Over the last few months, the Peace Direct team has reviewed over 300 Tomorrow’s Peacebuilders applications from local organisations around the world; the highest turnout to date. Hosted at #PeaceCon2018 in Washington DC, we announced the three winning organisations, and celebrated the nine finalists who all demonstrate the most exciting and innovative peacebuilding activites.
Violence across Sudan has spanned more than two decades. Rasha works for local organisation, Collaborative for Peace Sudan (CfPS) based in the turbulent region of South and West Kordofan. We support CfPS to respond to outbreaks of violence and mediate conflict peacefully, through locally-led Peace Committees.
Since the arrest of Gulalai Ismail in Pakistan on 12th October, we have been deeply concerned and are continuing to call for no further interruption to her vital peacebuilding work.
International Day of the Girl is an opportunity for us to celebrate, empower and support women and girls. It reminds us of their resilience and ability to overcome challenges at times when conflict has greatly impacted their lives and those of their communities.
As global violence surges in the form of humanitarian crises, racial injustices and political oppression, it is important to highlight the work being done in local communities around the world to transform lives and communities through non-violent means. From Sudan to Zimbabwe, we share inspiring examples of non-violent solutions created by grassroots actors, and working towards peace.
From Somalia to Sri Lanka, our work in war zones around the world shows us that peace means different things to different people. For International Day of Peace 2018 we are running a campaign asking people what peace means to them. For some of us, peace is simply the absence of war. To others, it can mean something altogether more complex. Here are some of the inspiring messages you have already shared with us when we asked ‘What does peace mean to you?’
This is Kakule Wassi’s story. Kakule had the choice to join a local militia group, before being given the opportunity to get involved in vocational training run by our local partner Centre Résolution Conflits. Now, he feels well accepted and valued in the community.
This summer Peace Direct held a Peace Exchange in Beirut, Lebanon – a gathering of peacebuilders from around the world working to resolve conflict in their communities and build sustainable peace. The Exchange brought together 23 individuals from ten countries, representing 14 different grassroots organisations.
Warmonger, despot, brutality, warfare – all of these words are in the dictionary, and for good reason. It’s important to have the words to express the world around us, particularly those related to violent conflict, which is on the rise around the world and one of the leading causes of human suffering. But it’s also important to be able to talk about how we can build peace.
The shortlist for Tomorrow’s Peacebuilders, our annual awards that celebrate the world’s most innovative locally-led peacebuilders, has been finalised. We received over 300 entries from peacebuilding organisations from around the world, and nine entries have been selected to go on to the next stage.
