The Multaqa-Sudan Global Peace Conference
In 1990, a conference of Muslim and Japanese religious leaders was held at Mt. Hiei in Kyoto. It was decided that a follow-up Conference would be held the next fall in Khartoum, Sudan.
On November 16 and 17, 1991, the Multaqa-Sudan Global Peace Conference was held at the Khartoum Friendship Hall under the auspices of the Council for International People’s Friendship. Attended primarily by Islamic groups, with some Christian, Buddhist, and Shinto presence, this was the first major interfaith conference staged in Africa. Delegates came from a wide range of countries, including Ethiopia, Jordan, Iran, Lebanon, Bosnia-Herzogovenia, Syria, Chad, and Zaire.
The Japanese delegation was led by Kakuhan Enami (Tendai Buddhist), Eiki Ikeda (Shingon Buddhist), Khalid Higuchi (President of the Japan Muslim Association), and Yasumi Hirose and Kyotaro Deguchi representing Oomoto and the Aizenkai.
Nigeria
The Nigeria Branch of the Aizenkai
The Aizenkai’s first African branch was established in Port Harcourt, Nigeria on January 14, 1983. In recent years internal troubles arising from inter-tribal conflict and an oppressive military regime, as well as a flood of refugees from the civil war in neighboring Rwanda, has added a sense of urgency to the small human-itarian role the Aizenkai plays in Nigeria.
Directed by Elder Udo B. James, the Port Harcourt Branch primarily works to raise funds to donate food and clothing to orphans and refugees in the area.
