Natural resource conflicts and the role of religion
What has hydropower got to do with the peace process in Myanmar? And why are religious leaders in Tanzania monitoring the mining sector?
The answers to these questions could be heard at a recent seminar on natural resource conflicts and the role of religion, organized by Danmission and DIIS.
Through presentations from Tanzania and Myanmar, the seminar highlighted how transparent and legitimate governance of natural resources can be an important but challenging component of peace-building and conflict resolution.
In Myanmar, struggles over natural resources such as hydropower, forests and extractive resources play a significant role in the broader armed and non-armed conflicts between state and non-state actors. Here, faith-based organisations are promoting political dialogue and tangible models for distributing rights and revenues.
In Tanzania, investments in the mining sector have led citizens to protest over loss of land and revenues. An Interfaith Committee of religious leaders and organisations have joined hands with other non-state organisations to address the grievances of communities and promote better transparency in investment deals.
The lessons learned from these experiences were discussed at the seminar, including the broader advantages and disadvantages of faith-based approaches to conflict resolution in natural resource governance. While religion can provide a key entry point to addressing conflict and peace building issues, it can also be a cause of conflict itself. Broad inter-faith approaches and collaboration with non-religious actors are therefore key, as is both inward and outward accountability.
Linking up to transboundary initiatives is also central in order to address the increasing globalization of resource flows. In Myanmar and Tanzania, this is currently being done through linkages to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
DIIS Eksperter
