Themes

For many Pakistanis, police stations are no longer threatening. Their doors are open not just for reporting crimes, but for those seeking to resolve disputes and counsel. This is the result of Ali Gohar’s work, the founder of Just Peace International whose work in conflict resolution introduced traditional practices in police stations across several districts in Pakistan over the past few years. “I have modernized an ancient tradition,” he said in an exclusive interview given to Comunidad Segura.

Armed violence can be seen as both the cause and effect of underdevelopment. Comunidade Segura profiled four organizations active in peacebuilding in Burundi, a nation still recovering from 12 years of civil war. Their members tell a story that goes beyond regular news coverage. Each organization shares complex challenges, and provides lessons that can be replicated in other communities.

Celestin Nkundabemera, the Program Director of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) in Somalia, tells Comunidad Segura about its work assisting the country's peace-building efforts. Their work includes conflict mediation, helping young people start businesses, reactivating water wells, involving women in management and taking people in refugee camps a new outlook on life.

After the quake that shook Haiti January 12th, Kay Nou, headquarters of the "Honor and Respect for Bel Air" project run in Port-au-Prince by Viva Rio, turned into a massive camp housing over 400 families. Three months on, the time came to consider a way to go back to work, but first, it was necessary to talk to the families.

Creator of the House of Citizenship project that takes services of the Public Defense System directly to a shantytown in the outskirts of Belo Horizonte, capital of Brazil's Minais Gerais state, Public Defender Hélio da Gama tells Comunidad Segura about social inclusion and citizenship.

"Sometimes we were the first and I think only ones to listen non-judgmentally" writes David Zarembka, African Great Lakes Initiative founder and head of its Friends of Peace teams. In this exclusive article he describes efforts to promote reconciliation thorough listening sessions with both victims and perpetrators, during Kenya's recent internal crisis.

In the capital of Argentina, a league of 20 teams created out of grassroots organizations. Run by volunteer activists, it offers children and teens a chance to play, and by making up their own rules, a chance to learn about settling differences constructively through the ideas of Paulo Freire.

“We do not believe in repressive security measures that manage conflict and lead to an erosion of rights, more arrests, more weapons. We believe in a new paradigm: Conflict Transformation.” J. Laffitte, director of AFSC Latin America, conducting experiments in Mexico, Colombia, and Peru.

Designed to provide training in non-violent strategies, the game "A Force More Powerful" has sparked interest for showing that non violence can be a "realistic, pragmatic and efficient medium" against oppression.

Rachael Hinton, Oxfam New Zealand researcher who lives and works in the PNG Highlands, describes peace initiatives in the area that ally security to development, in an exclusive interview given to Comunidad Segura.