Gary Slutkin

Land/Region: USA
Organisation: Cure Violence
Arbeitsfeld: städtische Gewalt

Gary Slutkin is eradicating and preventing gun violence in the most dangerous of urban areas through a unique model in which he treats violence as an infectious disease.

His CeaseFire model, informed by over a decade of battling infectious diseases in Africa and honed by years of careful implementation in North America is significantly reducing the incidence of gun violence in the U.S. and also spreading internationally.

LINK:
www.cureviolence.org/connect/staff/

Beto Chaves

Land/Region: Brasilien
Organisation: Papo de Responsa
Arbeitsfeld: städtische Gewalt, Dialoge, Polizei

Rampant crime, poverty, and drug trafficking in Brazil’s favela (slum) communities have led to some of the highest murder rates in the world.

Alleged deaths of favela dwellers by the police are especially severe. Over the years, police have come to see favelas as lawless territories, while the community, especially youth, view the police as invaders who abuse their authority with impunity. Roberto “Beto” Chaves, a member of Rio de Janeiro’s police force, is rebuilding trust between Rio’s police and its favela communities.

Through a series of “chats” held in schools with a law enforcement official, an ex-convict, and community youth, old stereotypes are gradually broken down and lead to respect and mutual understanding among the youth and the Civil Police Department. Beto then institutionalizes these changed attitudes within the police department and the affected communities.

The program has achieved so much initial success, reaching more than 20,000 youth in a few years, that it has attracted partners from all sectors, greater visibility, and respect within the police force.

Beto was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro as the youngest child in a working-class family. He worked in the family construction materials store, located at the edge of some of the biggest favelas in Rio. After receiving admittance into the Rio law enforcement, he served in many different roles including as part of the elite SWAT team, which was called into a favela to respond to reports of shooting involving police, and a high-profile working group to reform the force.

LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/papoderesponsa

Lian Gogali

Country/region: Indonesien

Conflict: Ethnic-religious conflicts
Organisation: Institut Mosintuwu
Field of work: Reconciliation, interreligious dialogue, empowerment for women

Despite entering a democratic transition, violent internal conflicts have continued across Indonesia after the fall of the Suharto regime in 1998. The violence is estimated to have displaced more than a million people and led to the loss of thousands of lives. With the experience of previous violent upheaval, Indonesia’s diverse culture, ethnicity, and religion remain potent areas of communal conflict. Lian Gogali has created a method for trauma healing and cultivating empathy by which women and children transform themselves from victims, into survivors, and peacemakers.

For the process to take place, Lian developed the Women’s School, where female post-conflict victims and former religious opponents come together, first and foremost, as friends. Women start with a discussion of daily life, sharing personal narratives and discuss their position in society. The school allows women to experience healing and new reflections on conflict, gain social and civic training, speak their mind, and deliver messages of peace. They build trust while having interfaith dialogues among different ethnic and religious backgrounds (Muslim, Christian and Hindu).

Through the Women’s School, Lian has set up a network of Interfaith Women’s Organizations, which are set to become the platform for other women’s organizations, such as the Women’s Congress, where women gain influence in policymaking. Because conflict in the region is mainly across religious lines, women cannot heal unless they use interfaith dialogue and communication. Lian developed a mobile library initiative at the “boundary” of religiously demarcated communities, through which children from various religious and ethnic backgrounds come together. For the mobile library project, Lian uses books as a medium to build trust and teach diversity. Due to its success, the Women’s School has received attention from local politicians and government, which will further aid it to become involved in the peacebuilding process in Poso. Lian soon plans to insert the Women’s School concept into Christian worship at church prayer groups, as well as Muslim prayer groups (majelis taklim).

Lian is an Ashoka Fellow and got the „Coexist Prize“.

LINK:

Institut Mosintuwu

www.perempuanposo.com/

Ashoka Fellow

https://www.ashoka.org/fellow/nerlian-gogali

Speaker TedX:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2lu1d7

Oren Yakobovich

Land/Region: UK
Organisation: Videre
Arbeitsfeld: Menschenrechtsarbeit, Medien

Oren Yakobovich is exposing human rights abuses in remote areas, bringing justice to victims who would otherwise remain unheard, and distributing trusted information in order to prevent perpetrators from acting with impunity.

Through Videre, Oren is building networks of local human rights activists proactively capturing human rights abuses on video, allowing patterns of abuse and violence to be detected. Videre then distributes strategically selected footage to the most relevant stakeholders in order to bring about change.

Oren applies his methodology to areas where traditional media can’t or won’t go, combining the rigor of traditional journalism with the efficiency of new media technology. Videre is building a unique and powerful media type, which sits between citizen journalism on the one hand, where information flows are unregulated, and therefore often of low impact, and traditional media on the other hand, which is controlled by outsiders who have limited and biased information of real conditions on the ground.

By putting cutting edge technology into the hands of those who can benefit most from its use – oppressed communities and minorities in remote areas – Oren is creating a trusted communication channel bridging to decision-makers to affect lasting change.

Von eigener Website: „Driven to raise awareness about the inequalities that he saw in the world, Oren Yakobovich has been working at the intersection of human rights and filmmaking for 20 years. Prior to co-founding Videre in 2008, he led the video department at the Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem.

At B’Tselem, he developed ‘Shooting Back,’ a video project that has trained hundreds of citizens in the West Bank to use cameras to fight for justice. The project won several awards, including the BBC’s One World Media award and the International Media Award’s Cutting Edge Prize. Oren’s work has been screened at Berlin and Sundance among other festivals.

A sought-after expert on using technology to expose human rights violations, Oren is frequently called upon to brief civil society, government, international organisation and media decision-makers.“

LINK:
videreonline.org

Ahmed Edilbi

Land/Region: United Arab Emirates, Syria
Organisation: Dubarah
Arbeitsfeld: Empowerment for refugees, social entrepreneurship

Ahmad Edilbi is introducing a new way to empower, integrate and build social capital in scattered, immigrant populations that have been affected by a political crisis or natural disaster. Using diaspora networks, he enables refugees to play an active and productive role, thus changing their status from helplessness to independence and promoting positive perceptions of refugees. By regaining their self-confidence and becoming financially independent, refugees are able to be active and contributing members of their communities, thus changing the negative perception and stereotype that refugees are a burden and only bring problems to a community. This transition opens the doors for unity, constructive exchange and channels of mutual support.

The prolonged Syrian political conflict and its resulting violence, destruction, devastation and armed assaults, have forced millions of Syrians to flee their homeland, most taking only their personal savings and leaving behind their professional careers, education, families and homes. When the Syrian conflict broke out, Ahmad was married, father of three children and had a good job. His life took a drastically different turn when he lost all his belongings, had to leave Syria and was separated from his family. Out of his own experience as a refugee he later developed the idea to help others who have been displaced.

In 2013 he launched Dubarah (“solution”), the first service network working on supporting Syrians wherever they are and providing them with suitable solutions for the obstacles they are facing. In just one year, Dubarah impacted 250,000 Syrian refugees around the world, with an average of 500 solutions and consultations provided per day with a total of 25,900 opportunities secured covering jobs, investments, start-up advice, housing, legal consultations and educational opportunities.

Ahmad is a Creative Director, Branding Specialist and Social Entrepreneur with skills in journalism, public relations and visual communication. He is an RSA Fellow and Ashoka Fellow and has plans to replicate his work, which already spans 36 countries that have large communities of Syrian refugees, to other geographical areas and communities beyond Syrians that have suffered from post-disaster displacement.

Links:

Ashoka:

https://www.ashoka.org/fellow/ahmad-edilbi

Dubarah:

http://dubarah.com/en/

on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Abu.Jad.Creative

Derek Brown

Land/Region: USA
Organisation: Peace Appeal
Arbeitsfeld: Moderation von Friedensverhandlungen, Entwicklung von Friedensstrategien

The mission of the Peace Appeal Foundation is to assist national stakeholders in the design and implementation of peace and national change processes. The aim of this work is to achieve agreed, fair and just outcomes, ending violent political conflict.

The Peace Appeal Foundation works by invitation. In collaboration with local and international partners, we help stakeholders develop peace and national change processes that are long-term and multifaceted.

These processes involve a multiplicity of interdependent individual and institutional actors, initiatives and ideas, a veritable “ecosystem of peacebuilding.” We believe peacemaking has three essential elements: courage, compassion and the ability to create collaborative change.

LINK:
peaceappeal.org

Fahim Hakim

Fahim Hakim, Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), Afghanistan

Commissioner Fahim Hakim is a qualified social, development and human rights advocate. He enjoys 20 years of experience of working as a grass-root peace builder and advocate for community empowerment and human rights. Before joining the AIHRC, he was director and founding member of Co-operation for peace and Unity (CPAU), as Afghan network for peace.

AS an active member of Afghan civil society, he attended the Bonn Conference in 2001. Mr. Hakim completed his MA studies at PRDU, the University of York, York, UK, in 1998. In 2009, he was a commissioner and member of the Electoral complaints Commission (ECC) to deal with challenges and complaints related to presidential and provincial council’s elections.

LINKS:
Interessantes Interview mit Fahim Hakim

Muhammad Ashafa

Country/region	Nigeria, Middle Belt
Conflict	Christian and Muslim Groups
Organisation	Interfaith Mediation Center (IMC)
Field of work	Early warning systems to prevent religious violence; mediation

Together with his partner, Pastor James Wuye, Imam Muhammad Ashafa is actively involved in mediation work in the recurrent eruptions of violent conflict in the Middle Belt of Nigeria, where the Muslim-dominated North and the predominantly Christian South collide. Together they have successfully appealed to communities to refrain from acts of vengeance in the wake of massacres. In Nigeria, where over 90 % of the population believes in God, religious leaders enjoy a high reputation. The pastor and the imam use this to positive effect in their use of the mass media to draw attention to the message of peace contained in both the Bible and the Koran. With the IMC, they organise training sessions in non-violent conflict resolution for groups in civil society. Their successes in bringing peace to the federal state of Kaduna have led to invitations to mediate in other countries with similar Christian-Muslim conflicts such as Sudan and Kenya.

Their “Early Warning – Early Response” systems for conflicts with a religious dimension are their most important tool in the prevention of violence. These involve bringing together leading personalities from both religious groups in teams, which – after initial confidence-building measures – undertake to set in motion a sequence of alerts, which also include the country’s security agencies, at even the slightest hint of escalating violence.

One of the unique forms the expansion of their activities has taken is the training of twelve more pastor-imam teams, in some cases involving ex-militiamen like themselves, who work together using the same approach and thereby contribute to its spread.

Their work has been honoured with the award of the Ashoka Fellowship, the Bremen Peace Award and the Peace Prize of the Fondation Chirac.

LINKS:
Film „The Imam and the Pastor“

Interfaith Mediation Center:
www.imcnigeria.org/

Ashoka Profil:
https://www.ashoka.org/fellow/james-wuye

Dr. James Wuye

Country/region	Nigeria, Middle Belt
Conflict	Christian und Muslim groups
Organisation	Interfaith Mediation Center (IMC)
Field of work	Early warning systems to prevent religious violence; mediation

In collaboration with his partner, Imam Muhammad Ashafa, James Wuye is actively involved in mediation work in the recurrent eruptions of violent conflict in the Middle Belt of Nigeria, where the Muslim-dominated North and the predominantly Christian South collide. Together they have successfully appealed to communities to refrain from acts of vengeance in the wake of massacres. In Nigeria, where over 90 % of the population believes in God, religious leaders enjoy a high reputation. The pastor and the imam exploit this to positive effect in their use of the mass media to draw attention to the message of peace contained in both the Bible and the Koran. With the IMC, they organise training sessions in non-violent conflict resolution for groups in civil society. Their successes in bringing peace to the federal state of Kaduna have led to invitations to mediate in other countries with similar Christian-Muslim conflicts such as Sudan and Kenya.

Their “Early Warning – Early Response” systems for conflicts with a religious dimension are their most important tool in the prevention of violence. These involve bringing together leading personalities from both religious groups in teams, which – after initial confidence-building measures – undertake to set in motion a sequence of alerts, which also include the country’s security agencies, at even the slightest hint of escalating violence.

One of the unique forms the expansion of their activities has taken is the training of twelve more pastor-imam teams, in some cases involving ex-militiamen like themselves, who work together using the same approach and thereby contribute to its spread.

Their work has been honoured with the award of the Ashoka Fellowship, the Bremen Peace Award and the Peace Prize of the Fondation Chirac.

LINKS:

Film „The Imam and the Pastor“:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oapAA0XUaH4

Interfaith Mediation Center:

www.imcnigeria.org/

Ashoka Profil:

https://www.ashoka.org/fellow/james-wuye

Fatuma Abdulkadir Adan

Country/region	Kenya (Northern region)
Conflict	Ethnic conflict
Organisation	Horn of Africa Development Initiative (HODI)
Field of work	Mediation, women´s rights

Fatuma is a lawyer and human rights activist. In 2003 she founded HODI (Horn of Africa Development Initiative), which promotes peace in the region and womens’ rights. She now has a small office and four permanent staff. Her slogan is: “Shoot to score, not to kill”, with the aim being to score goals, not to kill people. That’s why she offers football coaching (football is a major passion among people in the North of Kenya) and organises tournaments for the young people of rival tribes.

Since 2008 there has also been a girls’ team. A development which is violently resisted by conservative imams. In the mosque Fatuma has been branded a witch, and death threats have been sent to her mobile. The North of Kenya is notorious for forced marriage and the kidnapping of young women, while female genital mutilation is still standard practice. HODI combats all these practices that no longer have a place in the modern age.

Fatuma also uses football matches in a targeted way for the purpose of bringing together representatives of the mutually hostile Borana, Gabbra and Rendile tribes, and persuade them to participate in conflict management training. She is in a good position to do so, as the daughter of parents from different tribes.

In 2011 she received the “Stuttgart Peace Prize”, which is awarded by the AnStifter organisation.
(mehr …)