Newsletter Spring 2013
UK
Forgiveness: a moral minefield ‘Forgiveness cuts public opinion down the middle like a guillotine. People are inspired by it or they are affronted by it.’ Marina Cantacuzino
Events
Islam and non-violence; Speaking up for silence p.8
Profile
Greg Davis and inner-city youth work p.9
International
South Sudan’s journey of national healing p.11
Photo: Amira Mitchell-Karam
See page 3
Beyond Forgiving: a new documentary film Severine Chavanne interviews the filmmakers Initiatives of Change (IofC) is a global network of people committed to building trust across the world’s divides, starting with change in their own lives.
These initiatives are based on a commitment to absolute moral standards of honesty, purity of heart and motive, unselfishness in private and public life, love and forgiveness. IofC advocates time for silent listening to the voice of God or conscience. We are open to those of all faiths and none and encourage people to deepen their spiritual roots in their own faith tradition. In Britain, IofC works through local teams across the country and through the initiatives featured in this newsletter. It is largely funded through donations from individuals. Please contact us at the address below to find out more or to request a subscription to our newsletter. Initiatives of Change UK 24 Greencoat Place London SW1P 1RD Tel: 020 7798 6000 Fax: 020 7798 6001 reception@london.iofc.org www.uk.iofc.org
Photo: Howard Grace
It runs programmes for social and economic justice which encourage participants to find their own path to building trust in their community and country. Andrew Hinton and Imad Karam film Ginn Fourie in Cape Town
A new documentary film, Beyond Forgiving, which depicts the journey of two South Africans to bring healing and reconciliation to their country, is to be released in June by Initiatives of Change. Ginn Fourie and Letlapa Mphahlele form an unlikely team: a black atheist man and a white Christian woman. One has suffered directly from the actions of the other, but both have been victims – and risen beyond their pain. What brings them together is a profound story of tragedy and hope. In 1993, during the Apartheid era, Letlapa, then director of operations for the military wing of the Pan-Africanist Congress, ordered reprisal massacres in response to the killing of black school children. Ginn lost her only daughter in one of these. She later forgave Letlapa. In the film, he says this was like another window of life for him. ‘Because for a long time, I had demonised the people I was fighting against but when people were reaching out and even agreeing to meet with me, it was like an opening of a world that was, until then, closed to me.’
Printing: Minuteman Press Herts EN8 7AF
The film tells of the journey they undertook to help their country, which suffers from the world’s highest crime rate in this post-Apartheid phase. Through their work they try to bring a new spirit of community and forgiveness, in their country and beyond.
Initiatives of Change is a company limited by guarantee registered in England, company no. 355987, and is a registered charity in England and Wales charity no. 226334
The film director, Imad Karam, says: ‘My ultimate hope is that if people can be inspired that even in the most dire circumstances people can forgive, then many of us can forgive the little things that we can’t
Editor: Imad Karam Design: Amira Mitchell-Karam
2 Newsletter SPRING 2013
let go of in our daily lives. We don’t have to be warring tribes or parties or to have killed to forgive each other.’ He adds: ‘As a Palestinian, to see that there was an end to Apartheid and to see that people who used to be completely at odds with each other are now actually able to look back and agree how horrible it was, just gives me hope that one day Palestine and Israel could see a peaceful coexistence.’ Howard Grace, the executive producer says: ‘There are many other conflicts in the world where people have experienced deep pain. We hope that this story can speak to many such people and situations. He shares how 35 years ago, during the time of Apartheid, he spent three and a half years in South Africa with his young family but had to leave the country at very short notice due to falling foul of the security police. He says: ‘Going back last year to do the filming was my first visit there since then. So for me it is especially fulfilling to support the telling of such an inspiring story emerging from that painful era.’ The 30-minute documentary film is now in its final production stage. The production team includes Andrew Hinton as director of photography, Adam Woods as edit-producer, and David Halpern as post-production consultant. There are plans for a visit to the United Kingdom by the protagonists of the film to launch it in the autumn of this year or the spring of next year.
Forgiveness:
a moral minefield
M
Photos: Jonty Herman
arina Cantacuzino, founder of The Forgiveness Project, addressed a Greencoat Forum on the concept of forgiveness, 19 March in the London centre of Initiatives of Change.
Marina Cantacuzino (left) addressing the audience (above)
can mend relationships that have been broken with the community and between victim and offender.’
The Forgiveness Project was born in 2004 from Marina’s need to restore the balance from the language of retaliation that dominated politics and the media in the lead up to the war in Iraq: ‘I was a journalist with a small voice and I thought “I need to do something”.’ Inspired by a striking story of forgiveness in the local newspaper, Marina began collecting stories of forgiveness and reconciliation from around the world. Her work was eventually shown as an exhibition called ‘The F word – images of forgiveness’.
‘If you hear other people’s stories it stimulates an inquiry into yourself.’ Marina said: ‘The Forgiveness Project uses storytelling, real stories of victims and perpetrators of crime and violence, to explore the concepts of forgiveness and reconciliation. The aim is to inspire people to consider alternatives to revenge, retaliation and resentment. If you hear other people’s stories it stimulates an inquiry into yourself.’ Beyond exhibitions, annual lectures, and storytelling sessions in schools, The Forgiveness Project runs a victim empathy restorative justice programme in prisons, facilitated by ex-offenders and victims. It encourages prisoners to explore concepts of forgiveness in a framework that fosters greater accountability. Marina said: ‘Restorative justice is looking at how we
‘So what is forgiveness?’ asked Marina. Exploring various definitions, she came up with her own: ‘Forgiveness is about coming to terms with things that you cannot change. Making peace with them.’ She then took the audience through various stories of forgiveness based on people presented by the Project. She mentioned that while forgiveness is perceived as being a Christian concept, it is also supported by faiths like Islam and Judaism as a social contract, a moral relationship between self and other. This ‘contract’ requires the perpetrator to be identified and to make repentance before the victim can forgive. But the most accepted notion of forgiveness, she said, is that it is an act of selfhealing. Here she gave the example of a father who drank to forget the death of his daughter in the Oklahoma bombing of 1995. One day he realised: ‘I have to do something different because what I’m doing isn’t working.’ That is how his path towards forgiveness began.
‘How do you forgive when someone shows no remorse?’ Then Marina asked: ‘How do you forgive when someone shows no remorse?’ The answer she gave, based on another story, was through ‘finding empathy for someone who is imprisoned in their tormented, distorted mind; trapped with a brain that wants to do harm.’ Exploring the impact of forgiveness on the perpetrator, Marina told the story of the founding member of the largest racist
‘skinhead’ organisation in the world who was astounded when people started reaching out to him including survivors of the Holocaust from the local synagogue. This made the difference.
‘Forgiveness is the oil of personal relationships’ Finally, bringing this down to ordinary relationships, Marina shared her personal feelings: ‘The more I work in this area, and the more I live, and the more I see relationships around me tumbling, the more I think forgiveness is the oil of personal relationships. And it’s designed for us to be able to co-exist because we as human beings have expectations and when those are not met we get disappointed. And when we get disappointed, we can either go down the blame and punishment route or we go down the empathy and forgiveness route.’ A member of the audience shared his own story of forgiveness after having seen his parents being killed for being the children of religious leaders in a Marxist revolution, and then being jailed himself for nine years. He shared how in prison he had nobody to listen to but his inner voice, which led him to forgiveness. Answering a question from the audience, Marina said: ‘All studies on forgiveness show that having a forgiving nature has a good impact on our mental and physical health. We’d be crazy not to give it a go.’ Marina concluded: ‘Forgiveness is risky, it’s messy, it’s difficult, it’s costly, it’s unpredictable, but it’s actually transformative. Forgiveness is a journey. It’s not a destination, it’s a process. In some cases you move in and out. Every case is different. There is no right or wrong. by Severine Chavanne
SPRING 2013 Newsletter 3
Somalia: fostering trust-building, reconciliation and unity
Eighteen months ago the media were full of reports of international shipping being hijacked by Somali pirates at a cost to global trade of billions of dollars, of drought and famine, and of almost total control by an Al-Qaeda-related militia. Today, the stories from Somalia are very different. They are of a new President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, being welcomed by President Obama and other heads of state; of embassies being opened in the capital Mogadishu; of food insecurity ‘easing’ (though acute malnutrition remains ‘alarmingly high’ according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation); of a UN embargo on arms to Somalia being lifted to enable a fledgling national army to be equipped. After over 20 years of civil war and numerous failed peace-conferences, Somalis and the international community are daring to believe that a reborn Somalia might just be possible. Fourteen flights a day are bringing members of the Somali diaspora back from all corners of the globe, to reclaim property, to start new businesses, to take posts in the new government. In January, Fauzia Yusuf Haji Adan, the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Somalia – a former refugee in London – visited IofC’s London centre to meet members of Somali Initiative for Dialogue and Democracy (SIDD), the network of Somalis which, since its inception in 2005, has been associated with IofC. She recalled having participated in SIDD and IofC programmes in London and Switzerland. She appealed to them to move the focus of their work to Somalia, and to ‘set up initiatives to foster trustbuilding, reconciliation and unity in Somalia’. Accompanying her was Ambassador Mohamed Sharif Mohamud, Vice-Chairman of SIDD, newly-appointed Permanent Secretary of the Somali Foreign Ministry. In response, Osman Jama Ali, the founder and chairman of SIDD and a former Deputy Prime Minister, left for Mogadishu at the beginning of March. There he is leading a team of four on a mission to determine what specific contribution SIDD and IofC can make to national reconciliation.
by Peter Riddell
Photo: Getty Musiiwa
Participants at a workshop co-facilitated by SIDD trustee Zahra Hassan on the voluntary return of internally displaced people, Mogadishu March 2013.
4 Newsletter SPRING 2013
Above: School for Changemakers alumni demonstrating the evolution of man in a game of charades
Trafficking: let’s care enough to open our eyes Human trafficking is the practice of seeking to make profit by the enforced exploitation of others, both adults and children. It is a modern form of slavery. Human trafficking can take many forms, from sexual exploitation to labour exploitation to domestic slavery and organ harvesting. It is a lucrative business for organised gangs. Trafficking of humans has become the second largest criminal industry after drug dealing. Communities have an important part to play in the prevention of human trafficking. The Sustainable Communities Programme facilitates community projects, providing support and advice to individuals and organisations in their action for a more just society, and connects them to people and organisations working on the same or similar issues. On 9 April, the Sustainable Communities Programme assisted Raven Kaliana, a survivor of human trafficking and child sexual exploitation, by hosting an event in support of her campaign to raise awareness about these crimes. Kaliana produced a film, Hooray for Hollywood, depicting her autobiographical story from a child’s point of view using puppetry.
Photo: Gordon Anderson
Trafficking can happen anywhere, in any street, in any neighbourhood. Once you know the signs or indicators you can help to stop human trafficking in your area by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 immediately and anonymously. by Anita Amendra
School for Changemakers Summer Conference 2013 The next School for Changemakers Summer Conference will be held from 27-30 June at Liverpool Hope University. The School for Changemakers (SfCM) is a residential leadership development initiative for people who want to explore inner and outer dimensions of change. The summer conference is for people between 18 and 30 years who are connected to a community – a locality, club, cause, non-profit organisation, place of worship, or social enterprise network – and are at a crucial decisiontime in their lives. On the course, participants interrogate the personal, professional and spiritual aspects of life. The programme
provides participants with opportunities to acquire skills that may help to translate dreams into effective action; engage and quiz leaders from the worlds of politics, faith, business, education, environmental sustainability and community cohesion; visit local places of change, and support and challenge each others’ perspectives. For more information visit www.schoolforchangemakers.org
by Krish Raval
UK PROGRAMMES / SPRING 2013 Newsletter 5
From left:Tony Bradley (right) talks with Rikki Griffiths, Area Commercial Director of HSBC Bank; Margaret Heffernan; breakout groups; audience; Peter
TIGER creates a stir in Liverpool A
fter the successes of annual events organised in the idyllic setting of Caux, Switzerland, it was fitting that the Initiatives of Change business programme exported itself to new horizons with its TIGERoadshow. The emphasis of the roadshow, held on 19 March, was on Trust and Integrity in the Global Economy. And what place more suited to start than Liverpool? Liverpool is the UK’s fastest growing city, home to a vast amount of new investment and positively thriving with new business ventures. It is also the home of Liverpool Hope University which in turn runs the SEED Centre, the Centre for Social and Ethical Enterprise Development. So it was in the grounds of Liverpool Hope University that an eclectic mix of people and cultures, in tune with the realities of a diversified city, came to listen and debate new ways of restoring trust and integrity in business, banking and corporate ventures. IofC’s business programme brought the TIGERoadshow to Liverpool with some big names and some even bigger ideas.
Wilful blindness
The day was kicked off by Margaret Heffernan, the Texan business woman and author of the Financial Times shortlisted and best-selling book Wilful Blindness. She highlighted the serious damage to public trust that has resulted from over a decade of institutional failings: from the Iraq war or scandals in the Catholic Church to the failings of the NHS and
6 Newsletter SPRING 2013
care institutions or the horsemeat scandal. Margaret’s research has helped her find the underlying causes behind these failings and what prompts organisations and the individuals in them to fail to see the things they are doing wrong. Through an inspirationally crafted mix of storytelling and questioning her talk prompted an attentive audience to rethink hierarchy, question ideology and start seeing conflict, challenge and difference of opinions as an engine for constructive change rather than a bothersome restraint.
‘Ethicability’
The second speaker was Peter Neville Lewis, the founder of Principled Consulting, an organisation that specialises in mitigating reputational risks for big businesses. He aimed to clear up confusion surrounding terms so often used by businesses, without real understanding, such as Integrity. As an ‘ethicability’ practitioner (www. ethicability.org), he also presented the audience with data collected through the MoralDNA project (www.moraldna.org). Using this data from online respondents, Lewis proposed correlations between organisational structure and their failings, and personal behaviours. He argued the case against blind obedience and for workplaces where care and reason have a more substantial place—models where sustainability overrides immediate gains. To help with this he presented the audience with a model of self-questioning to be able to do what is RIGHT (Rules compliance; Integrity; Greatest good; avoiding Harm; Truth, Trusts and Transparency).
Social entrepreneurship
The last keynote speaker and host of the day was Revd Tony Bradley, the director of SEED. Bradley stated his views on the UK’s flat-lining economy, arguing that a no-growth system, far from being a catastrophic scenario, is a reality and one full of prospects and opportunities in a ‘steady state’ economy. Amidst these turbulent times he argued that the old model of what he calls ‘dinocapitalism’, where huge inflexible corporations rule, is slowly changing in favour of smaller, more agile and hopefully more moral models of business—the ‘fury animals in the undergrowth’—such as the two local social enterprises which he invited on stage to present their work. These were Liverpool-based ‘The Women’s Organisation’, a social enterprise that has successfully helped thousands of women to set up independent businesses over the past 17 years, and the ‘Social Audit Network’, which helps social enterprises to measure the impact of their work. Both organisations proved that profit can be made in systems not ruled by shareholder interest but by social profitability. During the day’s breakout sessions speakers and participants mingled in small groups to debate and question, not only the topics brought up by the keynote speakers, but any issues they thought needed discussing. The diversity of the participants meant that groups could bring their own considerable knowledge and experience to bear, adding depth and making the debates particularly relevant to Liverpool as well as the wider world.
Photos: Dan Thurgood
r Neville Lewis
It was clear that the time is ripe to be discussing alternative business models where values, principles and ethics are given back the place they seem to have lost in what is an age of shareholder benefit and profit for profit’s sake.
As Peter Davies of Business in the Community commented afterwards: ‘I found the overall atmosphere to be wonderful and really conducive to receiving the information conveyed, with many of the insights being revelatory and stunning.’
The event was co-sponsored by Quakers and Business.
by Chris Cunningham
Four steps needed to change the culture of the City James Featherby, Chair of the Church of England’s Ethical Investment Advisory Group, presented his latest book Of Markets and Men in the Initiatives of Change London headquarters on 26 March. At the evening, which was hosted by IofC’s Business Programme, Featherby argued that, ‘The greed narrative that followed the financial crisis of 2008 allowed us all off the hook too quickly. It’s all about the practices we have built as a society: greed played a part in the financial collapse, but greed wasn’t the only reason for it.’ In his new book Featherby proposes four ideas to improve financial services, which account for 12 per cent of Britain’s GDP.
purpose.’ Secondly, reduce significantly and permanently the level of personal, corporate and national debt. Thirdly, discourage speculation and derivatives divorced from the real economy. Finally, realign the investment markets so that they deploy capital for productive use as well as for a financial return.
Firstly, the need to refocus mega-businesses, ‘that control the way in which we live—and not just in financial services— by giving them a public responsibility as well as a private
Featherby is no anti-capitalist: ‘I believe passionately in the power of private enterprise to create wealth, enable individuals and communities to flourish, and cement peace. To
How could these proposals work effectively? City players should see the big picture, Featherby said. ‘When you don’t see consequences, you don’t accept responsibility.’ ‘Purpose’ was, therefore, a useful thought to keep in mind, given that morality has never worked without purpose.
stigmatize business because it makes a profit is to mistake the moral nature of profit.’ Featherby said that changes in the financial world would come from within, by changing minds and attitudes. ‘You have to explain why doing the right thing is doing the best thing,’ he said. ‘It is that case, once made, that will deliver the kind of culture change that many are now demanding of our major financial institutions.’
by Jonathan Lopez James Featherby speaking at the Forum
Of Markets and Men by James Featherby, The Centre for Tomorrow’s Company, 2012. ISBN: 978-0957294912
BUSINESS / SPRING 2013 Newsletter 7
Islam and non-violence Initiatives of Change, together with The Cordoba Foundation and Islamic Relief Worldwide, organised a seminar on ‘Peacebuilding and Non-Violence in Islam’ on 22 January. The speakers were scholars Dr Ayse Kadayifci-Orellana (Georgetown University), Professor Mohammed Abu Nimer (Salam Institute and American University) and Imam Ajmal Masroor (Communities in Action Enterprise). Peace in the Qur’an is not limited to a negative understanding often defined as the absence of war, oppression or tyranny. But it actually refers to a process by which human beings strive to establish foundations for interacting in harmony and to institute fair social, economic and political structures where they can fulfil their potential. Prof Abu-Nimer said scholars have ‘approached this topic from a framework of security, power, politics, strategic studies or classical Islamic studies, not peace and conflict resolution’. They therefore failed to pay sufficient attention to inherent traditions of non-violence and peaceful resolution of conflicts. Dr Kadayifci spoke about some of the values that drive Islamic principles of peace building and non-violence
including the quest for justice, social empowerment, compassion, wisdom, service, faith, love, and patience. Imam Masroor presented his own experiences of tackling prejudice and extremism. He spoke about the need to reconcile within one’s heart as the first step towards peacebuilding and non-violence. The seminar touched on community conflict resolution mechanisms that have been developed and effectively applied such as wasata (mediation), sulha (reconciliation) and hewar (dialogue). by Amjad Saleem
Speaking up for silence ‘The reputation of silence – at least in the western world – has now fallen so low that somebody has to speak up for it,’ said Graham Turner, at the launch of his new book, The Power of Silence, at the London centre of Initiatives of Change on 5 February. Turner, an eminent journalist, described a 15 minute experience of silence when he was in his mid-twenties which changed his life: ‘I sensed that there was something out there that knew me far better than I knew myself … Perhaps because I’d been raised as a Christian, I put it down to a God in whom I never believed.’ He decided to talk to others around the world who valued silence, and his publisher asked him to write a book for people who ‘prowl on the frontiers of religion’. Turner observed how silence, in the west at least, has come to be regarded as the very opposite of peace of mind, whereas in India silence is a way to gain insight and
8 Newsletter SPRING 2013 / EVENTS
wisdom. He explored silence in theatre, silence for musicians, silence for hermits in the Egyptian desert, silence for a jailed murderer in Scotland, silence for the Quakers in Oxford, silence for a Sufi in Delhi, silence for Zen Buddhists in their efforts to deal with the human ego, silence for Theravada Buddhists, silence for Jonathan Sacks, then Chief Rabbi in the UK. The Rt Rev Richard Chartres, Bishop of London, who chaired the evening, said Turner had pursued a distinguished career as a writer and a columnist but: ‘has at no point lost his virtue.’ by Severine Chavanne
Graham Turner signs copies of his book
‘I am Greg Davis and I develop youth groups for kids who don’t go to youth groups’ Severine Chavanne interviews an ex-nightclub bouncer who knows how to engage with inner-city youth
Greg (above) speaking at the ‘After the Riots’ forum, February 2012 The UEW gym (left) is used by local youth
‘I
was driving past a church in Benchill, Wythenshawe, one of the most deprived areas in Manchester. I hadn’t been there for a while. It was a cold night, a bit rainy, dark. As I turned the corner, there was a huge gang of kids – 20 or maybe 30 kids no older than 16, in the grounds, on the roof; the windows were broken; it was beyond vandalism. I stopped the car, I jumped out and I shouted at the kids and I said: “Come here! I want a word with you.” I was angry.’ On that night of 1996, Greg Davis’ life took a new turn. He speaks of the mix of sadness and anger he felt, and surprise at the lack of respect the young people were displaying for the church. Local church authorities later informed him that the church had been closed down because of nightly vandalism. His reaction was immediate: ‘Would you consider letting me do something with the building?’ Greg grew up as part of the inner city culture with a strong Christian Methodist education. At the age of 19, during the mid 1980s, he started work as a doorman in a Manchester nightclub. At only 21, he created his own door security business, which soon expanded to outdoor security and became one of the largest security businesses in the country. Greg recalls: ‘It was a very interesting time to work as a doorman. Manchester always had gangs but with the arrival of rave and ecstasy the gangs, in a very short space of time, realised that if you control the club
door then you control the supply of ecstasy inside the club. This meant that the gangs wanted to control the doors.’
Fear replaced respect
He describes how fear had replaced respect. People, who were respected figures only a couple of years before – policemen, schoolteachers, the clergy – were not anymore. And that night, 10 years later, when he stopped his car, Greg decided to do something about it. He obtained the right to use the church building and opened it to the youth of the area. ‘We’ve put a gym and a coffee shop in there, we’ve put in a dance studio, we have a cinema and a sound recording room. We also have a community hall, where we put on concerts.’ Along with all this, Greg and his team have also set up a little church, which provides the space for quiet reflection to anyone. The inner city culture and lifestyle destroyed the building, but Greg was convinced that the same culture could turn it around, and he did! This soon became known as the United Estates of Wythenshawe (UEW). At that centre, Greg and his team provide mentoring and support for both young and old who want it. Some have turned their lives around. Some have even set up their own businesses around Manchester. Greg has the vision of making his centre an inner city cultural centre offering the support that is relevant to the lives of the people in the area. The long-term hope is to develop a model that can be replicated in other inner cities around the country with the worst social conditions.
When Greg later opened the complex, he particularly picked people who have ‘an excellent level of communication with the kids’ to work with him. Getting to know them, Greg realised that, although they appear as tough guys, they’re just normal people with quite a high level of spirituality. But offering such support requires funding. Greg says, half-joking: ‘We refer to ourselves as the toilet of society: Working Class White Christians (double WC). It is almost impossible to fundraise with that background.’ So he and his team came up with the idea to raise funds in a fun way, in keeping with the inner city culture. Last November, UEW, in partnership with several other charities, organised a big fundraising concert called ‘Music for Cities’, which was a sell-out, attended by over 1,200 people. The funds raised are used to help inner city young people. This was also the occasion to place some of them as apprentices with various companies setting up the venue, managing the stage, the sound and the lighting. The group plans to hold more such events. The Manchester rock legend, Peter Hook, has become the patron of this initiative. During his youth, Greg’s mother, Ann Panks, introduced him to Initiatives of Change. Greg actively engaged with it recently when he participated at the After the Riots Forum, organised by IofC in London in February 2012. He is now a member of the Steering Group of the Sustainable Communities programme where he interacts and works with other people, working on similar issues. He says: ‘IofC is about providing solutions. This is a solutionoriented group of people. Rather than a discussion group, this is about providing long-lasting sustainable solutions.’
PROFILE / SPRING 2013 Newsletter 9
Bo Bo Oo (right) was imprisoned for 20 years under the Burmese military dictatorship. Asked how he had survived prison, he replied ‘through prayer and meditation and the belief that one day we might win’
Making Democracy Real in India The second Dialogue on Democracy was held at Asia Plateau, the Initiatives of Change centre in Panchgani, India, from 1-5 February. Over 100 people attended from more than 20 countries including Pakistan, Syria, Egypt, Tibet and Burma. In the opening session, Prabhat Kumar, former Cabinet Secretary of India and member of the Indian Centre for Governance, gave a masterly overview of democracy as of today: ‘Democracy has many discontents. The poor cannot eat democracy.’ Only a few countries are on track to deliver the promised outcomes of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, which is a sign that institutions are falling short. He said the real test of the
Shared vision for the Arab region reached at consultation
institutions of democracy was how well they served the most vulnerable. ‘People lose trust in democracy when it does not deliver.’ At a session on the role of the media in strengthening democracy, Marites Danguilan Vitug, a Filipino journalist, spoke of her fight to bring to light malpractices in her country. She outlined the importance of broad-based coalitions for change in building an inclusive democracy. In another session, the audience explored the issue of corruption as a challenge for good governance. Participants discussed the issue of corporate social responsibility in a workshop on
Twenty five people gathered in Beirut, Lebanon to take part in the first consultation of representatives of Initiatives of Change Arab teams. The meeting included representatives from Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Tunisia as well as Arabs living in France and UK. It was a welcome
business corporations’ responsibilities in community engagements. Opportunities for free speech abounded by way of the ‘Freedom Square’, a 90 minute session when anyone could stand up and share an idea or a thought in no more than two minutes. Each morning opened with a time of quiet reflection, and on the final morning there was a multi-faith prayer. On the last evening there was a talent night, the star of the show being the Burmese delegate, Bo Bo Oo, with his rendering on his guitar.
by Tony Thomas
opportunity to get to know each other better, have times of reflection and sharing, understand the work of the different IofC teams as well as the challenges and opportunities they face at this time of transition. We articulated a shared vision for our region and agreed that ‘peace and social cohesion through trustbuilding across divides’ was our priority focus in the next years, and we wanted to focus our common efforts on meetings and training for young people. We selected seven members of an Arab Regional Coordination Group (ARCG), who were mandated to guide our next steps together and enhance actions and communications across national boundaries as well as with the wider international work of IofC. by Dr Omnia Marzouk
10 Newsletter SPRING 2013
Photos: Excellent Development
Saving land, saving water, saving lives
Collecting water from a scoop hole in the Sand Dam
Simon Madrell drinking water from a Sand Dam
Simon Maddrell, founder and executive director of Excellent Development, made the issue of land degradation a reality for participants at a Greencoat Forum in the London centre of Initiatives of Change on 8 January.
Maddrell spoke on restoring land, lives and peace, along with Dr Alan Channer, a documentary film director. Both are involved with the Initiative for Land, Lives and Peace, a programmeme of Initiatives of Change International. The Forum was chaired by environmental journalist Geoffrey Lean.
Restoring Peace
Channer spoke of the pastoral communities of the semi-desert belt, south of the Sahara, who live in great insecurity because of armed raiding and cattle rustling. To enable
peace to develop, Channer, supported by the Initiative for Land, Lives, and Peace, translated the film An African Answer into Swahili and showed it in Kenya. As a result an inter-ethnic peace committee was created to work together towards sustainable land use.
Restoring Land
Maddrell highlighted the difficulties of conserving rainwater in Africa. Ways of solving the problem included terracing; planting trees to retain the soil and allow the land to absorb water; and building sand dams to retain the water. by Severine Chavanne
South Sudan’s journey of national healing is off to a good but challenging start The first ever Common Action Project of Initiatives of Change International, the South Sudan Initiative for a Journey of Healing for National Reconciliation, is off to a good but challenging start. A four-week training of 200 Peace and Reconciliation Mobilisers from all 10 States of South Sudan, began on 1 April. This training is being conducted by an IofC International training team and members of Workshop for Africa, an African training task force, along with local facilitators and NGO partners. In a ceremony in Juba, Dr Riek Machar, Vice-President of South Sudan, officially launched the training. The 200 South Sudanese will serve as peace and reconcilia-
tion mobilisers within communities all over the country over the coming years. In his remarks to the large gathering, Dr Machar began by turning to the event banner behind his podium and Dr Riek Machar addresses the peace and reconciliation mobilisers reading the words of President Salva Kiir Mayardit from 21 May 2010: more time be given to consultation, the ‘Let us heal our wounds. Let us preach conference to launch the Journey of Healharmony and co-existence. Let us forgive ing has been postponed. one another.’ The Vice-President noted that: ‘there is still bitterness in our hearts, It is a privilege for IofC to be able there is still trauma in our minds’. to play a modest part in supporting the world’s newest nation in taking However, because of severe austerity mea- its first steps towards reconciliation. sures limiting government resources, and at the urging of various stakeholders that by Ayom Wol Dhal and Mike Brown
INTERNATIONAL / SPRING 2013 Newsletter 11
Recently published
Caux Conferences 2013 Initiatives for human security The Power of Silence by Graham Turner An inspiring book exploring the power that can be found in silence through interviews with monastics, religious leaders, composers, actors, psychotherapists, prisoners and peace workers about their experiences of practising silence. Turner shares his discoveries. (See also page 8) Price £13.50 plus postage.
My Friend, Frank Buchman by Ray Purdy Ray Purdy tells the story of his father who decided in the early 1920s to devote his life to serve the idea initiated by Dr Frank Buchman, that the only way to resolve conflict between races, classes and nations, and build a new society, is by changing the human nature of individuals, starting with yourself. Price £6.50 plus postage.
The Promise of Diversity
The story of Jerzy Zubrzycki, architect of multicultural Australia John Hartwell Williams and John Bond
Available to buy from:
12 Newsletter SPRING 2013
The Promise of Diversity by John Williams and John Bond The story of Jerzy Zubrzycki (1920–2009), a contemporary and friend of Pope John Paul II, widely described as the ‘father of Australian multiculturalism’. He was founding professor of sociology at the Australian National University and contributed enormously to the social development of that country. Price £6.00 plus postage.
Initiatives of Change 24 Greencoat Place London SW1P 1RD Tel: 020 7798 6000 reception@london.iofc.org www.uk.iofc.org/books
29 June to 12 August The programme for Initiatives of Change international summer conferences in Caux, Switzerland is now available and registrations are open.This year’s conferences will focus on the theme of human security and each will explore a different approach.These conferences aim to offer a place for people with an interest in various global issues to connect with others sharing their interest, be inspired by each other’s work and learn new ways of tackling such issues. 29 June to 3 July Just Governance Exploring the structures and personal qualities which promote ethical, inclusive governance 3 to 7 July Healing history Overcoming racism, seeking equity, building community 7 to 11 July Dialogue on Land and Security Share experience and build partnerships in restoring land, lives and peace 13 to 19 July Trust and integrity in the global economy (TIGE) Towards economic justice and environmental sustainability 24 to 30 July Children as actors of transforming society Making children’s participation work 1 to 6 August Learning to live in a multicultural world Building trust for action across generations 7 to 12 August Seeds of inspiration People sharing the inspiration that shaped their lives For detailed programmes and to register online, see: www.caux.ch