearly 20 years of civil conflict is well underway, the non-governmental organisation, Catholic Relief Services, has reported. The Casamance Rehabilitation and Peace-building Project started in 2000. It has already created 47 village banks for women's associations and promoted sesame as a cash crop in over 600 villages, CRS reported. It has also helped build homes for 181 internally displaced families returning to their lands and strengthened local capacity for grassroots peace-building. The project, financed by a US $2.3-million grant from USAID and implemented through local partners, aims to ease the transition from conflict to peace for returnees and others in the region, CRS reported. Some 748 refugees from Guinea-Bissau and The Gambia recently returned to Casamance, increasing hopes that a permanent solution to the conflict may soon be found, the CRS added. The refugees and IDPs had fled clashes between the government and the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (Mouvement des forces democratiques de Casamance), which has been fighting since 1982 for self-government for Casamance.