Since its foundation in 2016, the network has launched a number of initiatives aimed at making the work of local peacebuilders in conflict regions more effective, sustainable and secure.
Joint Emergency Team
Time and again, peacebuilders find themselves in emergency situations, threatened or arrested by parties to a conflict. In these cases, fast and unbureaucratic help is important. Together with the organization Mediators Beyond Borders International, the Global Peacebuilders Network has formed a team that can provide this help quickly and effectively.
Decolonizing Funding
A working group of the GPN has developed a strategy on how the relationship between financial donors and recipients in international peace work can be made more egalitarian, more dialogue-based and more trusting. The most important ideas were summarised in the ‘Berlin Declaration on Decolonising Funding for Peacebuilding’.
Trauma Training for Peacebuilders
The staff of peace organizations in conflict and crisis regions often suffer from trauma (e.g. due to direct threats) and work with groups in which many people are also traumatized by experiences of violence. At the same time, it has become clear in many regions that lasting peace solutions are difficult or even impossible if collective traumas have not been healed. In this respect, trauma healing is a contribution or the basis for a stable, positive peace.
A two-year pilot project led by Professor Ingo Schäfer from the Universitätsklinikum Eppendorf (Hamburg) aims to qualify peacebuilders in three conflict regions about trauma. Topics will include self-care, recognizing trauma and prevention. The aim is to promote the sustainability of peace-building interventions.
