‘What if the way we respond to our problems is part of the problem?’ – Bayo Akomolafe The Global Greengrants Fund, the Zambian Governance Foundation have recently shared articles describing their journeys of transformation. These are part of a participatory initiative for reforming international development, part of a bigger story of what is needed to change the system. Both…
A critically important lesson from the ’Let’s build peace, here and now’ conversations with local peacebuilders has been about the centrality of women in peacebuilding. From Serbia to Northern Ireland, local peace efforts not only involve anti-war activism, but also women coming together on issues of day-to-day concern to them – not just peace. This breaks…
An emerging thread in the ‘Let’s build peace, here and now’ conversations with local peacebuilders is the transient nature of peace, the understanding that ‘peace, not conflict, is episodic.’ In order to unpack this further we spoke to Serbian peacebuilders Jelena Memet, Anita Pantelić and Galina Maksimović who talked about the ways in which ‘war’…
An emerging thread in the ‘Let’s build peace here and now’ conversations with local peacebuilders is the transient nature of peace, the understanding that ‘peace, not conflict, is episodic.’ In order to unpack this further, we spoke to Serbian peacebuilders Jelena Memet, Anita Pantelić and Galina Maksimović who talked about the ways in which ‘war’…
An emerging thread in the ‘Let’s build peace here and now’ conversations with local peacebuilders is the transient nature of peace, the understanding that ‘peace, not conflict, is episodic.’ In order to unpack this further, we spoke to Serbian peacebuilders Jelena Memet, Anita Pantelić and Galina Maksimović who talked about the ways in which ‘war’…
A low ebb Those of us working for social justice and human rights have faced strong headwinds in recent decades. A world obsessed with economic growth has led to environmental degradation, the removal of social safety nets, deregulation of planning controls, fragmented communities and increased conflict. Ever-growing inequality has fuelled political extremism and the emergence…
I have suppressed the memory of this until now. It is New Orleans in 2010. I am working with the wonderful Dr Albert Ruesga, President of the Greater New Orleans Foundation. The issue is racial justice. We want to make the principle of equality the main priority for the Foundation. There are many hurdles, but…
Living in Serbia, in the Balkans, which is like a barrel of gunpowder ready to explode at any time, means continuously fighting personal and collective challenges. The universal Balkan story still has some peculiarities. In my 37 years, the country in which I live has changed its name, borders, and population four times. The fifth…
This is Part 4 of a series of blogs linked to the ‘Let’s build peace: here and now’ conversations being organised by the Foundations for Peace (FFP) Network. A point to which these conversations constantly return and which is also stressed in the previous article is the duration of peacebuilding. As Gabi points out, it’s ‘a slow,…
This is Part 3 of a series of blogs linked to the ‘Let’s build peace: here and now’ conversations being organised by the Foundations for Peace (FFP) Network. Through these conversations, the FFP Network and their partners are creating a space to share the stories of peacebuilders who have been closest to the ground. This article focuses…