The Ubuntu Leaders Academy is a non-formal education program aimed to train youth leaders in socio-emotional skills related to Servant Leadership, Building Bridges and Ethics of Care. Based on the Ubuntu philosophy – “I am because you are” - the training methodology prioritizes five personal key competencies: self-knowledge, selfconfidence, resilience, empathy and service.
More information on the website: www.ubuntuleadersacademy.org
Title: Living Together in Peace - Ubuntu and Youth, a Global Dialogue
Ubuntu United Nations Erasmus + project number: 2021-1-PT02-KA220-YOU-000029235
Promoted by:
Instituto Padre António Vieira
Fundación SM
Fundación Tomillo
Artevio Marketing S. R. O.
Supported by the: European Commission
An initiative under the High Patronage of the President of the Portuguese Republic.
In partnership with:
Camões - Instituto da Cooperação e da Língua Portuguesa
CPLP - Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
OEI - Organization of Ibero-American States Club de Madrid
AFS Intercultural Programs
ACM - Alto Comissariado Para as Migrações
CNJ - Conselho Nacional de Juventude
CLIB – The Braga International School ATLAS Corps
General coordination: Rui Marques
Executive coordination: Pedro Amaro Santos
Editorial staff: Maria Seabra de Freitas & José Maria Gonzalez Ochoa
Reviewed by: Mónica Rocha e Melo & Rita Miranda Pereira
Graphic design and layout: Sara Rioja & Laura Escobedo
1st Edition: 2023
Publisher: Fundación SM
ISBN: 978-84-118-2168-1
The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
RUI MARQUES
president of P. António Vieira Institute and Director of Ubuntu Leaders Academy
In troubled times like ours, we must respond with determined and, if possible, inspiring action. After years of methodological development, which began in Portugal and progressively spread to other countries, the challenge arose to take the Ubuntu Leaders Academy to a global level.
The Ubuntu United Nations (UUN) emerged out of the urgency to bring more voices around a vision of hope, willing to build a shared future which can only happen if we know how and have the desire to build bridges. Bridges between people and ideas, between cultures and organisations, between past and future. We can aspire to unity in diversity, to dialogue rather than to war and to seek "positivesum games", seeking to defend everyone's interests without underestimating the interests of each individual.
The memory registered here of this journey, which involved five seminars with over 400 participants from 190 countries, is full of significant moments. The brilliance brought to us by highly prestigious international guests, including the president and vice-presidents of the United Nations (UN), José Ramos-Horta (Nobel Peace Prize winner), Princess Rym Ali and Prof. John Volmink, allowed participants to get in touch with the most important inspirations of world leaders (such as Mohamad Yunus, Michelle Bachellet, António Guterres or Ban Kii Moon, to name but a few).
With this inspiration from so many leaders, it was also possible to dwell on the relevance of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as quality education, the reduction of inequalities, climate action, or peace, justice and effective institutions, as causes that mobilise all the Ubuntu leaders who represented their countries in this great event.
The high patronage of the President of Portugal, Prof. Marcelo Rebello de Sousa, the presence and words of encouragement of the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, as well as the support of the Organization of Iberoamerican States and the Club de Madrid have contributed a great deal to the success and significance of this first edition of UUN. Likewise, the essential support
of the Erasmus programme should be emphasised and recognised, in the best of European tradition and values, promoting the encounter and dialogue between cultures.
Peace in the world will increasingly rely on the ability to mobilise the voice of the new generations as bridge builders. To this end, the Ubuntu global network is a drop of water that joins the many who seek this path, which will lead us toward a just, sustainable and dignified future.
Inspired by Mandela's legacy, we need to continue to work on servant leadership, to develop an ethic of care toward oneself, the others and the planet. As well as to deepen the five pillars of the Ubuntu method that enables each leader to know themselves better, to trust more in their talents and abilities (and help others to do the same), to be resilient and empathetic and a strong commitment to service to the common good.
There are many dark clouds on the horizon, in addition to the thunderstorms that are already being tracked. It depends (also) on us that another horizon opens up and becomes even stronger, in which hope returns, as well as the deep conviction that a better world is possible. •
JOSÉ RAMOS-HORTA
Current Chairman of Ubuntu United Nations and 1996 Nobel Peace Prize laureate
The Ubuntu values that inspire us all, namely the ethics of care, bridge building and servant leadership underpin this noble mission and the journey towards building a better world.
The participation of youth is a hope and shining light to the world. To the youth of today, I say: the future is yours! You have to make the difference as you work on building one family and interacting with each other in a spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood.
Regarding this subject, the Ubuntu United Nations (UUN) initiative is an ambitious project that we launched during the second Ubuntu Summit on May 16, 2021.
At a time when our world has been jolted by social fragmentation and dramatic setbacks in the fight against extreme poverty, shocking inequality, violent racism, armed conflict and increased risks of superpower confrontation, we must renew our commitment to foster dialogue and tolerance and work towards enduring peace and sustainable development.
We have to unite nations and peoples, embrace everyone, and build a shared destiny together. Our desires for the future depend on the youth of today to take on this endeavor. This is true now and will be even more so in the near future.
The UUN aims to strengthen the bridges between us by promoting Ubuntu values that incorporate human rights, sustainable development and the 2030 Agenda. We also wish to bring to the fore Mandela's legacy as a servant leader, and the example of so many other leaders around the world. We inspire young leaders by providing contact with personalities who have given their best to building peace and reconciliation where there has been war, such as Nobel Peace Prize laureates, and by enhancing intergenerational dialogue with former heads of state and prime ministers.
On this occasion, I want to extend my gratitude to the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), His Excellency António Guterres, a model global leader who inspires us greatly and gives us hope in these dark times; to Professor Danilo Türk, former President of Slovenia and current President of the World Leadership Alliance, commonly known as the Club de Madrid; and to Professor Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, President of the Republic of Portugal who promptly endorsed the UUN. I also wish
to acknowledge all of our renowned international speakers, namely the Nobel Peace Prizes laureates, Kailash Satyarthi and Muhammad Yunus; former United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon; former United Nations Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide, Adama Dieng; Bishop of Norway Gunnar J. Stålsett; former President of Chile and current United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michele Bachelet; and former President and Prime Minister of Mongolia, Elbegdorj Tsakhiagiin.
I accepted the challenge of presiding over the UUN initiative with some trepidation. We are living in the saddest, most tragic and most dangerous times in generations. The Covid-19 pandemic is not ending soon.
The global recession and Covid-19 pandemic have deepened the gulfs between the most affluent nations of the North and the poorer South, and the opulence of the rich few and the heartbreaking shanty towns in the South. The rich are vaccinating themselves and the poor are waiting in line, begging for a portion of these life-saving vaccines.
Most of my life, I have lived for the self-determination and freedom of East Timor, but a day does not go by without my heart aching for the children and youth of Syria, Yemen, Myanmar, Colombia, and other nations dealing with the same difficulties.
Here I am with Professor John Volmink of South Africa, Her Royal Highness, Princess Rym Ali of Jordan, and Dr. Rui Marques from Portugal, co-hosting the UUN together with other Nobel Peace Prize laureates, former presidents and prime ministers, trying to inspire the Ubuntu youth leaders from 193 countries to take action!
We are counting on the youth to change the world for the better! •
LUÍS ALVES
Director of the National Agency Erasmus
Plus - Youth in Action
For the National Agency Erasmus+ Youth/Sport and the European Solidarity Corps, and for me in particular, it is a greater satisfaction to support and to be associated with the history of the development and internationalisation of the UBUNTU intervention philosophy and methodology.
It was indeed difficult to have such a perfect alignment between the objectives that guide UBUNTU's action and the larger reasons that justify the very existence of European programmes in the field of youth. Empowering young people to participate, promoting citizenship, dialogue, peace and social justice, and combating inequalities and exclusion are the pillars that mutually reinforce our missions.
The UBUNTU United Nations project is a major and inspiring example of the materialisation of these objectives, the unleashing of the transformative potential of communities and the ability to have a positive impact on the life itineraries of thousands of young people. A project that finds its inspirational roots in Africa, which has been developed, systematised and structured in Portugal, but which carries values that, as we like to revisit and to project these values in Europe, are truly universal.
Definitely not, it's not just a matter of evoking good values and principles - although, at a time when we are witnessing the resurgence of a number of various hatreds, their affirmation is a not negligible imperative. It's about associating generous objectives with the creation of concrete instruments and tested technology that has proven capable of generating real spaces for experimentation and empowerment, which structure young people's ability to participate, give them space for their creativity and social learning, and project them as protagonists, as leaders, capable of making a positive contribution to their community's life.
Human Rights, Social Justice, environmental and socially sustainable development, even though they are causes that we have to pursue collectively, they particularly need the enthusiasm and social restlessness of young people. They need their ability for participation, the affirmation of their freedom and citizenship, their openness to difference and to others and the materialisation of their humanist spirit. They need the projection of young people as active players in transforming realities.
The number of young leaders involved, the truly global dimension of their representation, the level of commitment they have made, and the quantitative and qualitative scale of the personalities and organisations that have rallied around the merits, virtues and potential of the project are all indicative of the importance, scope and impact of UBUNTU United Nations.
However, its legacy goes far beyond the importance of its indicators. It lies in its entire preparatory process, in the memory of all those who took part and benefited from it, in the debates that took place, in the shared experiences, in the manuals that were published, in the tutorials that were produced, in the methodologies and knowledge that were systematised, in the new common projects that were outlined and in the dreams that were inspired.... This is the main capital of UBUNTU United Nations which, with this publication too, will endure and continue to inspire!•
The following interventions are transcriptions from the Ubuntu Leaders World E-Summit, a digital commemoration of the International Day of Living Together in Peace, that gathered, on May 16, 2021, the Ubuntu community from all around the world.
ANTÓNIO GUTERRES current Secretary-General of the United Nations
It is my pleasure to greet the Ubuntu Leaders Academy and all the wonderful diverse participants. I thank everyone, with special mention of the Nobel laureates, for coming together to celebrate the International Day of Living Together in Peace, a day to advance the ideals of unity and service and honour the legacy of Nelson Mandela.
We are gathering at a pivotal moment for the human family. The world continues to face the Covid-19 pandemic; a health crisis, economic disaster and human rights emergency all rolled into an unprecedented challenge. We confront a triple planetary emergency: accelerating climate change, growing pollution and collapsing biodiversity, that threatens the environment on which everyone´s future depends. We are also witnessing an alarming spread of hatred and discrimination.
In these difficult times, I welcome the engagement of young people. Young people today are spearheading movements for climate action, racial justice, gender equality and so much more. They are connecting online and, on the streets, showing the power of collective action. The pandemic has created a moment for change; recovery is our chance to shape a better future, and the sustainable development goals are our roadmap.
The United Nations is committed to be their ally, as we build a more peaceful, sustainable, just and equitable world for people today and for generations to come.
We need to believe in the power of dialogue and cooperation to overcome the tests of our time. •
PRINCESS RYM ALI OF JORDAN Founder of the Jordan Media Institute
When I am asked what Ubuntu means, my first instinct is usually to tell the person to look around and ask how their street gets cleaned, how they are able to cook their meals on a gas stove when their country does not necessarily produce gas, and ask who actually picks the groceries they eat. You will find that practically anywhere in the world, the person cleaning your street was not born on your street; they may even have been born on another continent. Generally speaking, those picking the fruits and groceries we buy at the supermarket come from far away, while in some European countries, people can stay warm and cook their food thanks to gas from Algeria, piped under the Mediterranean Sea.
I realize it can appear a little bit simplistic, but it really is, in fact, that simple. The Ubuntu principle, I am because You are, is that simple. It is a tangible reality even before it is a philosophy to be applied, but too often it remains a reality that is ignored, opposed or sometimes even fought against. What I would like to insist on is the heavy cost of not embracing the principles that underlie this philosophy: for example, the goods that I just mentioned before can flow freely around our planet, and yet, some people cannot move as freely. Those fleeing from persecution, poverty and conflict find it so hard to circulate even in cases when they have risked their own lives to arrive at very distant shores.
I believe that two of the most effective tools to spread the values of Ubuntu around the world are education and the media. In both areas, there is a lot of room for improvement in our 21st century. That is why we need the input of young people to reinvent ways to connect, to push for change, and to bring about new perspectives that can allow our humanity to thrive.
The education expert John Dewey saw this link between education and democracy as building citizenship through engaging with communities and embracing indigenous knowledge systems that favor inclusivity. Now, that is an urgent reform that our world needs.
Promoting a culture that fosters inclusivity is not a new concept. Maybe it is just something we have forgotten along the way. If we look closely at the Abbasid Baghdad in the 8th Century, the translation movement drew scholars and workers from Greece, Persia, Rome, India and China and gave birth to the House of Wisdom, also known as the Grand Library of Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age; and in the 9th Century the University of Al-Qarawiyyin, in Fez (Morocco) considered by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to be the oldest operational educational institution in the world attracted Muslim, Jewish and Christian scholars from everywhere.
When discussing the achievements of such places of enlightenment in 1966, Roy Jenkins, former British Labor Secretary, asked where in the world there is a university that could preserve its fame, or a cultural center that could keep its eminence, or a metropolis that could hold its drawing power, if it were to turn inwards. If a person, a city or a country was to serve only its own hinterland, its own racial group and live apart, it would lead a life of declining intellectual stimulation.
Today, of course, the media can also play a significant role in building bridges. But we have also seen how dangerous it can be if that space is occupied by nihilism and hate speech. It is very important to harness all that the technologies of today can offer for good and use them to reach out. It also allows for mobilization and support for causes that highlight our common humanity as we have seen with the Black Lives Matter movement.
Professor Anita Varma, who teaches media at the University of Berkeley, recently talked about solidarity reporting and she says that instead of emphasizing individualism, solidary stories emphasize community cohesion. This kind of reporting is intimately linked to the notions we defend, and it reminds the public, as she says, that a threat to our neighbors is a threat to us all. That is even more true in a pandemic. If you needed more proof that everything and everyone is connected, look at how the health of a population is linked to how it treats its immigrants and refugees. Early on in the pandemic, for example, in the United States, it was possible to move ventilators and equipment between the various states but many doctors and nurses could not circulate, reducing the number of people that were able to receive treatment. Here, I am of course returning to the idea of the movement of things and people. So, why were things able to move more freely than people? Because they were foreign workers whose work visas only allowed them to work in specific states.
How ironic when we realize that the man who invented the first vaccine was a Turkish immigrant in Germany and the COVID-19 vaccine is supposed to be accessible to all. The richest countries still have had more than 80% of the vaccine doses while low-income countries have only benefitted from 0.01% of them. Surely, we can do better than this.
On the other hand, of all the countries in the world, Jordan and Nepal, not the richest by far, were the first two to vaccinate their refugee populations and they did it as a matter of principle. That is why I firmly believe that this prevailing mindset behind the Ubuntu philosophy can unite us all, a mindset that views the other as equal.
Make no mistake, it is a mindset that has already proven its worth in actions, including in fact, the kind of actions that actually led to the end of colonial rule in India, to the end of segregation in the United States of America (USA), and to the end of apartheid in South Africa. It is also the kind of action that allowed the birth of the United Nations itself, and the European Union.
Yet, since the Second World War, certain topics have seemed to fall on deaf ears, such as the rights of Palestinians or refugees. Many today are asking why there are such double standards when it comes to justice and human rights. Perhaps, at this time, we need to remember the actions of our forefathers and apply these concepts to the various challenges we face. This is especially true in regions like Jordan which host millions of refugees, many of whom experience the double standards of an international community that talks about human rights but refuses to let people in, not recognizing that our futures are intertwined and that a lack of justice anywhere is a lack of justice everywhere.
Nelson Mandela once said “your freedom and mine cannot be separated”. With that in mind, let us link the principles of Ubuntu with the four freedoms identified by Franklin Roosevelt. In doing so, you will find that my freedom from want, my freedom from fear, my freedom of expression and my freedom of worship mean nothing if you are not also free, because my freedom to not be hungry should not mean that you go hungry because I have taken your land; my freedom to worship should not mean that soldiers storm your mosque at the eve of a religious holiday and prevent you from worshipping; my freedom of expression should not mean that your voice will be silenced when you express yourself and denounce these facts; and my right to feel safe in my country should not mean that the children of others continue to live in fear from the illegal use of force, bombings, rockets or killings.
I would like to call on students, young people and civil society groups to join us in the Ubuntu United Nations as we reach out to remind those who need reminding of our shared humanity. •
JOHN VOLMINK President of the Ubuntu Global Network and Co-Chair of the Ubuntu United Nations
Today, I want to take our inspiration from the United Nations as we celebrate the importance of Living Together in Peace. Together with the United Nations, we are affirming three commitments, namely, unity in diversity, dialogue as the key to our common future and the search for win-win dynamics.
Before we can live together in peace, we have to learn to live with others. The Ubuntu Global Network is a community that celebrates diversity. On a personal level, I appreciate this because I grew up in South Africa where I was brought up believing that the differences between us based on race, ethnicity and class are more real and more enduring than our common humanity. By contrast, the Ubuntu Global Network is a constant reminder that we are all branches of the same tree of humanity. To me, that is beautiful. It is a place where we are always learning together in a way that expresses our connectedness and our interdependence. The Ubuntu Global Network teaches us to respect each other, affirm each other, and support each other in a way that shows that we have learned to live together in a vibrant and peaceful manner.
The world is in a sad state at this time. We live in a global village that faces so many challenges; we are dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic but, at the same time, the world faces numerous other chronic crises such as climate change, ongoing violence, poverty, hunger and other assaults on human dignity.
In addition, we still face unemployment and financial crises all over the world; and these global dilemmas and challenges do not respect national boundaries or regional borders. It is true that these threats to our stability and sustainability also present an opportunity for high levels of global cooperation which, in turn, could pave the way for a more humane society and take us in a new direction, guided by new global ethics. These ethics should be based on cooperation rather than on cultural arrogance and domination by privileged people and countries. I want to believe, and, in fact, the Ubuntu Global Network does believe, that the South African concept of Ubuntu can make a genuine contribution to this global aspiration given its profound relational dimensions. Ubuntu crosses all kinds of borders, be they political, economic, cultural or religious. Consequently, we have established the Ubuntu Global Network because we deeply believe that Ubuntu has the potential to influence all spheres of public policy related to citizenship, human development and governance.
Whether we see Ubuntu as a philosophy, or whether we see it as a meta narrative, one thing is clear: if we embrace Ubuntu as a set of ethics that govern our behavior, we can change our world for the better. We realize that our world is in a sad state and that people are anxious; they are fearful at this time, and in these circumstances, leaders, and Ubuntu leaders in particular, must find ways to make people more confidently face the difficult futures. Leaders must help organizations and communities face their problems, lean into opportunities and understand the logic and narrative of the other. I firmly believe, like Nelson Mandela, that we do not have to live in a world of hate. We should not live in a world of conflict and violence because we cannot change the world through hate; we can only change the world if we understand that Ubuntu is about being connected with each other and realizing that we are dependent on each other. When we act in the world, we do so with kindness and with compassion. We should never underestimate the power of understanding and the power of empathy. We will change the world one person at a time and as leaders, we need both power and love.
One cannot work without the other; we are therefore extremely excited about the Ubuntu United Nations, a great initiative that unites young people from all over the globe. It is a step towards mobilizing this generation for joint action, building unity in diversity and reinforcing the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals as a roadmap for engagement.
To end, I would like us to take a moment to remember that Nelson Mandela gave the whole world hope in a dream that seemed so unattainable: that we can overcome our prejudices, that we can overcome our hate, that we can embrace the power found in one community, one country, one global village, one global human family. That is the vision that we need to run with now as we unite our actions.
We can make the world a better place for all. •
PHILIP ZIMBARDO
Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the University of Stanford, at the University of Columbia and at
the University of New York
For most of my life, I have been an anti-war activist. In fact, I have been considered or labeled a “peacenik” for doing many different kinds of things to promote caring, understanding and peace, and to get people to oppose war. However, when I was eight years old, in 1941, I loved war, paradoxically because it was when the United States of America (USA) entered the Second World War. It was a war of good versus evil. The good side was America and its Allies in Europe versus the evil empire of Hitler’s fascism and Nazism, Mussolini’s Italian fascism and Japanese Imperialism.
At the beginning of the war, and for several years, America was losing in the Pacific against the Japanese forces, but sadly, the war changed when the USA developed the hydrogen bomb and actually dropped it on Hiroshima and Nagasaki killing millions of people and destroying everything around. Nonetheless, as a child, it was the sense of good versus evil that prevailed. This sense is probably a reality in every nation around the globe. When a nation is going to war against some other nation, we do not see the killing; we do not see murders. There are hundreds of thousands of soldiers who get killed and millions of civilians including children that get killed. We are witnessing this today in the war between Israel and Palestine, where the people who are dying are not soldiers; it is not a war of soldiers against soldiers, it is a war of rockets against civilians.
During the Second World War, we children did many little things related to the war: for example, we had victory gardens in little pots where we grew radishes and tomatoes, and we used our pennies to buy war stamps that we saved up and converted into war bonds, the money from which went to promote the war effort. We did not have television then, so all we knew about the war came from Saturday trips to the movies where there was a 20-minute news slot. Of course, it was biased with propaganda because it showed America doing good things and the evil empire doing bad things.
Until the 1970s, I was proud of being American. But suddenly that feeling changed and I became ashamed of having that nationality. Why? Because the USA got into this immoral, illegal and proxy war in Vietnam. It was the first time we witnessed a war of Democracy against Communism: the North of Vietnam (Communist flank) supported by Russia against the South of Vietnam (Democratic flank) supported by the United States.
It was a horrible war. It was immoral, illegal and I was actively against it. As a professor at the New York University, I gave lectures about it and we organized classes and meetings with veterans, Buddhist monks, and everyone we could invite to speak up against the war. We did everything we could to make people aware of how atrocious that war was. I even participated in marches in Washington and other cities.
Eventually, the USA lost the war. It made me even more aware of how easy it is to get into war and how it depends heavily on the psychological effect of propaganda: on the one hand, it is important to get people to believe that their cause is the right one and on the other hand, it is crucial to label somebody as the enemy.
Since then, I have been actively involved, within the realm of psychology, in opposing war. I was President of the American Psychological Association and I helped develop a new division entitled “Peace and Conflict Resolution” where we study peace itself and how to promote it. I gave lectures at the United Nations on the psychology of evil and how easy it is for good people to turn evil. Actually, that is the message of my Stanford Prison experiment which resulted in my book “The Lucifer Effect”.
Then, I created the “Heroic Imagination Project” which uses psychology to teach young people how to become “everyday heroes” by opposing bullying and wrong deeds in our lives, being sociocentric, putting the other person first, caring for others, minimizing egocentricity, understanding and accepting diversity ...
It all starts with an action, with self-transformation and education. We all can do it. It is crucial for all of us to get ordinary people, like ourselves, to stay connected with their goodness so that we can live together in peace. •
BERNARDO TORO Philosopher on Education and Democracy in Latin America
Right now, regardless of where we are, we are all facing the same three problems: Covid-19, recession and the climate crisis.
The easiest to solve is the Covid-19 pandemic. The main challenge now is how to be more united so that we can vaccinate the entire population of the planet. Probably, in a year and a half at the most, Covid-19 will have been eradicated from the human species, but in the next five or ten years, we will have to face the consequences of the economic recessions caused by the pandemic and recognize that inequity is the main issue that we have to tackle around the world. We have to develop programs to combat poverty. We have to get organized and put inequity on the table, the great cause and generator of poverty. We should stop talking about poverty and start talking about inequity.
From the end of the Second World War through to the 1970s and 1980s, the world was based on equity, but then inequity started to grow, and equity disappeared. It is not a problem of intelligence or education, but it is in fact a problem of inequity. That is what we have to get people to understand.
The principal problem that we humans, and in particular, young people, need to eradicate is the climate crisis.
Firstly, it is important to differentiate the climate crisis and Covid-19 pandemic from the problems of recession and other kinds of social-economic problems.
Both Covid-19 and the climate crisis are external shocks. They are shocks of reality. What happens when these shocks are external, when they do not depend on human will?
We have to start by understanding the phenomenon and in turn, its norms and laws so we can work out how to live with it, transform it, or use it to our advantage. This is very important. This recognition and knowledge is very important.
Following Covid-19, we discovered the importance of the state. We discovered that solidarity and the spiritual recognition of society is worthy. But what does spirituality mean when viewed through the Ubuntu lens? This may sound like a pleonasm but spirituality, in terms of the ethics of care, means
the ability to work to avoid or lessen the worthlessness of others. If we accept this definition as spirituality, we easily recognize the inefficiency of many institutions that abandon the weakest all over the planet. In fact, the crisis of spirituality has reached levels never seen before. For the climate crisis, this is determinant. The economic or political crisis may depend on human will, even a family crisis depends on the will of the family, but the climate crisis is a direct response from the planet that is a result of our behavior, or in other words, because of our lack of spirituality and caring.
For centuries, we have behaved under the paradigm of accumulation. To understand what this means, we just have to reflect on issues such as who we want our children to marry or where we want to live. In general, after the Industrial Revolution, society started to think within a paradigm of accumulation that determines and measures our levels of success.
At the same time, one of the fallacies of the human species is to believe that there are races of different categories that have different priorities and hierarchies. Racism and social exclusion come from not understanding that we are all one family, one species who live in one common home that is Earth. These are very important elements required to face the most important challenges that we have ever faced as humankind. Never, at any time, has the human species faced such a challenge – the climate crisis. If we do not understand it, if we do not change our behavior, none of us are worthy of using this planet. Caring is no longer optional. Nowadays, caring is an obligation, it is a determinant.
Caring means that we have to learn to care for ourselves, for those who are close to us, for those who are far away, for those we do not know, and for the planet.
For a long time in history, it was the women who took on the caring. It was actually a feminine thing: men worked, and women did the looking after. This is no longer the case. Today, caring is a political, social and economic problem that is both strategic and structural. The human species, as a whole, has to change its accumulation behavior and replace it with a behavior of caring.
What is the most significant question anyone alive can ask? It is not about climate change, it is not about war, it is not about Covid-19, it is not about bombing Palestine, and nor is it about the conflict between the Russian Federation and the United States. The most important question for the entire human species is this: “What am I going to eat today?”. This is a key question because no species can stop consuming or producing; human beings cannot stop consuming or producing.
Once again, for centuries, we have produced under the paradigm of accumulation, of success. This paradigm has led us to create wonderful things – namely medicine, technology, communicationbut it has also led us to create very serious problems – global warming, water contamination, social inequity, soil saturation, extreme poverty, among others.
It has become imperative to not follow the same paradigm. Our way of living must change. We must
find a way of continuing to produce and consume on this planet without causing it to perish because because it is not Earth which is in danger, but rather, we are the ones in danger; it is the survival of human beings that is at stake.
The first thing we have to understand, especially now living through a pandemic, is that we have to care for each other; we must take care of our bodies and our spirits. And we need to understand this at international level.
Covid-19 has shown us that there is no health system in the world that can manage everyone being sick at the same time. The most vital public good is health. We have to develop very powerful policies to keep health as a public good for all in society and this is directly linked to taking care of ourselves and others.
Another thing that Covid-19 has taught us is that churches are meaningless, states are meaningless, shopping malls are meaningless, discos are meaningless, avenues are meaningless if there are no transactions within them. A church without a celebration and priests is pointless, a stadium without players and spectators is pointless, stores without sellers and customers are pointless. Covid-19 has taught us that reality is built through transactions, an interchange of economic transactions, political transactions, social transactions, emotional transactions, cultural and spiritual transactions and during these transactions, we must learn to take care of each other. The interchange of goods and services (a political transaction) is not the science of power; it is the science of creating a convergence of interests. A great politician can gather all existing interests and converge them in the same direction. As the Ubuntu philosophy teaches us, these transactions must be win-win transactions, they must be caring transactions.
Win-lose transactions are a universal problem. To a certain extent, it has already been demonstrated mathematically that these kinds of transactions only accentuate inequalities, creating even more obstacles to the economy flow. Only when a society learns to make win-win transactions at all levels (personal, family, neighborhood organizations, schools, colleges, universities) is it able to protect its citizens.
The transactions of vaccines, for example, are clearly not a win-win situation. The pharmaceutical companies are winning above all, instead of making the Covid-19 vaccine a universal public good. Win-win transactions are the concrete way of taking care of ourselves and the other because they allow us to accumulate wealth to continue to produce, but at the same time allow us to live well, in equity, worthy of this planet. We need to live by this ethical concept every day.
But the question is: what is ethical? what are ethics? We can read Aristotle, Spinoza and other renowned authors, but today, ethics is a very concrete thing; it means that our actions and decisions take into account the act of looking out for human dignity, our ecosystems and planet. It does not matter if we are aviators, priests, street sellers, doctors or sports athletes, if our actions are oriented towards people living dignified lives and caring for the planet, then our actions are ethical. This is the main principle. All these win-win actions have to focus on contributing to making human rights possible for everyone.
There is no doubt that human dignity is more than just a theoretical concept. It is a very practical discussion about how we can contribute to everyone living a dignified life so that human rights are a reality for each one of us.
But reflect on this too: If we do not have a planet, there will be no rights for anyone. The first rights are not human rights. The first rights of the human species are the rights of the motherland, of mother Earth. It is as simple as that. What I mean is this: right now, it is not possible to separate human dignity from caring for the planet. This is the ethical north of the Ethics of Care. Everything that we do has to go in this direction.
We have to ask ourselves: how are we going to take care of the ecosystems of the planet so that everyone has access to basic goods? How are we going to get all living beings on the planet, not just humans, to have access to water, for example? We cannot continue to say that water is a human right. Water is not a human right. It is a right of the biosphere for all living beings including humans, but also animals and plants. If we do not learn as human beings to take care of the common good, life on this planet will not be viable. This brings us to the theory of the institutional ordering of global politics, of international politics. How are we going to take care of the ecosystems? No multinational can produce water, no multinational in the world has the capacity to make it rain or move the clouds. Water is a free good of the universe for human beings. To believers, it is a gift of providence, a gift of life. Do not fall for the idea that water can be considered a private good. It is a universal good that belongs to the entire species.
We must learn to act and live together in this common home. This is the great challenge that is being set before us. We have to renounce the concept of accumulation, power and success. There is only one common house and one set of common goods, namely water, air and land, and they do not belong to anyone in specific. They are for everyone. We have to change our whole epistemology, our way of building the world, of interpreting the world and we must do it very fast. The future is not a problem just for the right or left political wing, for atheists, Muslims or Catholics; it is a problem for humanity regardless of race, religion, politics, geography...
It is mandatory to look at everyone as part of one large family, a single house, a common home and we can only learn this if in the family, at school, at work, in the neighborhood, at university, in churches, in political movements, in art, on the internet, in social realities, we learn to make transactions in which everyone wins.
To end, it is vital that we, as individuals, learn to take care of our inner selves. If we want a society that has the capacity to care, we must develop our spiritual care. We have to train the next generation in selfknowledge, self-regulation and self-esteem. Only these elements together can produce autonomous people. We need spiritual training so that we can protect democracies, facilitate human rights and respect all ecosystems on the planet. •
DAVID LIVINGSTON SMITH Professor of Philosophy at the University of New England
Today, I want to address a matter of extreme urgency that is too often ignored. I want to share my life’s work: the study of dehumanization.
Dehumanization is a way of thinking about other people. When people dehumanize others, they think of them as less than human, typically they think of a whole group of people as less than human, as dangerous animals, as unclean beasts, as vermin, as monsters, as demons.
This is very important because dehumanization has been linked with the very worst things that human beings have done to one another: genocide, war, oppression, slavery and other atrocities.
Past generations have not addressed the phenomenon of dehumanization properly. People may talk about it but pivotal tasks remain in terms if understanding it, getting inside it, figuring out how it works, why it happens and how to stop it. After all, if we do not understand how something works and how it is put together, we do not stand much of a chance of dismantling it and putting an end to it. In the case of dehumanization, this is an urgent task, particularly in light of the challenges that humanity will face in the century to come.
My research has taught me a lot about dehumanization. This phenomenon does not come naturally to the human mind; it does not simply occur to people to think of other people as less than human. Dehumanization happens under the influence of propaganda and ideology when people in positions of power - be they politicians, religious leaders, celebrities or anyone with an influence on the views of the general populations - convince us that there are whole groups of people who might look human, who might seem human, who might act like human beings but who are not on the inside truly human beings: they are beasts, blood thirsty predators, vermin, unclean animals, demons, monsters and this sort of rhetoric.
When people in positions of power frighten us into thinking of others that way it leads to terrible acts. So, dehumanization does not come from within, it comes from outside; it comes from people convincing us to override our perceptions of others as human beings.
When we look at another human face and look into another pair of human eyes, we simply cannot help but see that other person as a human being as well. Nevertheless, people in positions of power are skilled in propaganda; they are able to convince us, and lead us, to do terrible things to one another. And they convince us that in doing so, we are doing the right thing and, in some way, saving the world from evil.
In every genocide that I have studied, the perpetrators of atrocity think that they are morally in the right; they are convinced that they are ridding the world of evil by exterminating whole populations of human beings.
Another thing that I have learned during my years of research is that all of us are potential dehumanizers.
It is quite tempting to think that people who are capable of considering human beings as less than human, especially a singled-out minority (a racial, ethnic, religious minority singled out for persecution and brutality) are insane or monsters. They are not. They are ordinary people like each one of us. To realize this is key. We have to hold a mirror up to ourselves and see the kind of things we are capable of doing under the right circumstances. There is no such thing as monsters. Monsters are imaginary. All the most brutal acts that human beings have perpetrated on one another are perpetrated not by monsters, but by other human beings.
These considerations show how vital it is for young people to find ways to resist the forces of inhumanity, to find ways of not becoming part of the atrocities that have scarred humanity for thousands of years, to resist and to help others to resist. But we can only do this if we understand the phenomenon we are dealing with. If we understand dehumanization, rather than becoming victims of it and perpetrators of it, we can work together to combat it, to eliminate it, to dismantle it, and to find better ways of carrying out the human project.
Young people are the future. This generation, and the next, have the opportunity to do better that past generations did. Earlier generations failed to make sure the world would become a better place. We need to stand up for humanity. It is in our power to do so. •
ERIN GRUWELL Founder of the Freedom Writers Association
Let me introduce myself first. I am a teacher who founded the Freedom Writers Foundation. This year we have witnessed firsthand a pandemic, racial reckonings and social protests that have made people feel that they have an active voice in society. It is, therefore, the perfect time to get together, discuss topics such as leadership and building bridges, and learn from other storytellers.
Our story started years ago, after experiencing horrible racial rage in our community. I walked into a classroom and my students, who did not enjoy reading, did not like writing, did not like school, and tragically did not like one another, suddenly had to learn how to live together in a community. It is hard to hate someone that you know so I told my students that they were going to have courageous conversations, that we were going to get to know one another, we were going to learn from our pain and, ultimately, that pain would become our purpose. To do so, I had to think outside the box so I used activities like The Line Game, making my students stand on a wall and then stand on a line and, in doing so, stand in solidarity - screaming in silence, but screaming for the world to hear.
I had to find books written by, for and about kids; kids who were in pain: whether a girl in an attic during the Second World War, a boy riding on a cart to Auschwitz, or a young girl in Bosnia Herzegovina who watched her friends being picked up by snipers on their way to school.
Those books, written by, for and about young people, became the teachers that my students so desperately needed: words became their legacy, words made them immortal and words is what set my students free. I gave my students a journal and a pen. Then, I said “now, this pen is like a baton –learn from Anne Frank, learn from Zlata, learn from those leaders who were able to bring light into dark places”.
With fear and apprehension, my students started to read, then they started to write and now they speak. And when they speak, they speak about servant leadership, when they speak, they speak about racial reckonings, when they speak, they talk about reconciliation and taking that pain of the past and making it their purpose and their passion for the future.
Young people can be bridge builders, each one can make the world a little righter, even during this pandemic, and each one can be a student and a teacher. Each one of us can be a leader, but each one of us can also follow. I want to share a story.
I had no idea our story in room 203 in Long Beach, California would find its way onto the pages of a book, the Freedom Writers Diary. I had no idea that our story would find its way onto the screen in the film Freedom Writers and I had no idea that a two-time Academy award-winning actress would play me. But what came out of that story were these universal truths. No matter what corner, community, country or continent, people started realizing that people can change, that we can share, that we are much more similar than we are different. And I proved that with my students when we did a Toast for Change with champagne glasses of sparkling apple cider. I asked my students to step forward and share. Dare to dream big! And they did just that, with those plastic champagne glasses in hand. They began to read their stories. Their stories of tragedy that were now of triumph, of being alone and now finding a friend.
Their stories were of realizing that each one of us can actually write a different chapter; we can imagine a different ending.
A young Freedom Writer, so many years ago, entered this chaotic and crazy classroom, with different shapes and sizes, colors and hues. And he was seen, and he was heard, and he mattered. And each and every one of us are seen, are heard and matter.
He stood in a circle, surrounded by strangers: one after another, sharing. And then this boy got up and was able to bare his soul and we were able to bear witness and at that moment, that magical moment, we understood that family is what is assigned to us but, community is what we create.
We came up with this name, Freedom Writers. We came up with a mission and a mandate that we were going to build bridges. We came up with this mission and this mandate that we were going to live in a peaceful community. We came up with this mission and this mandate that we were going to try to change not only ourselves, but the world around us.
In the Freedom Writers world, we believe that when different worlds come together, beauty is inevitable. This is what I saw in my classroom. This is what I see in each follower of the Ubuntu philosophy, no matter what country or continent, city or community you come from.
Let us come together. Let us come together for peace. Let us come together for unity. Let us make the world a little fairer, a little more just, and a little more united. •
ANTÓNIO VITORINO Director of the International Organization for Migration
We need to be very realistic in assessing the tough world we live in so that we can engage and change it. That is what we do in the International Organization for Migration (IOM) with the aim of supporting migrants, refugees and displaced people all over the world. I think we are living through a triple crisis: 1. a pandemic crisis; 2. a social and economic crisis because of some of the measures that are being taken to fight Covid-19 and the fact that the pandemic itself is creating a difficult economic and social situation in many countries, especially affecting the most vulnerable, with migrants among the most vulnerable; and 3. a protection crisis, in terms of there being key issues concerning the protection of the most vulnerable including migrants, women, girls, young boys, disabled people and others who are experiencing particularly harsh conditions.
First, I will address the health crisis. Everybody says that the world has come to a stop. It is true; it has never happened in our history before. We have never before seen the more than 110 000 restrictions of mobility worldwide, nevertheless, there are 2 million migrants less in 2020 than in 2019 but this reduction in terms of aggregated figures does not give you an accurate picture of the realities that are very uneven and very unbalanced. There are almost 3 million migrants stranded by the pandemic, by the closure of borders, by the lockdowns. Most of them want to go back to their countries but their routes were obstructed and now they live in very difficult conditions because they do not have necessary human conditions of survival. In fact, they do not benefit from humanitarian support. Even if you look worldwide, in some regions there has been a drop in the number of people moving, as in the case of the eastern Mediterranean; for example, there is an 80% decrease in arrivals to the Greek islands. But on the contrary, there is an increase in arrivals to Italy, most from Tunisia rather than Libya, and there is a new route to Europe through the Canary Islands with Moroccans, Senegalese and other Sahel citizens crossing the Atlantic.
The picture is highly diverse. In some cases, there has been a slowdown, in other cases, there has been an increase. The disturbing thing is that if people cannot move legally, they will try to move irregularly and the criminal networks that traffick people, abuse and exploit the human rights of migrants have been very active during the pandemic.
I also believe that the pandemic has emphasized and exposed more clearly the inequalities and vulnerabilities that we already knew existed but that have become exacerbated. Migrants are often the first ones to lose their jobs, especially women. There is also a need to make clear that it is a
fundamental right to guarantee all people access to health care. In some countries, migrants are not recognized to have access to universal healthcare, and this is going to be particularly important when it comes to the time when people need to be vaccinated.
As the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has always said, “nobody is safe until everybody is safe”. When he means everybody, everybody includes migrants of course. Migrants have to be included in national vaccination plans and this is a particularly sensitive issue for those migrants who are living in irregular situations in countries of destination because they are afraid of getting in contact with public services and might be submitted to law enforcement decisions like deportation.
It is absolutely necessary to ensure that everybody has access to vaccinations and that states do not use vaccination as a law enforcement instrument. People have to trust the institutions; they need to realize that it is for their care and that universal vaccination is most needed.
The United Nations (UN) forecasts that roughly 100 million people will fall back into extreme poverty because of the social and economic recession generated by the pandemic. This means losing almost one decade of progress in the 2030 Agenda regarding the Sustainable Development Goals. Fighting extreme poverty has been a key cornerstone of degenerative research. In just a year and a half, we might lose one decade of progress.
Food insecurity is another element that we need to focus our attention on. The IOM and the World Food Program have recently published a report on food insecurity and its impacts on migration. There are a number of places in the world right now where the situation of food insecurity has become a reality because of the pandemic, and not just in Yemen, but also in Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique and other countries in the Sahel region.
UNICEF forecasts that only 50% of the girls that stopped attending school in the developing world because of Covid-19 will return to school once the pandemic is over. This is a terrible loss from the perspective of gender equality and the future opportunities of girls in the developing world. This represents, for all those countries impacted, an extreme loss of human capital. All of these elements, all of these side effects need to be taken into very serious consideration when we speak about how we can rebuild our world.
Eventually, a post-pandemic world will emerge but unfortunately, we must recognize that access to this post-pandemic world will also be highly uneven worldwide. 80% of the vaccines that have been distributed and rolled out are in the Global North and only 20% are in the Global South which means that even in the best-case scenario, we will have a very low percentage of the world population vaccinated. We also have to anticipate that access to economic recovery will be extremely uneven, particularly in countries already struggling to develop such as in places like Southeast Asia, Africa or Latin America.
Last but not least, the protection crisis needs to be addressed. During the 1990s, humanitarian crises, whether caused by conflicts, poverty or community tensions, lasted on average for five years. Unfortunately, in the 21st century, protracted conflicts have an average duration of ten years. It has doubled. This has an enormous impact on the humanitarian support needs of millions of people all around the world.
If we look at the global humanitarian outlook that was published by the UN, we can see that in 2020, only 50-60% of all humanitarian assistance needs (food, water, hygiene products, shelter etc.) were met. When we assess 2021, we find that humanitarian needs worldwide rose by 40%. If we join to this reality the fact that some countries are facing economic recessions, we see that it will be even more difficult in 2021 and 2022 to find the funding required to address the humanitarian needs. Over the coming years, we could be faced with very serious and disturbing humanitarian situations in places like Syria, Bangladesh, Libya, Venezuela, Ethiopia, Palestine and so on.
When we look at this crisis and humanitarian landscape, we definitely need to engage in supporting those who are in need. We have to engage in making a difference and that difference can be made by each one of us. You do not need to be at the head of an international organization like IOM. In fact, the difference is made through direct relationships with people in need, whether through volunteer work or Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) advocating for basic principles of human rights equality and mutual respect, and for protection and support for the most vulnerable. •
PASTORA MIRA Human Rights Activist in Colombia
I have been through several negative experiences in my life that I would not wish on anyone: I saw my father being killed when I was very young and, in recent decades, my sister and other members of my family have also been murdered. The easiest thing would have been to have followed the path of revenge. But I have had the good fortune of having special people around me and understand that love is the only light within each of us. This light and this strength allow us to understand each other and want for our fellow human beings, the same things that we want for ourselves in any circumstance regardless of the situation. I suffered. I experienced acts of love, compassion, solidarity and empathy. I experienced others that caused me harm. And that could have led me to emptiness, to hopelessness or destruction. Or it could even have condemned me to a life of hatred and one of seeking revenge, but then I would be the one the wrong.
That is why, from a very young age, I began to serve, even subconsciously and initially through empathy, those I encountered that were also suffering.
It was from here that I met a group of men and women who were also part of the soulless conflict in Colombia; an asymmetric war between the government of Colombia, far-right paramilitary groups, organized crime association and far-left guerrilla groups, namely, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, best known as FARC, the National Liberation Army and the Popular Liberation Army. But we, at the Centro de Acercamiento de San Carlos (a local center that helps and accompanies victims from this conflict) were able to create a “fire of love”. A “fire of love” to help us grow. Despite all the obstacles, together we found a path, sources and allies to help us generate hope, helping this torch of peace and love burn ever brighter.
The most important thing to fuel the fire is love, and then solidarity and empathy. These are mandatory to achieve true reconciliation. Reconciliation is itself absolutely fundamental in this world. It is the way we manage to change things for the better. It is crucial to understand that peace is not made by decrees, but rather by words and actions. Peace is more than just words. It has to be a permanent and collective daily action and it is our duty to convert it into an emotion.
Let us pass on the torch of peace. Let us unite for joy, enthusiasm and hope. Let us consciously infect
each other with this wonderful virus of love, starting now. I can never give what I do not have and therefore, I have to start by filling myself with love from this torch of love. I have the right to love, I have the right to live in peace and I have to find this within myself. It is the only way to become better human beings every day and it is the only way to live in peace. Much more infectious than Covid-19, we can become a contagious love virus. Love is a much stronger virus. The love we have for ourselves can be strong enough to spread to all our neighbors. We have to be very clear that if I do not have love for myself, I cannot love the other. Only if I love myself, am I able to put myself in the other’s shoes, love them and see through their eyes in the same way that we have heard from many others who have put themselves in the shoes of someone else and even walked in their shoes.
We get indignant when we are offended, but how often have we asked ourselves what the one in front of us feels when we make an inappropriate gesture or when we greet them in a less than honorable way or if instead of serving them, we turn the other way simply because they are not our friend or even because a few days ago, they acted in a way that hurt our ego. This love virus starts with us becoming absolutely aware of the importance of transforming these negative emotions, erasing our ego, elevating love above all this, treating the other with dignity, and the one in front of me with a lot of compassion.
I have had some difficulties in life, but I did not allow them to hang over me. With these difficulties I was able to create, I was able to become the creator of great actions and become the person I am today.
The Ubuntu training has given me confidence and hope in the future and has made me realize that I am not the only tiny beam of light shining from this love torch. We are all lights. Together, our lights come together so that one day, not too far away, we will be able to erase all the shadows and give each other a hand to build a great alliance that will make us truly worthy of having passed through this earthly life before crossing that revolving door.
We are all architects of this new construction that is called humanity! •
GEOFFREY CORRY Professor of Mediation and Conflict Resolution in Ireland
Conflict has broken out again between Israel and Palestine. Yet another cycle of violence, just as we experienced in Northern Ireland for almost 30 years. This kind of conflict is known as a protracted conflict, but some people call them intractable conflicts because they are deeply binary and polarized. Nevertheless, we cannot name a conflict as intractable. Conflicts can, in fact, be protracted, but we have to find ways to get out of them. Usually, there is a top dog and an underdog, and in this situation of Israel-Palestine, and to some extent in Northern Ireland, there was an underdog and top dog as well. In some workshops I have done with Palestinians, they have pleaded for the opportunity to have their voices heard by the Israeli side. They would say: “if only Israelis would come to these workshops with us, sit down, hear and understand our pain and the situation we have experienced”.
However, the challenge for any facilitator, like myself, is to work out how to get the top dog to come to these workshops. What can we do in order for them to come and sit in the same room as the underdog? Is it actually also important to hear their story too and hear how they have also been affected by the conflict? This is something that even Nelson Mandela had to work out all through his life.
The challenge that we faced at the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation was: how do we improve political dialogue? how do we engage the different parties? how can we sit them together in the same room?
We now know which major political conditions need to be in place for a good dialogue to start. The first is what we call “awareness of a hurting stalemate”, i.e. awareness that neither side are going to win a complete victory, so they have to sit down. They might be able to send in more military resources and continue the war, but nobody actually wins. This is a crucial turning point.
The second political condition required is a ceasefire to stop the violence and war. With this political understanding, political negotiations can begin.
We were very lucky in Ireland. Northern Ireland and Britain, through secret dialogue, arrived at a situation in 1994 where the two paramilitary groups, the loyalists and the republicans agreed to a ceasefire. Suddenly, at that moment, the sun came out and I can remember the very first political
dialogue workshop we ran with them at the Glencree Center. I can recall the excitement, the joy, the thrill of having all the parties sitting in a circle – and a circle is crucial, a circle where people can sit and hear and face each other in an equal way. In fact, a circle is a great humanizing and equitable space.
I do not know what possibilities lie ahead for Israel and Palestine but hopefully, one day, there will be the realization by the top dog that they need to sit down with the underdog. In South Africa, the international community help was decisive, perhaps today it could also help with dialogue in this polarized situation.
So, what did I learn from that period? Dialogue is, as the thinker William Isaac explains, a gradual incremental flow that develops between people. It goes beyond words. It is not something that just comes with a speech. It is the sharing of stories from both sides, and out of those stories come new understandings of context, difficulties and the narrative that each group has. From those understandings come new meanings. It results in layers of emotional connection, layers of thinking together and layers that come in a natural way in this interactive relationship.
We also discovered that there are two loops of understanding in dialogue processes: the first loop is where the facilitator tries to help people tell their story, which means that as a facilitator, I have to hear and comprehend the story, the issues, the concerns, the grievances, the hurts and the pain that comes from each party. Without this process, we do not reach other layers of meaning and new understandings.
The second loop requires that we distribute time as equally as possible to each side and always move back and forth between them. The breakthrough comes when both of their stories have been heard and understood in a circle in the same room. It frees them up. Each side is able to turn to the other side and hear their story in a completely different way.
My hope is that these lessons will eventually be grasped in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, through multi-track peace building and diplomacy. What we learned from the failure of the Oslo Peace Accords, which were at that time (early 1990s) a wonderful breakthrough, was that it was all agreed at top levels. Now, we know that in order to reach any conflict resolution, it is mandatory to involve people from different tracks, not just the top levels. Any peace accord needs to be owned by the whole of society and that means evolving, developing and connecting all dialogues that can happen and unfold at different levels. That was how we got a big breakthrough between Northern Ireland, Southern Ireland and the British parties, creating the foundation for the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement in 1998.
Achieving peace and living together in peace is a process, a task that never ends and it requires people with hope, people with the ability of gathering others and creating spaces where people can talk and engage with each other. •
UBIRACI PATAXÓ Indigenous Educator and Researcher
At some point we need to sit down and talk. Talk about the different things that worry us, that hurt us. Humanity has lost this essence and the theme "Living Together in Peace" is essential for this moment, when everyone wants to make war. Just looking different, having different color skin, believing in a different God or having a different sexual orientation is enough to start one. It is very easy to make war and it is hard work keeping the peace.
In my indigenous culture, we do not have juries or judges, defense or prosecuting attorneys. In my culture, our biggest message is respect; respect for difference and respect for the knowledge of the other.
When I dialogue and hear the knowledge that the other has, it makes me better than I was before. So why would I make the other my enemy? This may be one of the hardest things in life: to care for people who want to harm us so much. There are a lot of people talking about peace and a lot of people needing to live in peace, but peace is a daily exercise. Exercising this practice of not getting into conflict, of not judging and not disrespecting the other, the culture of the other, the space of the other, is very difficult. We live in a culture that says mine has to be better than yours, but who is the judge, to know that mine is better than the other’s?
We live in different ways, in different places and what I have realized is that humanity needs balance. Balance in emotions, balance in doing and giving other freedom.
Balance in respect and in the integration of these practices.
We have created things that hurt ourselves. There are things that are created on the other side of the world and that affect us. There are also things that we create here that have a negative impact on the other side. We need forests, we need rivers, we need people, we need animals, the beings of nature. But for some, they are not so important. Having a white tiger in their living room or even a jaguar is much more significant than having it in the woods, in the wild. An elephant is killed to take its teeth and bones. In Brazil, the practice of caging birds and selling animals reminds me that every caged bird sings but it is not necessarily singing with joy. It may be singing a sad melody, but we are not even prepared to hear that. We are so selfish that we create things to kill other beings all the time.
It is impressive that the coronavirus is smaller than a cell, but has managed to move around the entire globe. If we practice living together in peace, we first have to consider how to coexist with each other? How are the levels of harmony with those I hang out with, those I work with, my family? How do I coexist with the world?
If a small virus proved it could move around the globe, we, who are much bigger than a cell, can also impact the world, the universe, and even space and our galaxies which we are unfortunately also currently soiling.
We need to clear our heads here because peacemaking is not initiated by a great leader. It starts with the leader within me. When I start to live in peace with myself in the places where I live, everything around me changes; I begin to live in peace with those around me. That is how my people have been living and surviving for many years. Exercising peace daily is crucial.
That is the invitation to all. We need to exercise peace today, because tomorrow is another new day and we will need to exercise it again then, and the next day, and the next… until there is no air left in our lungs. This is how we will live together in peace. •
FIDÈLE NDAYISABA Executive Secretary of the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission
In order to mark the celebration of Living Together in Peace, allow me to share the experience of Rwanda, a nation that faced the worst violence of the century, a tragic genocide which took a million human lives in a hundred days from April to July 1994; a country committed to building its reconciliation.
The divisive history of Rwanda, especially the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi has resulted in widespread physical, psychological, interpersonal and spiritual wounds.
Beyond the individual suffering, the genocide devastated the Rwandan social fabric, upset its reference systems, compromised familial and community organizations, and impaired individual psyches.
The Government of Rwanda through partnerships with different actors, countries and international organizations, faith-based organizations, local Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and community initiatives has promoted healing initiatives at individual, community and national level.
The rules of humanity are desecrated and ridiculed by the community itself. The deaths, injuries (or wounds), suffering and destruction are provoked, maintained and exacerbated deliberately by the malevolent side.
Among many competing priorities, the post-genocide government of Rwanda directed a lot of efforts and resources towards restoring the security, rule of law and dignity of the society that was significantly affected by the genocide and long periods of bad governance characterized by discrimination and divisive ideologies.
The reconstruction steps involved an integrated approach that included the reparation of material damages and the healing of the broken emotional and psychological dimensions of individuals as well as the social fabric.
Restorative justice mechanisms through Gacaca Courts (a traditional Rwandan system of justice in which local community members are allowed to testify freely, without the participation of lawyers, and cases are decided by a jury chosen from the community as persons of integrity) have proven to be most effective responses to genocide crimes by holding genocide perpetrators accountable for
their deeds and avoiding revenge behavior by the surviving victims, thus reconstructing Rwandan society to become a harmonious and peaceful community and paving the way to economic recovery and progress.
This has been possible, on the one hand, due to the political will of the Rwandan leaders, and on the other hand, because the people of Rwanda made serious sacrifices to come back together as a people and a country (resilience).
The Rwandan reconciliation multi-approach process is founded mainly on two pillars: the legal and institutional reform framework, and home-grown approaches.
Over the 27 years of the reconciliation process, we have learned lessons concerning reconciliation:
• Reconciliation is a long-term relational process and has structural, contextual and cultural dimensions. It implies change in individuals, shifts in relationships between communities, and the restructuring of social-economic institutions. It is a complex process that takes considerable time, over several generations. Resilience is, at the same time, a foundation and an outcome of a reconciliation process. Reconciliation is a process that requires the knitting back together of the torn social fabric, the healing of wounds, the rebuilding of a sense of togetherness and the creation of institutions that promote national unity and accountability;
• Remorsefulness, confessions and seeking forgiveness are the clear manifestation of the “Never Again” rhetoric as stated by the International Community. Trust building and trauma healing are critical to reconciliation. Trauma healing through repairing and rebuilding communities and the social fabric recreates hope and peoples’ sense of being and belonging;
• Home-grown approaches are empowering, less costly, effective and sustainable;
• Forgiveness has been a cornerstone of social healing: Forgiveness and repentance have closed the window to vengeance and opened the door to sustainable peace in Rwanda;
• Dialogue allowed Rwandans to discuss the past of Rwanda while envisioning its bright future and this has promoted a strong and shared sense of Rwandan identity.
The recent Rwanda Reconciliation Barometer of 2020, an assessment of citizens’ views on unity and reconciliation, indicates that 94.7% of Rwandans feel reconciled and committed to the existential choice of staying together.
If you want peace and prosperity, invest in staying together. •
The following interventions are transcriptions from the Ubuntu United Nations’ First Seminar – Leading Like Mandela: Peace and Reconciliation which took place on October 24, 2021.
JOHN VOLMINK President of the Ubuntu Global Network and co-Chair of the Ubuntu United Nations
There is a book that you may have read. It is a book by Martin Kalungu Banda. The book is titled Leading like Mandela. In the tribute to the book, Oliver Williams of the university of Notre Dame, says the following: “the world is crying for great leaders today and all we seem to get are crass politicians and business executives”. Our purpose today is to present to you a good leader, an exemplary leader in Nelson Mandela.
In celebrating the legacy of Nelson Mandela, two concepts come to mind: one is servant leadership and the other is peace and reconciliation. Legacy is generally understood as a gift; something transmitted by, or received from, an ancestor or a predecessor from the past. Nelson Mandela was an amazing leader and he left us an amazing gift of leadership. This kind of leader, a blessing to the world, comes around only about once a century or even less.
Let us focus for a moment on Nelson Mandela as a servant leader.
There are two major types of leadership: one is a leadership of domination and we have had our fair share of those people in the world. They believe that to be feared is much safer than to be loved.
In contrast, there is also the leadership of servanthood. The leadership of servanthood is Ubuntu leadership. And that leadership is not about making our name known by virtue of our position of authority. It is about having the ability to love and respect the people under our care, using the authority we have been given, with kindness and generosity.
I want to put it more concisely: servant leaders actively seek the ideas and unique contributions of the people that they serve. They believe that none of us alone are as smart as we are together. This is how servant leaders create a culture of learning in an atmosphere that encourages followers to become
the very best they can. Also, servant leaders have humility, courage and the insight to admit that they can benefit from the expertise of others including those who are seen to have less power than them.
Servant leadership emphasizes that the responsibility of a leader is to increase the ownership, autonomy and responsibility of those in their care, to encourage them to think for themselves and to try out their own ideas.
The words servant and leader are usually thought of as being opposites. When two opposites merge or are brought together, you get a paradox. Servant leadership has been understood as a paradox and we must not confuse humility with an attitude of groveling civility. Humility and servant leadership do not imply that leaders have no self-esteem.
Nelson Mandela had the courage to disagree with his support base when he had to lead from the front. He was not afraid to give his followers an unpopular message. We need to follow Nelson Mandela’s example in this regard. I remember very clearly the day when one of the prominent leaders, Chris Hani, who was supposed to take over from him, was killed by somebody from Eastern Europe; someone who came here with the mean intention to kill him. The whole nation was just waiting for Mandela to say, “Now, we have civil war” because rage had built up to such a boiling point that civil war could have easily exploded. That night, on April, 13, 1993, Nelson Mandela gave a speech. I was in Johannesburg. It was a pivotal speech that brought us back from the brink of disaster. It is important to note that, although not explicitly stated, the principles of Ubuntu ran throughout that speech. It is in fact a masterclass on how the power of Ubuntu can bring about peace in a practical way in the midst of the most volatile situation.
I just want to underline that Nelson Mandela deeply believed that people are not born hating, and that love comes more naturally than hatred. He reminded us that we are bound together by our common humanity and that each individual has inherent dignity and worth. He had a genuine commitment to the well-being of others. It was Nelson Mandela who taught us to nurture that even when we differ across cultures and faiths, and even though history has divided us, rich from poor, free from unfree, powerful from powerless, race from race. As Nelson Mandela said “We are still branches on the same tree of humanity”. •
PRINCESS RYM ALI OF JORDAN Founder of the Jordan Media Institute
According to the agenda of the United Nations, 2021 is the International Year of Peace and Trust. To me, this reflects the notion of peace as a human right.
Firstly, I am a great proponent of making use of the United Nations-led themes - be they to name a year, a month, or a week or a day, because they give us all that space should we wish to do so, to highlight and advocate for causes that can help improve how we all live together on this planet. They remind us that the declaration of human rights, the right to peace, the right to access to development and the right to live in a good environment are ensured when true peace is attained and maintained, not merely on paper, but in actions that reinforce it.
I would like to reflect on this issue of national holidays. Many of these are remembrance days – for the younger generations to start looking at history step by step, to uncover what happened to lead us to where we are now. National holidays are sometimes designated for us to relive grief, but also, in so doing, to bring about peace and reconciliation and remind us why it is important to work on our memory, our collective memory and help remind us of our humanity and how we are all connected.
For the very first time in 2021, September 30 was marked in Canada and a federal holiday was observed, for what is now their Day for Truth and Reconciliation. It highlights the tragic legacy of residential schools to honor survivors of a very sad episode in Canadian history and commemorate the children who died while attending those schools.
To give another example, October 4 is a public holiday in Mozambique. It is the anniversary of the Accord of Peace and it was designated as a Day of Peace and Reconciliation, pay attention to the words. The Day of Peace and Reconciliation is not related to independence, but rather commemorates this other scar in Mozambique´s history, the civil war that raged from 1976 through to 1992. Three years
from now, Rwanda will be marking the 30th anniversary of a genocide that killed an estimated million Rwandans in one hundred days. Every year, between April 7 and April 14, they commemorate a week of national mourning.
I realize, of course, that whether or not these countries have truly reconciled societies is a question up for debate – true reconciliation takes time, and there are complexities that run far deeper than the official reconciliation processes that have taken place. Take Algeria and France: this case resurfaces regularly. Sixty years after the end of the war for independence, peace is built year after year: it is maintained year after year by the mutual recognition of the wrongs that each has done to the other. It is a condition for reconciliation, but it is not enough. Just as it may not be enough to have peace without justice. It takes courage and vision on the part of the political decision makers, but above all, it is about people who are interconnected. Work has to be done to impact public opinion, change the image of the former enemy with meetings within civil society, with students in schoolbooks. The reconciliation between France and Germany did all that work, it actually came in 1963, 18 years after the war and they kept working at it.
Three years ago, the parliament in Bosnia adopted a platform to track government activity to support reconciliation undertackings. As one Bosnian parliament member said, “we cannot change what happened, but we can do more to build true peace in Bosnia Herzegovina, to ensure that nothing like that will ever happen again”. Bosnia Herzegovina, despite the challenges it faces, is seen by many today to represent a pluralist model of how a multi religious society can also become a free and harmonious society when the constitution guarantees equal rights for its citizens.
In my region, the Middle East, there is a lack of recognition by some countries that continues to plague relations among citizens and between countries. Lebanon is currently a case in point where the absence of open conflict does not mean that the country is either peaceful or stable and where many people today say that there is a real risk of what happened in the past, happening again. After Lebanon´s devastating 15-year civil war, there was peace, but after that, there was no recognition or acknowledgement of the crimes committed by all parties. It was all buried and the Lebanese are struggling to tell the civil war story to their children in a way that they can all agree on. What children learn at school has an immediate impact on any given country. The most controversial topic, in fact, in a curriculum, is what is taught in history classes. In history programs what matters is not to point fingers and blame, but to make sure that the message “never again” is drilled into the young generations by showing them, much as they did in South Africa, much as Professor Volmink did himself and continues to do, that there is too much to lose by perpetuating a cycle of violence and revenge.
Yet, forgiving and forgetting may not be enough: the question of impunity is an intrinsic element of justice and there are a variety of ways to address it in order to achieve peace. The way in which justice is delivered through jail sentences or through truth and reconciliation that leads to reinsertion in society has varied depending on the place and time of the conflicts or strife the people may have endured.
That is why we look to South Africa and to the Ubuntu philosophy that was practiced there as a model. The principles, at the end of the day, remain the same: they may also be applied by different means. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 28, states that we all have the right to live in a peaceful and orderly society, so that these rights and freedoms can be protected, and these rights can be enjoyed in all other countries around the world. Human rights are defined there in a way some of us are familiar with.
The Organization of African Unity established its own charter on Human Rights in 1981. The main idea being that the rights of individuals cannot be held and enjoyed without taking into full consideration the social reality in which the individual exists. That is Ubuntu, right there. For Africans, the enjoyment of human rights by the individual is inconceivable if it does not go hand in hand with the duties that also need to be observed for society to function properly. This also guarantees that everyone will uphold the state of peace and stability once it is attained. The principles behind Ubuntu are truly needed in our societies today, whether we are working to maintain or to achieve peace.
At the end of the day, peace and reconciliation are both practical and emotional processes. Ubuntu has been, and continues to be, defined in many words by many people. Maybe the simplest and most formidable definition was pronounced by Desmond Tutu: we need other human beings in order to be human. Simple but clear. With this in mind, peace and reconciliation can be comprehended in an effective manner, with commemorations and remembrance days taking on their full meaning: that peace is not only a right, it is a duty! •
BY PRINCESS RYM ALI
Mr. Adama Dieng is a former United Nations (UN) Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, a position that he held from July 2012 to July 2020. He is also a former founding board member of the prestigious international institute for democracy and electoral assistance.
In 2001, the late Kofi Annan, whom we all sorely miss when it comes to peace activities around the world today, appointed his excellency Mr. Dieng as registrar of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, a position he held until 2008.
For a decade, Mr. Adama Dieng was Secretary-General of the Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists between 1990 and 2000. During that time, he was appointed as UN Independent Expert for Haiti. He was the driving force behind the establishment of the African Court of Human and People’s Rights and drafted the African Convention to fight corruption.
He has worked with institutions such as the International Committee for the Red Cross which is well known for its principles regarding humanitarian work.
Mr. Adama Dieng was born in Senegal where he graduated in Law. He also holds a Certificate from the Research Center of the Hague Academy of International Law and a Certificate on Homeland Security from the Paris Institute of International High Studies.
Currently, Mr. Adama Dieng is a member of the UN Internal Justice Council and Special Adviser to the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity and he is also the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
Most importantly, he is a very well-acclaimed human rights expert and lectures on issues related to international human law, human rights law and international criminal justice, having received many honorary distinctions around the world. •
ADAMA DIENG
Former United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide
The United Nations (UN) turned 76 years old last September. In its creation, the organization did not commit to take mankind to heaven, but to save humanity from hell. Hence, the critical importance of the 2030 Agenda, which is our best joint effort to create the conditions required to build societies that we can be proud of, rather than simply survive over the next ten years.
Despite our strong and continued engagement, we must face the harsh reality that the Covid-19 pandemic is threatening all the efforts we have led on this front. This pandemic, a moment that we are experiencing as one humanity, has clearly showed us that we need to serve people and the planet first. This reality applies now more than ever and young people have a key role to play in paving the way ahead.
But to be able to jointly pave the way ahead better, we need to establish a strong foundation of dialogue, understanding and dignity. We see and hear it each and every day.
Our world is divided, polluted and mostly driven by negative polarization that takes central stage in our global consciousness. Disagreement is part of the human experience, however, disagreeing with one another should not make us enemies. It should make us better listeners and better friends.
You may wonder how we can establish this strong foundation of dialogue, understanding and dignity so we can move forward together.
Firstly, we can establish it through our shared identity as we put firmly in the center of our consciousness the Ubuntu values that make us brothers and sisters in humanity regardless of our skin colors, our hair type, our political views or geographical location. Our shared human identity brings us together. We are, because we exist together.
Secondly, we can establish it through partnership. The reality is that we need each other. No one functions alone. And if your dreams include just you, they are too small. So, partner with your fellow builders, your fellow dreamers, your brothers and sisters. Together, we can deliver our commitment and vision for a more peaceful and sustainable world.
Thirdly, we can establish it through participation. Remember that no voice is too small or inadequate to have a say and share their opinion to positively move the discussion forward. Take a stand. You are here at the Ubuntu United Nations (UUN) which is a sign of your commitment to being active and to changing the ongoing negative narrative. My challenge to you is to go home and mobilize all the young people around you so that they too hear the message of hope.
Last but not least, we can establish it through progress. Humanity has made incredible progress, particularly in the last hundred years. Progress may be slow but it is inevitable when we work together as one humanity.
My daily work at the Rwanda tribunal, which was set up by the Secretary Council Trial responsible for the Tutsis’ Genocide in Rwanda, was a reminder that accountability for war crimes against humanity and genocide is an important part of peacebuilding, reconciliation between communities and for forging peace within society. These cannot be achieved by ending the conflict. Peace without justice is not real peace; it is a driver for another conflict. Justice is not retribution; it is not an act of revenge. It is not about putting one community above another. Justice should work for the benefit of all; it should be in the interest of the whole society to pull through the truth, know what happened, support victims from all communities, repair the harm that occurred and embark upon institutional reforms to ensure that it does not repeat.
That was the road Nelson Mandela chose. When establishing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, led by Reverend Desmond Tutu, learning the truth and giving voice to victims was the first step towards reconciliation. Dealing with the past is dealing with the present. Dealing with the past is the way to adjust the future. The justice process enables us to deal with difficult issues.
I am so glad that the UUN is providing young leaders with a much-needed platform for continued conversation on the critical role of youth in our collective quest to promote peaceful coexistence among communities and nations. We constantly need to remind ourselves that the freedoms which democracy brings will remain empty shells if they are not accompanied by real and tangible improvements in the material lives of the millions of ordinary citizens in those countries.
The greatest single challenge facing our globalized world is to eradicate its disparities. Young people owe it to the world, to their generation and those who will come after to continue advocating despite all the challenges and hurdles for a fairer and just world where humanity can peacefully coexist and live in dignity and diversity while celebrating differences as a source of unity and strength.
When men, women and children get sick from hunger, suffer from preventable diseases, languish in ignorance and illiteracy or find themselves deprived of decent shelter, talk of democracy and freedom that does not recognize these material aspects can sound hollow and erode confidence in the exact same values that we seek to promote.
It is relevant to keep in mind the wise words of Mr. Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, the late former President of Tanzania – “strive to always be your brothers and sisters’ keeper”. Those words resonate even more powerfully today.
Today, we, the people of the United Nations and the whole world, shall all embrace the spirit of Ubuntu. Our hope for humanity is that the day will come when we all affirm our common humanity and our reliance on one another. The youth of this world have an important role to play in materializing the aspirations displayed in the UN charter and other regional human rights instruments.
This reality can be achieved. Play your part. •
BY PRINCESS RYM ALI
I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Gunnar Stålsett, Bishop Emeritus of Oslo, and honorary President for the International Coalition for the World’s Religions for Peace for his involvement in this initiative.
Dr. Gunnar Stålsett is a Norwegian citizen. He studied Theology in his country and in the United States of America. Intermittent with his church career, he has been in parliament and in government. Then, he moved to the international scene and became General-Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation based in Geneva for ten years from 1985 to 1994. During that time, he actually strengthened the organization’s human rights and ecumenical profile because he very strongly supported the antiapartheid campaign in South Africa and Namibia as well as the peace processes in Guatemala and El Salvador. He has been a member of the Nobel Peace Prize committee for 17 years and he has been the chair of the Nijuano Peace Prize in Tokyo. His excellency was co-founder and chairman of the prestigious European Council of Religious Leaders. He is no stranger to the work that is being done on inter religious topics.
He was appointed the Norwegian Government Special Envoy to the peace process in East Timor and there, he advocated for truth and justice as preconditions for reconciliation. He has been a member of the Norway-Indonesia Human Rights Dialogue and the initiator and co-chair of the Religions for Peace Advisory Forum on Peace and Reconciliation in Myanmar, a very important place that needs help.
He continues his engagement with interfaith issues primarily through Religions for Peace and is actively engaged in the climate issue with the United Nations Environment Program. •
Bishop Emeritus of Oslo (Church of Norway) and Honorary President of Religions for Peace
Oslo is, as you know, the seat of the Nobel Peace Prize which links us to Ubuntu icons such as José Ramos-Horta, Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu.
This day, October 24, is observed worldwide as United Nations Day. Congratulations to the organizers for choosing this day for a global seminar on peace and reconciliation. Congratulations to all who have been privileged to join in this very important initiative.
I am honored to join this global initiative in the spirit of Ubuntu to tackle the issues facing humanity today: “I am because you are”.
Ubuntu is an expression of a universal bond that unites each and every human being. That is, in fact, a great statement. A universal bond. It is a simple statement and yet so revolutionary, human and so movingly spiritual – “I am because you are”. It cuts across religions and cultures, appealing to us all: love your neighbor as yourself. It dignifies self-respect and a love of the other that begins in the heart. A heart which is at peace with itself.
The first event Nelson Mandela attended in Norway, upon his release from Robin Island, was a conference under the title “Anatomy or Hate”. The next visit to Norway was his reception at the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony in 1993. He shared the honor with his predecessor, Mr. F.W de Klerk, the last President of South Africa´s apartheid regime.
Mandela and F.W. de Klerk embodied the award for peace and reconciliation. Not everyone was happy with that. Maybe the majority, also in Norway, thought Nelson Mandela should have been given it alone. I guess that Mandela´s understanding of Ubuntu, of Ethics of Care and of what makes peace and reconciliation last, made him gladly share it with F.W. de Klerk.
Before Nelson Mandela was released in 1990, I met President F.W. de Klerk in his office. I came to South Africa as General-Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) on a pastoral visit to meet with the leaders of three member churches of the LWF. These three member churches had been suspended from membership because of their support to the Apartheid policy.
On behalf of the LWF, I protested against the Apartheid regime and I called for the release of Nelson Mandela. Mr. F.W. de Klerk listened carefully. He professed to be a man of faith. I came there as a man of faith too. This was just before Easter.
Inspired by the Liberation Theology from Latin America, I spoke to the last President of Apartheid South Africa about the crucified people, and I reminded him that in the Christian salvation narrative, the crucified people shall become the risen people. He listened and he delivered, not because of my speech, but because of the appeal of the people and the pressure from people around the world.
Some words are forever etched into the history of mankind and South Africa is associated with two such words: Apartheid and Ubuntu.
The curse of Apartheid lingers on in old and new forms, as do Antisemitism, Islamophobia, which is sometimes Islamic hatred, and the persecution of many other faiths.
I owe my love to the word Ubuntu to the humanitarian giants: Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu.
As you will know, I had the privileged to know both. To me, they are Ubuntu incarnate with strikingly different personalities, but both freedom fighters in their own unique ways, both truth seekers, uniquely humble yet unwavering in their commitment to peace and reconciliation.
As Desmond Tutu celebrated his 90th birthday a few days ago, I was remembering that he personified the Truth and Reconciliation process designed to end Apartheid and cleanse the nation of this abomination. Today, I am sure he laments the deep division that still plagues his beloved people. If by chance Archbishop Desmond Tutu is listening to this program, I greet you my dear friend and say that no one has done more to mobilize young people in Norway against racism than you, during your many epic visits to this country. In fact, my own daughter, aged 12, came home one day with a badge “Free Nelson Mandela”.
On October 24, the United Nations Day, we celebrate peace, dignity and equality in a healthy planet. Peace and reconciliation seek to be the spirit and wisdom of Ubuntu. I suggest that we will be saved when we embrace, on this day, the framework of the United Nations (UN). It is practical. It is doable. There is no better way, no better delivery system in the modern world for peace and reconciliation than the UN.
The humble yet triumphant words of the Rights of the UN Charter are a credo of humanity. This credo is sustained by all religions, just remember the opening words:
“We the People of the United Nations determined, to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind [think of Myanmar or Ethiopia], and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom, And for these ends,
To practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbors (…)”
We do not need to reinvent the UN; we need to practice it.
Let me just end by suggesting an agenda for strengthening global peace and reconciliation. We need peace to be a human right. It is not enough to say “rights to peace”. Peace itself must become a human rights issue, because only then can the International Rule of Law embrace it and enable it to become a concrete subject of justice.
In my approach, I do not address only truth and reconciliation; I always mention truth, justice and reconciliation. In many of the peace processes which have not addressed the justice issue concretely, peace has not yet been reached and conflicts continue.
Moreover, we cannot ignore that the core value is human dignity. This cannot be compromised, and neither can the climate crisis. The poverty issue cannot be compromised. Neither can the nuclear issue. Equality among nations and within nations and terrorism are not issues to be compromised on.
If the understanding of reconciliation means finding a harmonious middle way, there is no harmonious middle way in any of these mentioned issues. When I lived in Geneva, I often attended meetings in a hotel where there was a sign that stated: “Please leave your valuables at the front desk”. Leaders who know that the things that are valuable in life are human dignity and human rights should not leave these things at the front desk. They should bring it into the negotiating room when dealing with these challenges, especially when International Law is being practiced, when resources are being spent, when development needs action around the world, and when the entire human family is under siege.
We should resolve to redouble our daily duties to defend human dignity and promote global equality. We should continue to call on science to overcome the Covid-19 pandemic. We should besiege policy makers to perform bold acts of compassion and social justice.
It is also time to rejoice in every humanitarian effort made by states and civil societies and encourage truth, justice and reconciliation.
On a personal note, it is my firm conviction that we can all be history-changing instruments for peace. In the words of St. Francis:
“Where there is hatred, we can bring love, Where there is injury, pardon, Where there is discord, harmony”. .•
EMANUEL CASTILLO Delegate of Colombia
Imagine that a relative of yours was murdered by somebody and months later, you meet the person responsible for it. What would your reaction be? Or, imagine that someone breaks into your house, kidnaps your children and assaults your wife. Do you think this kind of thing should end? Now, imagine a kid being forced to carry a gun based on a political belief that is far from those held by his or her own people.
For 50 years, Columbia faced an armed conflict with FARC, the “Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia”.
Founded in 1964 as a response to growing inequality regarding opportunities for political participation, they resorted to the use of violence, thereby seeking a political space where this fight could be reflected. Thousands of people were killed, disappeared and were displaced.
The past cannot be changed, nevertheless, it is possible to start working to change the future of this country. We cannot change what happened, but we have two options: allow emotions to stay inside us without moving forward, or control our emotions and move on so we can create a better future. Just as Nelson Mandela could forgive those years in jail, Colombia as a nation started to move forward by starting a peace agreement process in September 2012 that was concluded and signed in 2016 in Havana, Cuba. The agreement between FARC, the government and the armed group committed to surrender their arms in order to end the war, make amends to the victims, foster democracy and bring peace and reconciliation to the whole country.
The agreement signed in 2016 was an important milestone in the history of Colombia. For the first time, life and well-being was at the center of the discussions and finally, listening and dialogue became the way to conclude that it was necessary to lay the weapons down.
The peace agreement would not have been possible without the historical efforts of the Colombian
people who never gave up and who worked hard in their communities to guarantee the collective well-being and inspire many others to believe in peace as a reality. Afro- Colombian, indigenous and other ethnic groups, farmers and urban dwellers have creatively designed and developed strategies that have contributed to achieving the peace that we have dreamed about as a country. For instance, music in a town named Bojayá in the department of Chocó on the Pacific Coast has been a tool to forgive and heal the consequences of one of the worst massacres in Colombia’s history. Music, literature, cinema, and all the artistic expressions that you can imagine, have been used as cultural strategies for peace.
On the other hand, state initiatives have helped strengthen peace strategies. Examples include the creation of the Truth Commission training program to promote reconciliation, listening and discussion spaces, and the promotion of tourism in areas affected by the armed conflict.
However, this is not enough to achieve peace completely as peace does not mean the end of a conflict. Peace is the result of a collective and permanent construction where every person inside and outside Colombia plays an important role.
The peace agreement launched a program reform that seeks to overcome poverty and inequality in the countryside and provide well-being conditions for all rural inhabitants. Those displaced by the conflict are being given the chance to return to their lands, work on them and live in peace as per the United Nations sustainable development goals numbers 1 (zero poverty), 2 (zero hunger) and 10 (reduced inequalities).
After signing the peace agreement, Colombians are still seeking to move this country forward, to a culture of reconciliation and tolerance, pointing to a permanent construction of peace.
The people of Colombia dream of a strong democracy where everyone has the right to an opinion and to disagree; where ideas are defended with arguments and never ever again with weapons. •
RAMEESA KHAN Delegate of Pakistan
ARADHANA BARUAH Delegate of India
India gained its independence on August 15 in 1947 and Pakistan was founded on August 14 of the same year. India is a secular state, but Pakistan is an Islamic country.
The border dispute between these countries resulted in many declarations as well as resolutions. To name a few of them, the United Nations Resolution No. 47 (between India and Pakistan, over Kashmir dispute), Shimla Agreement in 1972 and Lahore Declaration in 1999. Both countries tried to resolve border issues through this diplomatic system, but unfortunately, it did not succeed in fortifying a result, primarily because of the conflicting agendas of each country.
The wars between India and Pakistan occurred in 1948, 1965, 1971 and 1999. None of these conflicts had decisive outcomes. There was no ruling in favor of either of the countries with regard to the border dispute and India and Pakistan have maintained a very fragile ceasefire since 2003. The conflict remains dormant and peace is at stake.
Peace is not something to be solely discussed. Peace is executed by conduct. The core disease impacting both countries at all levels, is the huge trust deficit that has built up over the last seven decades.
Other initiatives that have made an effort to bring the two countries together and increase their trust in each other are Aman ki Asha, Aghaz-e-Dostui and the collaboration of Indian Youth Café and Lahore Youth Café.
But there is an urgent need to do more as the situation has exponentially worsened since 2010.
The first step is to propagate facts through social media campaigns for the interchange and intermingling of common true historical heritage, shared by both countries. This can be implemented by the government, as well as by private entities.
The governments of India and Pakistan should also be accountable regarding the growth of economy, education, health, social welfare, justice and, most importantly, the happiness index of the masses
in their own territories. This would help establish a more cohesive society, able to become more interventionist and aware of the importance of healthy regional and human relations.
It may also be worthwhile to increase interactions through student exchange programs and promote mutual entertainment, cultural, sports and social empowerment events (which include the empowerment of women, sanitation, female health, hygiene and others).
Finally, the social fabric can be strengthened by intercultural, interracial and interpersonal relationships exemplified by individuals with a far-reaching public image, as has been so admirably demonstrated by two sports superstars, Sania Mirza from India and Shoiab Malik from Pakistan.
To end, peace is not the destination; peace is the journey. The destination is a sovereign democracy and the way is reconciliation. The Ubuntu platform is the first step in this direction whereby different delegates from countries with disagreements have the opportunity to interact, deliberate and exchange ideas.
This is a great opportunity because Ubuntu must be utilized in all peace initiatives, not only in the conflicts between India and Pakistan, but also in conflict resolution all around the world. The exchange of ideas, the exchange of programs and dialogue all come under the Ubuntu umbrella, and conferences must be initiated at regular intervals for a real sustainable development of trust and peace initiatives.
We thank Ubuntu for taking the first step and igniting the tiny sparks in each of us. •
MARIO SALAZAR NÚÑEZ
Delegate of Chile Education and Leadership to Change the World
Never in history have we been 100 seconds from midnight as we currently are. Although the ''Doomsday Clock'' was birthed as a warning of the danger of a nuclear war, today, it symbolizes the deep climatic and social crisis that our planet is going through.
The deepening of poverty and inequality, the consequent exacerbation of social problems, an unprecedented health crisis, and latent racial discrimination during strong migratory currents reflect the fact that we have not known how to face global challenges.
The truth is that today, more than ever, it is necessary to train new leaders to lead the transformations that the world needs. The Ubuntu method has reached hundreds of young people around the world, enhancing their leadership skills, and gathering them around a transformative ideology that can change the world.
This article highlights the need for a new concept of the educational model, and the imperative of a generation of leaders who, endowed with the pillars that govern the Ubuntu philosophy, can lead our society towards sustainable development.
The 2030 Agenda, a proposal with 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs), is intended to reverse the effects of an exploitative system that we cannot continue to sustain. The last century has promoted explosive economic development based on brutal competition with no respect for natural resources, monopolizing all areas of human activity and relationship. Education is no exception, since it has been commodified to such an extent that today it focuses its efforts on the production of workers at the service of perpetuating this system, in which individualism prevails, leaving social development aside and setting aside the process of questioning the system from the collective imaginary (Ojeda & Martínez, 1998). However, it is our job to vindicate education, which must be seen as a political and social action tool, and therefore a fundamental human right. In addition, it represents one of the SDGs, and is the key point that opens the way to the fulfillment of the other objectives in the medium
term (UN, 2015). It must also promote sustainable development through large alliances and global objectives in which peace prevails (UNESCO, 2017).
The task is not easy, the legacy of overconsumption, which has perpetuated and increased inequality (Cortina, 2002), must be reversed and we must fight against the plutocratic trap that has appropriated the concept of sustainability as a marketing strategy, to perpetuate an anti-ecological system.
In a dichotomous world divided between economic and state powers, society must turn in a direction that allows self-governance. To do this, we first need citizens to be educated from a new perspective, since the generations of humans who are destroying the planet have been trained in our current educational systems (Gadotti, 2009). Thus, the educational system is crucial in order to permit aspirations of a status of planetary citizenship where people work collaboratively for common objectives, hand in hand with a cooperative and non-competitive economy, which allows inequalities to be overcome and the cultural integration of humanity (González, E & Mínguez, R, 2021).
So, in the midst of the vortex in which the world finds itself, education stands as the key element to adapt to transformations, and more importantly, to create them.
Secondly, the rise of leaders who have been inspired by past revolutionary processes to seek future transformations, has been decisive. The Ubuntu method allows the strengthening of said leaders, who through a social, ecological, and integrating vision of cultural diversity, can lead a transition towards a lasting and sustainable economy, and who know how to adapt to the different systems of government organization (REDES, 2018). The truth is that history is marked by the work of great leaders, and today we can learn from them.
The Ubuntu philosophy recognizes the legacies of those who marked a before-and-after with their battles, and through them, inspires a new generation of young leaders under the mantle of 5 pillars: self-knowledge, self-confidence, resilience, empathy, and service. Thereby, hundreds of young leaders, aware, capable and with a renewed mentality, have chosen the Ubuntu method to train, and thus lead, the paradigm shift and the transformations that the world needs.
The existence of organizations committed to the SDGs allows hope to be maintained in the transition towards a more equal and dignified world for all people. Ubuntu embodies a philosophy that through education and inspiration forms leaders who in turn, generate positive impacts in their communities and bring the SDGs to every corner of the earth. It is necessary that these types of organisms are strengthened to reach more and more young people because this generation has the destiny of our planet in its hands.
The concept of development to characterize societies must remain in the past, since the economic parameter of production and consumption has become obsolete. Economic development must
aspire to build a system focused on guaranteeing opportunities, rights and freedoms for all. Today, society as a whole is developing, as it is in a transition towards a social evolution that seeks the path of sustainability.
It is through a socio-educational and political process that great transformations can be brought about, led by leaders who, through the Ubuntu method, acquire the skills that the process requires. In the words of Nelson Mandela: ''Education is the most powerful weapon to change the world'', and today more than ever, his words resonate in the hearts of millions of people. •
• Ojeda, F, & Martínez, A. (1998) La Educación Global y la Ética Ecológica como Herramientas para la Sustentabilidad. Centro Nacional de Educación Ambiental. Available at: https://www.miteco. gob.es/es/ceneam/articulos-de-opinion/1998-ojeda-martinezvillar_tcm30-163523.pdf.
• United Nations (2015) Take Action for the Sustainable Development Goals. United Nations website. Available at: http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals
• UNESCO (2017). Education for Sustainable Development Goals: learning objectives. Available at: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000247444
• Cortina, A. (2002). Por una ética del consume: La ciudadanía del consumidor en un mundo global. or an ethic of consumption. Taurus. Available at : http://ibdigital.uib.es/greenstone/collect/cd2/ index/assoc/consumca.dir/consumcat0001.pdf
• Gadotti, M. (2000). Pedagogy of the Earth and culture of sustainability: Forum on our global challenges Costa Rica 2000 Commission: A New Millennium of Peace "Si vis pacem, para pacem". University for Peace. Available at: https://earthcharter.org/library/pedagogia-de-la-earth-ycultura-de-la-sustentabilidad-2000/
• González, E., & Mínguez, R. (2021). Transformar la educación para cambiar el mundo. I Jornadas Nacionales de Educación para el desarollo y objetivos de desarrollo sostenible. Available at: https://cienciaabierto.carm.es/jspui/bitstream/20.500.11914/4804/1/15488-Transformar%20 la%20educaci%C3%B3n%20para%20cambiar%20el%20mundo..pdf
• Redes (2018). Marco para la Educación Transformadora y para uma Ciudadanía Global Red de entidades para el desarrolo solidario. Available at: https://www.redes-ongd.org/documentomarco-educacion-y-por-una-ciudadania-global-redes/ •
MONA SULIMAN Delegate of Sudan
There is tension, violence, low values, grievances, and a decrease in tolerance and respect for human rights in the modern world, making it smaller, less peaceful, and less secure for present and future generations.
As we progress in the 21st century, the world has become smaller, less peaceful, and more insecure. It involves navigating an environment full of tension, violence, low values, grievances, and reduced tolerance and respect for human rights. The culture of arms has taken a dominant position in most developing countries, especially in the Middle East.
By changing their attitudes towards people, traditions, religion, and belief, young people can play an instrumental role in promoting a culture of "change" and collectively, through their enthusiasm, patience, and understanding of the importance of living together, they are responsible for defending the boundaries of peace and nonviolence.
Peacebuilding is an issue that concerns countries in all stages of development, especially those emerging from a state of conflict, as it helps establish effective social, political, and judicial institutions and serves as the driving force towards development, by adopting political, security, and structural strategies and involving international and local actors. Ensuring the active, systematic and purposeful participation of young people in peace and security issues is a demographic and democratic necessity, and it is also the means of preventing armed conflicts.
Social exclusion is an influential factor that leads to relapse and violent conflict. Therefore, participation in decision-making supports young people's ability to face societal pressures, giving them a sense of belonging.
Young people can be independent social agents and are more inclined towards collecting and forming collective associations that may sometimes represent a threat. Young people can be easily mobilized to participate in disruptive actions that lead to conflict and violence. This is a byproduct of entrenched and endemic social challenges, especially in emerging societies, such as high unemployment rates. In a protracted conflict where stability is necessary for social reconstruction, targeting young people as peacebuilding agents is of particular importance as it can herald peace and restore safety and cohesion to war-torn communities.
Youth are more open to change since they are willing to try out novel ideas. As Johan Galtung said, "Young people are always looking for creative ideas and novel challenges while adults have already formed their ideological discourse.” I have seen this hundreds of times. We must bring young men and women together in peace building processes. Youth are future-focused, inherit the past from their elders, will have to live in a world built by others, and are less inclined to "forget" the past than those who have experienced trauma directly. Furthermore, in the longer term, tolerance toward a peace agreement depends on whether future generations accept or reject it, and how it is socially shaped during the peace process.
Every process that builds and develops nations requires the involvement of young people. As individuals, we can have an impact. On a national scale, we can have an impact. Many ideas that include peace building and philosophy, self- development, and other fields of industrial and educational development are believed to have originated in small communities and spread worldwide.
It is imperative that young people be involved in decision-making and innovative partnerships that drive the promotion of values of peace, as the world gains the confidence and courage it needs to place young people in active and emerging fields in society. •
• UNICEF (2018). Youth Building Peace. Available at: https://www.unicef.org/egypt/ar/pressreleases/youth-building-peace.
• Zadan, H. & Moon, A. (2019). The Role of Youth in Building a Culture of Peaceful Coexistence in Society. Available at: https://www.asjp.cerist.dz/en/article/122838. •
The following interventions are transcriptions from the Ubuntu United Nations’ Second Seminar –Building Bridges: Interfaith and Intercultural Dialogue which took place on November 7, 2021.
JOHN VOLMINK President of the Ubuntu Global Network and Co-Chair of the Ubuntu United Nations
We are joined by people from 190 different countries, drawn together because we share a common dream; the same dream pursued by Nelson Mandela. I am referring to the dream that we can overcome our prejudices and hatred and embrace the power found in one community, one country and, indeed, in one global humanity.
Nelson Mandela gave the world hope that this dream was possible; a dream that still seems so unattainable. This vision of one community, one global human family is critical for our survival. This has never been more true as we face chronic challenges borne by deep injustices in the world, such as poverty and hunger, as well as acute threats, namely a global pandemic that has caused us all to act in the urgent and united manner articulated in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
We can only empower that dream by working in partnership with each other. We cannot do it by ourselves and that is the interconnectedness and the interdependence that comes from a deeper understanding of Ubuntu. That is why we celebrate this moment of the Ubuntu United Nations.
We are privileged and honored to have with us some of the most distinguished leaders and minds in the world. We are currently living through a time of a great incertainty.
When Nelson Mandela stepped out of prison, he stepped into a deeply divided society, a society filled with conflict, hatred and injustice. He immediately began to lay the foundations of a bridge, a bridge of healing, a bridge from a broken past to a new dynamic future and he spoke these important words:
“as I walked out of prison, I walked towards the gate that would lead me to freedom. I knew that if I did not leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I would still be in prison”.
We need bridge builders today; we need a bridge between two sides. We always need a bridge when there are two sides separated by ideology or by culture or by divisions very often created by religion, gender, race, social status or other factors. We need bridge builders because bridge building is about creating community; it is fundamentally an Ubuntu activity that cuts across all of these barriers that we have created. Bridge builders are people who create relationships. They bring together people who are disconnected from each other by race, religion or culture. Ubuntu brings these people into community and forges ties that cut across borders.
Lastly, bridge builders help build trust through improved communication between conflicting people and groups.
Bridge building cannot happen without leadership. Bridge building is highly dependent on leadership and the leadership of the 21st century is servant leadership.
That is what we believe in the Ubuntu program. This kind of leadership requires new skills, new values and new ethics. This requires personal change that involves a process of unlearning certain ways of leading and relearning new ways of being and leading.
On behalf of the Ubuntu Global Network, I would like to welcome everyone to the long road to freedom that we are walking. •
PRINCESS RYM ALI OF JORDAN Founder of the Jordan Media Institute
If you ask anyone if they know what building bridges means, they will likely retort that they do. If you then ask them to define it, they might say that this is simple and that it is what you do to help establish contact between people. However, if you ask them to elaborate, they find that it becomes a little more complicated, yet you will still find that most people can elaborate and give examples such as helping individual groups, even nations, learn how to work together or to reconcile when they have differences. It becomes a little more complicated when you ask them if they have personally had a direct experience with building bridges.
As President of the Anna Lindh foundation, I am an advocate for intercultural dialogue in the Euro Med region, and I accepted that role because I know that the Anna Lindh foundation believes in doing, not just in talking, and actually engages with networks all around the region.
But to return to the aforementioned concept of helping to link or bridge cultures, it is important to note the cultural specificity of each situation. It recently came to my attention that there are parts of the world, such as India, where bridges do not represent a link between cultures. In parts of India, the intercultural relation is crossed on a boat and by meetings from shore to shore. Meetings held on the water by several boats involve intercultural relations that include meeting and trading. It is seen as a journey. A bridge is stable, but it might also be rigid, not flexible. A boat evokes transportation and exchange, and this metaphorical difference is revealed by conceptual differences. What binds these two ways of relating together, you will have guessed, is the underlying principle of Ubuntu, because whether we are crossing a bridge to trade goods or ideas, or exchanging them by boat, we remain individuals that are intrinsically, and by necessity, part of a larger whole that is composed of others; “I am because you are”.
During my career as a journalist, I must confess that I covered more stories of bridges, (and boats for that matter) being destroyed than being built, whether in the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Lebanon, Iraq or Afghanistan. In Iraq, I felt very much that my role as a journalist was, in addition to telling the truth, to build bridges.
I was in Baghdad before, during and after the invasion of Iraq, and I was asked questions live, on air, by presenters in the United States (U.S) and I addressed viewers around the world. I was often asked why U.S soldiers were dying in Iraq when they had, in their view, come to liberate Iraqis. At that moment, I felt that I had to be that bridge and explain to each side what was in the other´s heart. For example, I always kept in mind that there must be mothers in our audience searching for answers as to why their kids were at war in that country, just as there were mothers in Iraq wondering why the army that had come to liberate them, was not able to restore electricity, or make their country safe, and why sometimes innocent civilians died at their hands.
In several places that I have covered or followed, I saw very brave attempts to actually rebuild the very bridges which had been destroyed. Remember those previously mentioned places, the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Iraq, Lebanon. Destroying is done much faster than rebuilding, and that is why bridge building cannot only be done after the fact, or after the conflict: it has to be practiced all the time, preventatively, and the media, today, especially social media, has a huge role to play in that.
It plays a role positively or negatively, depending on how it is channeled and used.
There has been much done to rebuild, but progress is not even. Often, we think peace has been achieved only to see conflict rear its ugly head again, because it is not enough for leaders to shake handspeople have to be convinced so that support for peace transpires throughout the entire society for generations, mainly through education and culture and the media, and through reducing gaps between the haves and the have nots. Remember Liberia, Sierra Leone or the Congo since its independence in 1960. Look at the brave people of Lebanon trying to prevent their country from sinking back into conflict as we speak. Ask the guests that you will hear from later, ask them what their experience was. Mr. José Ramos-Horta lived through a conflict in his own country and then took a leading role in reestablishing peace which has slowly taken root. He then traveled the world trying to help extinguish fires of conflict in various ways: a discrete mediation here, a successful election there and a United Nations (UN) report on how to re-establish peace where it has been broken.
Remember in particular, how dear president Mr. José Ramos-Horta worked to rebuild solid bridges between his country and Indonesia, the very neighbor and much more powerful country that had occupied his own small country and oppressed his people. While you may not be in the position to build bridges at national level like Nelson Mandela or these mentioned men and women were, bear in mind, that all our actions as individuals and communities have an impact.
The Ubuntu philosophy says that we are all part of humanity, and each of us is also responsible for the well-being of the community. Looking at daily challenges, it is easy to despair and say that nothing will ever change, and to remain fixed in one’s belief that we are right and the other is wrong.
The media has played a wonderful role in bringing people together around ideas. This includes travel shows and TV cookery shows where you can see and understand cultures from around the world. The media also plays a powerful role in holding leaders accountable, provided they share accurate information.
A properly balanced professional public media has a very important role to play in that respect and as Abraham Lincoln said, “tell your people the truth and your country will be saved”. I was very excited to hear one of the delegates affirm wanting to digitize society in a healthy way, because there is that other side to the media today, as you know, and a lot of the time in our daily social media conversations, there is confusion between facts and opinion, and we do not even have the awareness that there are other points of view and other possibilities.
It is important to reflect on how Facebook is blocking access to data, about how much misinformation it spreads and who is affected. These misconceptions about the other can be made by us all very easily and thanks to the way algorithms work, we are often not even aware of the other realities; we are familiar with some of their opinions, which we reject, but the algorithms do not only choose what category you fall into in order to feed you content, it also selects content for you which means it hides content from you.
Awareness about the media, and social media in particular, through media literacy is key, whether you attend a workshop or whether you educate yourself.
The American academic and activist, Loretta Ross, wrote about using the internet to call people in, rather than call them out. Calling people out is something I am sure you have seen. It is so often done through social media and it is very divisive. A reverend once told her that when you ask people to give up hate, you then need to be there for them when they do. And she soon realized that if a black woman can learn how to have civil conversations with someone who has been in the Ku Klux Klan, then we should be able to have conversations with everybody because we have to remember that there is humanity behind the words, and there is humanity behind every action.
We cannot dehumanize people simply because we disagree with their political perspectives, so by being more aware and in control of the content you receive, and share, by using the technology at your fingertips, to bond rather then divide, and by using critical thinking to question those who spread hatred, you are already building bridges. You are preventing words of hate from escalating into actions motivated by hate, and you can be there for those that you may have asked to give up hate.
I am also happy to know that the speed with which artificial intelligence is gaining ground means that we all have to come together to understand it, to embrace its positive impacts and also to overcome together the challenges it opposes to humankind. But what gives me hope is that humanity has existed across generations in history. Humanity has shown its resilience even after devastating strife: it is estimated that 3% of the world’s population died as a consequence of World War II.
More than 75 years later, in Normandy, in the north of France where the allies landed to fight, German people pay respect to those who have been laid to rest, almost side by side in the American and German cemeteries, even the resting grounds of old enemies are consecrated, maintained and visited by all.
Building bridges has to start with the acknowledgement of the suffering of people. It is the foundation that no one can skip or avoid. Any peace building attempts when the work of recognition of wrongs has not been fully explored and dealt with, are bound to remain superficial and not last long. That work allows boundaries to be torn down in our hearts and in our minds. It is never impossible, but it takes time.
More recently, our common humanity has emerged in force due to the pandemic. Although we were made aware of the stark inequalities of people who live on our planet, we also felt a sense of belonging as we were all subject, as it were, to the same consequences imposed on us by the spread of the virus. All of us, practically at the same time, were locked down time after time and we felt empathy with our fellow human beings in Wuhan, Milan, Algiers or New York.
As I mentioned earlier, building bridges can be preventive. In fact, it should be a goal we constantly seek to prevent us from reaching situations where hatred turns into violence. When we do not realize that Ubuntu is not just wishful thinking, but a reality - that we are
all linked to one another and that there are consequences if we do not share our planet earth’s resources with more equality, there will be more and more refugees and that is an almost impossible mathematical equation to solve.
If we do not all take refugees in, and give them equal access to education, and allow people to move freely to find more opportunities even before they become refugees, we are creating more inequality. Likewise, if we do not care for our planet and if we do not work together to keep ourselves healthy, we will have more pandemics.
You do not need to have followed the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP) in November 2021, at the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) to realize this.
Was the spirit of Ubuntu flying around Glasgow? I think it was. The environment should ideally be one of the few causes that humans from the north, south, east and west can rally to protect, no matter what their political, religious or cultural differences.
Sir David Attenborough in a presentation, which I would urge you all to watch and re-watch if you have not already seen it, called for more equality and more sustainability. His short but powerful speech was greeted by resounding applause: he was heard and understood. The people in the room who listened and applauded are decision makers who can implement his message. But when he concludes “In my lifetime I saw terrible decline, in yours you can and should see a wonderful recovery and that is why you are here”, I think he was not only addressing leaders of the world; he was addressing all young people.
The pandemic has already taught us a simple but all-important lesson: no one on this Earth will be safe until we are all safe. We have learned the lesson, or have we? Is each and every one of us doing what he or she can to make themselves, and all of us, safe?
There is an author called Todd Miller who recently wrote a book titled “Build Bridges, Not Walls”. He calls for a borderless world to halt global emergencies that threaten our collective survival. Karen Armstrong is a world-famous author who studied what the great monotheistic religions have in common and called on all of us to be compassionate and apply the golden rule “do not do to others what you do not want done to you”. She has created an organization called the Charter of Compassion organization.
These are only a few ideas and thoughts that stem from the fact that as human beings, we can only be united when we live by taking the other into account. There are many more examples such as people like Nelson Mandela who acted on all these ideas and who actually broke down barriers in his mind and in his heart to the point that he learned the language of his oppressors to be able to better understand them and talk with them, as an equal. While he did not forget, he forgave and built bridges.
There is an Arab proverb that says, “the one-thousand-mile journey starts with one single step” and that step has to go in the right direction, that of realizing with absolute certitude that I am because you are and that my DNA and yours go back to the same ancestors. My humble desire for you today is that all of you sharing these moments will get to know each other and gradually start building with one another and win over the support and participation of the other.
As the late King Hussein of Jordan said:
“we believe that peace is not just a signed paper but rather a contract between generations for the building of a more promising and less threatening future”.
Equally important is to understand that young people must be more dynamic and engaged in some countries, especially those dealing with the direct impacts of climate change.
Civil society is not always organized in the same or equal manner. All over the world, the internet is a formidable tool to help organize, mobilize and achieve that goal. At the same time, we are also conscious that it can be a frighteningly dangerous instrument that can spread damaging lies and falsehood. It needs to be handled with care. Young people everywhere should be active and reach out to others and build bridges together, but they should also be vigilant and not be led astray by falsehoods: the coup attempt on the Capitol Hill in Washington DC, United States of America, in 2021 and the rejection of the democratic election results is an example.
Awareness is, first of all, crucial, because being well and accurately informed, is already one step towards enrollment. One cannot be fully aware of what is happening and then not act and there are a lot of ways of educating oneself through the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) website and other trustee websites of organizations with credibility, such as different UN agencies.
But, wherever you are in the world, it would also help if everyone saw, for instance, the immediate link between climate change or the lack of environmental policies and poverty, emigration and immigration and, additionally, the significance of local actions in towns and villages to revert this situation. I believe that engaging in issues that are of direct concern and have direct impact on their lives might be the first step towards youth mobilization, action and determination. •
GUEST INTRODUCTION
JOHN VOLMINK
It is my distinct pleasure and privilege to introduce Mr. José Ramos-Horta. Amongst other things, he is the chairperson of the Ubuntu United Nations (UUN). Mr. José Ramos-Horta was an active defender of the people of East Timor. He was exiled for almost three decades, and in 1996 was awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize for his work for a peaceful solution to the conflict in East Timor and for fighting for the human rights of the East Timorese people. He assumed the position of Senior Minister in the new government, was elected Prime Minister, and finally, President.
His leadership and expertise led East Timor to a new era of peace and reconciliation, and economic growth, and he is currently one of the world’s true peacebuilders.
Mr. José Ramos-Horta, as President of the UUN, continues to take messages of hope and peace all around the world. •
JOSÉ RAMOS-HORTA
former President of East Timor and 1996 Nobel Peace Prize laureate
I feel like I am a part of the United Nations (UN): I first went to the United Nations in New York at the age of 25, having never been to the UN, never been to New York, and never having seen snow before. I went straight from tropical Timor to New York: there was no cultural transition from my village to New York and I went straight to address the UN Security Council. I believe I am still the youngest person ever to have addressed the UN Security Council.
Over the years, I learned the good, the bad, and the useless of the UN. The UN is not just the organization by itself, neither just a principle or a concept. Its power lies in all the UN members, particularly the member staters – both the five permanent members and the other ten non-permanent membersand others who are not in the Security Council, but who are hugely powerful such as India, Japan, Indonesia and many others.
I literally grew up and aged with the UN, and then served in the UN under Ban Ki-Moon when he was elected to be its Secretary-General.
I finished my term of office as President of East Timor and Ban Ki-Moon invited me to first serve as head of the integrated peacebuilding mission in Guinea- Bissau, West Africa, and later chair the high-level panel on the UN peace operations to review all of the doctrinal and operational aspects of the peace operations around the globe.
António Guterres, the current Secretary-General, invited me to be a member of the Board on Mediation from 2017 to 2019. I have the greatest respect for those who have served the UN, for the sacrifices that they have made, and are making, in so many conflict situations around the globe, right now, namely in Yemen, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan...
I want to share with you about the Human Fraternity Award, a project that I have been involved with, that was created following the historic encounter between Pope Francis and the Grand Iman of al-Azhar mosque, Professor Ahmed el-Tayeb in February 2019. This initiative for human fraternity was created following the historic meeting of His Holiness, Pope Francis and Professor Ahmed el-Tayeb, the Grand Iman of al-Azhar in the United Arab Emirates. I
was recently invited to be a member of the jury, so, in October 2021, I was in Rome with other members of the judging committee of the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity. The judging committee includes former president of Niger, Mahamadou Issoufou; former Deputy President of South Africa and former UN Under-Secretary-General, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka; UnderSecretary-General for Migrant Refugees of the Holy See, His Eminence Cardinal Michael Czerny; President of the Aladdin project, Dr. Leah Pisar; and Secretary-General of the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity, Judge Mohamed Abdelsalam.
Pope Francis went to the United Arab Emirates to participate in the inter-religious dialogue that took place there and that act in itself was historical: it was the first time a Pope had been to the Arabian Peninsula.
They issued a document titled “Document on Human Fraternity”, that you can access online. It is an extraordinary document, as historic as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I personally hope that the governments of my own and other countries will eventually adopt it as a national declaration and that this national statement will then be made available in school curricula.
When you read the document, you will realize how profound it is, signed by two of the greatest spiritual and religious leaders of the world, leaders of more than two billion people who follow the Islamic and Christian religious faiths.
Being former President of East Timor, I feel particularly connected because we are a predominantly Catholic country (98%), we have small Muslim and Protestant communities, and we were in conflict for 24 years with our much bigger neighbor, Indonesia, who has the largest Muslim majority in the world. Too many of our people died in the conflict, but nowadays, we not only have an exceptionally successful relationship with Indonesia, but we have also been successful in national healing and reconciliation, precisely the essence of Mandela’s legacy and message.
I met Mandela a number of times in South Africa. The first time was in 1995. I was an unknown person at the time; I was only known to some African National Congress (ANC) political party comrades. When I arrived in South Africa, nothing had been organized for me. It was a bit chaotic, typical of the ANC, and my comrades were too busy, and they pretended to get people to come to see me. I wanted to meet Nelson Mandela but he was in hospital.
I did not know he was in hospital and I kept telling people “Listen I’m not leaving until I see Mandela” and they answered me “well it’s going to be very difficult” and I replied “No problem. I have all the time in the world. I can wait here for a few months if necessary”. After two weeks, I received a phone call from the office of Mandela informing me that Mandela was ready to see me. I rushed to his residence located two hours away, at full speed. I was taken straight up to the first floor of his residence into his bedroom. Mandela was in bed, but of course he was awake, and he looked at me and said “oh, you were the one who wanted to see me. You said you wouldn’t leave until you saw me” And then he said “well, as you can see, I am in bed, I just came out of hospital”. He had had knee surgery a few hours before, so the doctors had restricted him to bedrest. Therefore, when we met, he was in bed and I was sitting on a chair near him. We chatted for an hour until the doctor told me that I had to leave.
This is only to state the greatness of the man - I was an unknown person, and he heard that this young man from East Timor insisted to see him so badly that he said “I’m sorry I kept you waiting, you must be busy working for your people and that’s why I decided to see you right away”
This is to share a brief story of a great leader with great humanity and humility. I try, as much as I can, to live by the legacy of Mandela, to be accessible to simple people, to poor people, to the forgotten and the neglected. Using the power that each of us may have, whatever power we may have, to do good to those who are on the periphery of privilege, on the periphery of faith, of fortune, of well-being in order to improve conditions for peace and tranquility in our respective communities and improve the well-being of the people we serve.
What made me become a peacemaker was idealism, innocence, romanticism about freedom and independence.
The Portuguese colonial empire was collapsing and the process of the decolonization of East Timor and the Portuguese colonies in Africa had started, but then Indonesia intervened on December, 7,
1975. I was sent to New York with two other compatriots; I went to lobby the UN while they went elsewhere. I had this sacred mission from my compatriots, my colleagues in the leadership, to go to New York. I had support from the newly independent government of Mozambique and the support of the Tanzanian Ambassador to the UN.
At that time, South Africa was not yet free from Apartheid. But after Zimbabwe became independent from a minority regime in the early years of Mugabe’s government, we also had the support of Zimbabwe, many other African countries, and especially from Portugal. Portugal, the colonial power, never turned its back on its responsibilities to East Timor and I am grateful for the successive governments and the integrity and courage of its presidents. Nowadays, East Timor is a free country because they played a crucial role in supporting us diplomatically, for example, mobilizing the European Union.
Sometimes, history imposes events on us the circumstances hijack our best dreams. Our best plans do not turn out as we thought: the invasion took place; violence happened! I lost two brothers and a sister in the struggle. We recovered my sister´s body, but still today, we have not found where my two brothers were killed. We have not found their remains and that is the story of so many of the Timorese; almost no family was untouched in this country.
My point is: stay focused on your dream, on your ambition, on your idea. Equip yourself with information and with knowledge, but most importantly, stay focused, stay obsessively focused, do not get distracted. Set yourself goals to get increasingly informed and try to master tools that can support your cause. This is so much easier in the 21st century due to globalization and information technology with good digitalization. You can have incredible influence compared with in 1975 when I first went to New York. If you are focused and super smart, you can become powerful. You have millions here behind you. •
MARCELO REBELO DE SOUSA President of the Portuguese Republic
On May 16, 2021 I had the opportunity to be part of the launch of the most ambitious project yet of the Ubuntu Leaders Academy. The Ubuntu United Nations has been gathering together young people committed to the principles and values of the Ubuntu philosophy, from the 193 countries that have a seat at the United Nations (UN).
These young people are committed to the ethics of care and to serving others. They are committed to solidarity, social justice and human rights. They are committed to building bridges on a path to sustainable development. In brief, they are committed to building a common future.
In my role as President of Portugal, I have highlighted our national vocation for Portugal as a hub for the meeting of cultures, civilizations, connection of oceans and continents. That is who we are as Portuguese. That is our calling, that is our strength, that is our distinguishing characteristic. We do not limit ourselves to where we come from; we venture out and, nowadays, more than ever, to different continents sharing our language, values and the capacity to connect with everyone, understanding others, understanding the differences and building bridges.
Perhaps, in addition to his undoubted individual merits, this partly explains why the current SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations is a Portuguese national, António Guterres. This comes as a time when the commitment to the United Nations Agenda must be reaffirmed by promoting intercultural and interreligious dialogue.
I keep in mind the ecumenical and universal version of being Portuguese, of existing as Portuguese, serving others, accepting others, dialoguing with others and that is why I have joined with the SecretaryGeneral of the UN to support this vision that the Ubuntu Leaders Academy proposes for a common future. Global mobilization is required to respond to today’s problems that are also global such as human rights challenges, discrimination, the rise of hate speech, the evident climate challenges, poverty, war, inequalities and injustices; all of which requires the mobilization of everyone, but in particular those who represent the future: young people.
Ubuntu leaders belong to this generation of young leaders who are clearly committed to the path of building bridges and acting in diversity. •
JOSÉ RAMOS-HORTA
I first met Ban Ki-moon when he was former Minister of South Korea. I found him to be very engaging, charming, and approachable. At that time, I was a foreign minister. I used to work with him because he appointed me United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau. He gave me and my colleague four months to write a report and present it to him. I replied: “Do you realize we are not all Koreans?” meaning that we are not all so hard-working, particularly myself, coming from a tropical island where life is lived more leisurely. He was incredibly hard-working and hugely dedicated. He is the same today. And even after having left his post, I kept in touch with him frequently, asking him to support different initiatives.
It is my great privilege to introduce the former Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon. •
BAN KI-MOON
former United Nations Secretary-General
In the past few years, we have witnessed an international turn towards populism. The threat against multilateralism, democracy, human rights and sustainable development are all too real. In addition, the Covid-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the global community. It has exacerbated existing inequalities among the most vulnerable societies and has often reversed economic and social progress. The Covid-19 pandemic also exacerbated global crises such as climate change, gender and educational inequalities, immigration issues, rates of poverty and the advancement of authoritarian regimes. But, despite the global challenges we are facing today, I remain optimistic about our future because of our young people and their commitment to drive positive change. They help construct a brighter future for ourselves, our communities, our countries and for the planet.
The guiding principle of the Ubuntu philosophy, “I Am Because You Are” reflects the fact that we are all connected and have a common vision to work together towards one goal. It is a reminder for us to treat others with empathy, solidarity and cooperation, especially in times of struggle.
This is important because we see global leaders who have lost their focus, and who do not base policies on inclusive human rights. We sometimes see leaders that prioritize their own personal interest and privileges over the safety and well-being of their own people. That is very sad. It is my generation’s responsibility to counter damaging, unfair and unsustainable policies by empowering and inspiring a generation of young leaders with the necessary skills to create a better future for all. That is why I always underline the need to be a passionate and compassionate global citizen.
Global Citizenship is, above all, a mental framework. This important concept acts as a unique tool to help us solve some of our most pressing challenges and it assists us in reaching our global goals. It serves as a blueprint in times of climate change, economic instability, social unrest and political imbalance.
Global citizens are those who identify themselves not as members of a nation, but instead as members of humanity with a larger understanding and tolerance of other people and cultures. They are the ones who fight for the protection of our planet and human rights. They are committed to serving and helping others. They build bridges rather than walls.
I have been speaking out to many leaders:
“Please do not raise walls. Instead, you need to build bridges between and among people”.
To look beyond a narrow prism of national and personal interests, and work for a better world.
I met Nelson Mandela one year before he passed away. I was so inspired by what he said. I highly appreciated and respected him for what he had done. He told me:
“No. It is not me. It is not me. There are thousands, thousands of people who worked together with me”.
At first, I thought that he was trying to be very modest, and so I said:
“Still, it is you who really made the South African people free”.
Then, he repeated the sentence:
“There were thousands and thousands of people who fought together with me, and who made our county free”.
I was really inspired by what he said. That was really global citizenship.
If the global community encourages coalition and leadership, we will all benefit from it by being equipped with the tools for tackling equally grave challenges which we are now facing today and others that we will face tomorrow.
Indeed, the active and engaging empowerment of young people and women is critical in ensuring the success of the international community. Consider the fact that young people and women comprise at least 75% of the global population, they should get more than what they are receiving now. They are the greatest investment. For this reason, following my time as the Secretary-General of the United Nations, it became my ambition to foster the leadership of women and youth in our quest to find sustainable solutions to the world’s most depressing challenges. Regarding this goal, together with the former President of Austria (2004-2016), Mr. Heinz Fischer, we founded the “Ban Ki-Moon Centre for Global Citizens” located in Vienna, Austria.
This center’s work is guided by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and young people with global citizen values. We strive to create meaningful opportunities for young and female leaders to raise their voices and take action as global citizens for a sustainable world. We are working with many young global citizens from all over the world, and our Global Citizens Scholarship and Fellowship and Mentorship Program encourage young leaders to take on the challenge in their local communities and find solutions.
At the same time, we lobby current decision makers, advocating for sustainable development, climate adaptation and transformative education. We have welcomed exceptionally aspiring young leaders from Latin America, the Asian region, the Middle East, Africa and Europe who seek to strengthen their capacities, take action and become local or international SDG leaders as part of our programs.
In 2021, we launched a new program called “Support Young Women Leadership on Climate Adaptation” to foster African women’s leadership by equipping them to take climate action. Each of our program participants implement what we call a “SDG Microproject” for their community. This project addresses one or more of the SDGs and should seek to make a sustainable impact. We have already implemented over 140 microprojects around the world, reaching over 730 000 people.
The Ubuntu United Nation’s theme “Building Bridges: Igniting Youth Action for Unity and Diversity” represents and addresses the urgency to integrate young leaders in important decision-making
processes. Young leaders are not just leaders of tomorrow, they are the leaders of today. Their role is imperative for the realization of economic, political and social rights, for the revival of our planet and promotion of sustainable development.
During my time as a Secretary-General of the United Nations, I was always guided by four principles: 1. Setting priorities; 2. Never giving up; 3. Focusing on the people; and 4. Standing up for the most vulnerable. I worked hard to build a consensus among the 193 member states to support a detailed plan to invest in sustainable development, combating global poverty and hunger, and to address the climate emergency as well as expand programs to improve women’s health and opportunities around the world. In 2015, the SDGs and Paris Climate Agreement were unanimously adopted and now they serve as a collective contract between the world’s governments to improve millions of lives.
These two agreements present us with a roadmap for mankind’s efforts to end poverty and hunger, and create the path to peace, resilience and prosperity for our planet as we strive to secure sustainable development of the green economy, leaving no one behind. This success is the outcome of the collective efforts of so many people, not by me alone.
My tenure is over, but I am still committed to advocating the mindset of global citizenship and the importance of collective action. In many developed countries, SDG progress is being made. However, we are not on the accelerated path that we should be on. We need to get these global goals back on track. To accomplish this, the engagement of young people is essential. I can understand that the challenges of our world can make us feel powerless and the solutions to them might feel too unattainable, but no one is alone in this.
We also saw encouraging signs of hope in 2021. Youth participation is becoming more prominent every day. As digital natives, I urge them to take every opportunity to advocate, engage and make use of the potential of social media and digital citizenship that has revolutionized the art of storytelling and activism.
I want to call on young people to take an active role as global citizens. They must think beyond national borders and raise their voices to demand action from their leaders. Embrace a global vison to achieve a better future for our planet and for humanity. Together, we can create the future we want, one that is anchored in sustainability, inclusion and empowerment for all people and our planet.
Each and every one of us needs to continue working to make our lives as sustainable as we can, so that future generations can live in a prosperous world.
The future is in the hands of the young people. Remember that diversity and solidarity are a source of strength and not of weakness. •
SHAMIM ALI AND QUEEN LIWALI Delegates of Kenya
Shamim Ali: Queen and I are going to talk about two religions in Kenya: Islam and Christianity. My name is Shamim Juma and I am from Mombasa, Kenya. We live in a fragmented society: us versus them; Muslims against Christians; believers versus non- believers.
However, I reiterate that intercultural and interreligious discourse is essential as we learn about the value of peaceful coexistence. After all, all religions and humans are branches of the same tree. We need to become conscious of this to build communities that encourage and reinforce non-violence, tolerance and multicultural appreciation.
Christianity is the predominant religion in Kenya. Over 85% of the population are Christians, followed by Islam which is practiced by a minority of 10%. Other faiths include Buddhism, Hinduism and traditional religions. The Constitution of Kenya, and other laws and policies, prohibit religious discrimination and protect religious and freedom including the freedom to practice any religious belief through worship, teaching and observance, and the right to debate religious questions.
In May 2020, the Government of Kenya implemented a month-long cessation of movement order, in Nairobi and in Old Town, Mombasa, both areas with predominantly Muslim populations following the rise of COVID-19 cases. A human rights groups cited the lockdowns as discriminatory while other Muslims expressed their support for the public health measures. In light of this, the government set up an Interfaith Council on the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to develop guidelines for the first reopening of places of worship and the holding of religious ceremonies.
Over the years, violent extremist organizations like Al-Shabaab have carried out attacks in the NorthEast of Kenya and claimed it targeted non- Muslims because of their faith. In January 2021, it was also reported in the media that Al- Shabaab killed three Christian teachers at a primary school in the Northern part of Kenya, an area with a predominantly Muslim population. In February of the same year, militia suspected to be Al- Shabaab attacked a passenger bus traveling from the North-Eastern part of Kenya. Media reported that attackers separated the passengers by faith, killing two Christians and one Muslim who attempted to protect the Christians.
As an organization, we have continued to build local resilience among our young people against the threats and incidences of violent extremism in the region. We have witnessed increased reports of religiously motivated threats of societal violence and intolerance but emphasize the importance of respecting religious freedom because Islam advocates for freedom of religion as it is a God-given right.
Nonetheless, God loves justice and those who strive to practice it especially towards people who are different from them in any way including in matters of religious belief. This is a quote from the Quran, verse 5 of 8.
Queen Liwali: My name is Queen Irene Liwali from Kenya and I am a Christian. Christianity was introduced in Kenya by missionaries in 1844.
I would like to start by affirming that the journey of faith is not a holiday but a marathon of love that each person runs at a different pace.
On February, 10, 1984, over 5000 people died. In the Westgate Shopping Mall attack in September 2013, at least 67 people died. At Garissa University, over 147 people died. In January 2019, in the hotel and office complex attack at the Dusit D2Hotel, over 27 people died.
Christians and Muslims in Kenya have many similarities. We both have sacred books in the Quran and the Bible. We both believed that Jesus was born of a virgin and that Jesus was born miraculously. But despite our similarities, there are always many tensions between us and these tensions arise due to religious rifts. These religious rifts are due to alleged extrajudicial killings in Kenya and the many people who have died.
I want to share an example. On September 2013, Abdul Haji, a Muslim and ethnic Somali, walked into the Westgate Shopping Mall attacks, risked his own life and rescued several people, including Christians. He later said,
“I do not think I am a hero; I think I did what any Kenyan would have done in the same situation. What any human being will do”.
Drawing from this, we can understand that Muslims and Christians can get along.
We can all participate in sports, arts and cultural activities because despite our many differences, we are still similar in so many ways. I would like to end with one quote from Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi:
“Any person who, with all the sincerity of heart, is in search God, on land or in the sea, is worthy of respect”. •
YAHYA AL-TAIE Delegate of Iraq
AVA MASUMI BANDARI Delegate of Iran
Yahya: Today, my colleague Ava from Shiraz, Iran and I, will be talking to you about Iraq and Iran, focusing on the eight-year war our countries went through and the repercussions of this war. We will also refer to the things that Iraq and Iran share in common and suggest alternative ways to actively engage in the reconciliation and peacebuilding process between the two nations.
I would like to start by telling you about my father, Sammy, born in 1953. He holds a degree in Economy and Management. He graduated in 1977 and served his regular military duty for a year and a half. Then, he was recalled to serve for the entire war, starting in 1980 and lasting for eight years, from the age of 25 until he was almost 34 years old. The war took away the flower of his youth and the best years of his life, and this was a lesson learned the hard way. So, when he was called again to serve for the Kuwait war in 1990, he did not join the army in spite of the serious risk of punishment by the Iraqi regime back then.
Ava: Let me start by telling you the story of my uncle Muhammad who fought in the war in the bloom of his youth where he not only lost his leg, but his enthusiasm for life. After this experience, he would rarely leave his house and he passed away a few years ago due to liver failure. He was among one of the many victims of the war. Perhaps the most devastating aspect of the war was the use of chemical weapons that killed many on the spot, poisoning thousands of civilians including women and children. Today, many of the remaining survivors are still suffering from complications resulting from the nerve agents used against them. But what was the root cause of the war between Iran and Iraq? Well, the conflict started when government regime changes took place in both Iran and Iraq, and Saddam Hussein, the President of the Republic of Iraq, and Khomeini, the Supreme Revolutionary Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, came into power. Now, we will give you a more detailed account of what took place.
Yahya: Thank you very much Ava. To address your point, I would say that no one really knows who started the war as generations in both countries were educated to accuse the other side of starting the longest conventional armed conflict of the 20th century, which lasted, as previously mentioned, for
eight years from September 1980 to August 1988. It cost millions of lives and destroyed both armies and the economic systems of both countries. But what is known for sure is that the differences in ideologies and of the governing regimes that were in power in these two countries, was the main cause of the war.
To give you a better insight into how devastating this war was, the total number of casualties hit two million people, including a million confirmed deaths and the total cost of the war for both countries is estimated to have reached 400 billion US dollars of the time. However, more important than the war (already in the past) is to focus on the things we share in common. For example, we share borders: Iraq and Iran share one of the longest landline borders, over 1600 kilometers (almost 955 miles) along the entire east side of Iraq and west side of Iran. The border travels over different terrains such as mountains, plains, plateaus and valleys in addition to the Arabian Persian Gulf, in the south of both countries.
Ava: Aside from sharing the same border, there are many other things that we have in common. For example, we have similar cultural norms and traditions as well as shared religious history and even cuisine. We also have a similar taste in music and similar religious rituals. And if we have so much in common, surely we can use these things to tackle the decades of conflicts between our two nations. I will let Yahya give you a better insight as to how we could work things out.
Yahya: What is most important is that we should work together. The vast majority of both Iraqis and Iranians currently lack trust in their governments. Both nations aspire to provide a better future for their countries and recently, the governments of both countries seem to be on the same page. However, the common good of their nations do not seem to be a priority because the suffering of both nations continues.
For a better future for upcoming generations and for both nations, the focus should be on what really matters the most: building peace and forgetting about the times where regimes of both countries led aimless and useless wars and conflicts that took both countries backwards by centuries. One of our most important missions during this program is to focus on ways to reconcile and build peace, re-establish social relations between the two nations, and empower young leaders from both countries. I am referring to young leaders that come with new ideas and new methods to build peace and prioritize the common good of all.
We would like to focus on one final idea as an insight. If the money that both countries have spent on the eight-year war had been invested in development, education, healthcare, public services and infrastructures, Iraq and Iran would now be among the leading countries in the region, let alone the entire globe. Before we wrap up, my colleague Ava has something really important to share with us.
Ava: I would like to say that, as we all know, wars bring absolutely no good for humankind. They bring absolutely nothing to the table. So, this is a lesson that we need to learn right here and right now, and not in the hard way because this is our choice, our destiny and our future.
Yahya: If we want a better future…
Ava: …we should make it happen! •
REŠID DŽEVDETBEGOVIĆ
Delegate of Bosnia
DUNJA TRIFUNOVIĆ
Delegate of Servia
Rešid Dževdetbegović: My name is Rešid and I am originally from Bosnia.
I am sure that many of you are already familiar with my country but let me just give you a few words of introduction. Bosnia Herzegovina is a small country in the heart of South Eastern Europe with borders with Serbia and Montenegro to the east and Croatia to the north and west. Bosnia has an estimated population of 3.5 million.
After the breakup of Yugoslavia, a thousand-year-old statehood was renewed in 1992 when the country gained independence and international recognition. However, political elites of mainly Bosnian Serbs did not like the idea of an independent country and decided to start a war which grew into an international conflict and resulted in the Srebrenica Genocide. The war ended with the Peace Accords in 1995. Today Bosnia’s government as a complex political system implemented after signing the aforementioned peace accords.
As a consequence, we have a peace deal that divided the country by its ethnic lines and limited comprehension of different levels of governing. However, it brought peace back to the country and peace has been sustained to this day with challenges along the way.
The complex decision-making process to reach a compromise made the country’s recovery process extremely hard. The country therefore fell into becoming dependent on international actors who were involved in the state building from its early stages in order to monitor the implementation of the Peace Agreement and to help build the country’s institutions. The role of high representatives was introduced and until this very day, it remains the highest legal authority in Bosnia. Although Bosnia shares a bloody past with is neighbors, things have started to change since 2000. Traveling is fairly easy now that the only requirement to cross regions is to carry personal ID cards. We invite youth activists to lobby and work hard to secure freedom of movement since this plays a significant role in creating direct communication and the development of economic ties between former conflict sides. Let us not forget that freedom of movement is one of the foundations of the European Union and that the Union itself is one of the most successful, if not the most successful, peace project in history.
Incidents have occurred from time to time but there have been no major security incidents in recent years. People live side by side in peace, people of neighboring countries are welcoming and we easily understand each other and have a shared sense of humor and similar mentality.
Over the years, numerous positive steps have been taken by people from both countries in order to build bridges between nations. Nowadays, we can witness some positive changes although the war has left visible scars and there is still a long way to go.
Within our own country, there are still divided schools and local communities and an ethnic-based political system that favors division which is challenging for peacebuilding within the country and around the region. Nevertheless, Bosnia and Serbia signed various bilateral agreements such as the Dual Citizenship Allowance, the Mutual Recognition of Legal Documents, and there are certain social benefits, namely, transferable health insurance. Both Serbia and Bosnia are signatories of the Free Trade Agreement. We also recommend the creation of a regional network of post-conflict societies and lobbying among high-rank funds and international organizations to support such initiatives.
Over the last two decades, we have witnessed quite a few political initiatives aimed to fast-track regional cooperation and development. One of the most important initiatives, launched at the meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Southeast Europeans Cooperation Process in Sophia in 2008, is the Regional Corporation Council. Its goal is to support the economic and social cooperation and synergy of the region.
We also have the Regional Youth Cooperation Organization (RYCO), which aims to connect young people with various project activities. Thanks to these initiatives, some of us developed and took part in a regional project between Bosnia and Serbia in the field of peacebuilding and environment protection.
The Youth Initiative for Human Rights, with offices in Bosnia and Serbia, also tries to include youth in the peacebuilding process through community engagement, site visits, youth camps and various other activities.
The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) is a network of non-governmental organizations promoting freedom of speech, human rights and democratic values in southern and eastern Europe. The BIRN has offices in both countries.
We should also not forget about sports. It is worth mentioning our sports initiatives, namely the Joint Basketball ABA League and the Handball SEHA League as these can be considered positive examples of regional cooperation.
Our message for the future is similar to that mentioned at the beginning: we can assure you that the relationship between our two countries is better than it was in the recent past. Political tensions are still widely present, but the conflict has not been renewed. The civil sector, with the help of foreign sponsors, is trying to push things forward but it is not an easy process as we have witnessed from recent developments. The political elites still need to find common ground when it comes to the future of the region. The economic situation is not satisfactory, and many young people are leaving both countries. These brain drains and the negative demographics are an emerging problem. As we have shown with our example, young people from our two countries can work together towards a common goal. However, for significant change, we will need broader support from our fellow citizens and young counterparts in order to change things for better. Young people have to find a way to acknowledge the Srebrenica Genocide, recognize each other’s pain, respect each other and work together to build bridges for a better tomorrow.
Dunja Trifunović: The dominant political approach pursued here in the Western Balkans with regard to Serbs in Bosnia testifies that the region’s past is marked by intolerance, religious and ethnic divides, and war conflicts dictated by the moves of certain political actors.
Now, we are facing the challenge of how to redefine the value systems imposed in the past by several politicians in this area who had better chances of winning elections when they placed more emphasis on national identity.
26 years after the end of the war, space for bilateral and regional cooperation is finally opening up. I feel that we are now truly open and available to cooperation. We often hear that the people themselves are more concerned about popular forms of democracy than just one and this is led by young people with their initiatives and projects.
We are now ready to build a new world in which we will promote that which will unify us, and not that which separates us. Following messages sent by people like Pope Francis regarding overcoming differences between nations, various joint projects have been developed to show that the idea of unity is far greater than those of hatred and that together, we can refuse to believe that the Balkans are represented by gun power and that peace is just an illusion.
As an example, I would like to highlight the Youth Biennial, an event organized in 2021 by the ULUS – The Association of Fine Artists of Serbia, in which artists from both countries displayed their work at exhibitions, workshops and performances. It erases the divide between them and us.
I also think of the Balkan Association of Science Journalists which is a place that gathers science journalists, writers and communicators from across South East Europe. Here, ethics has replaced ethnic and other differences among nations imposing a discourse in which critical thinking and work are key values.
More recently, I was a delegate at the Youth4Climate Summit in Milan which brought together people from 197 countries. There, we worked on the task of finding a solution to put an end to climate change and believe me, the least important thing was which country each one of us came from. Once, we participated in a war but now, we are all on the same side of the front against a real enemy: climate change. This generation has the potential to declare peace as a lasting value that we can and must work towards, formulating a new worldview, in which equality, togetherness and coherence are connection points. Manifestations, exhibitions, socializing during presentations and reciprocal visits are necessary to achieve this. This movement once fostered will never be able to be ended by any political act again. •
ROSEMARIE MERCADO
Delegate of El Salvador
Thirty years after the Peace Accords: Tackling the remaining challenges faced by Salvadoran youth through Ubuntu lenses
In addiction to bringing to an end a 12-year war, the Peace Accords also reformed the Armed Forces, created the National Civil Police and demobilized the guerrilla forces. They also promoted changes within the electoral system, the judicial system, the country’s approach to human rights, and the need to implement necessary changes to improve social and economic aspects (FMLN & Government of El Salvador, 1992). Now, after thirty years, it is important to revisit how the Accords have impacted our current context and, from there, respond to the remaining challenges to, and opportunities for, young citizens in order to promote meaningful changes in Salvadoran society.
We currently find ourselves in a context where the rule according to a higher law is no longer a reality and the line that defines the limits between the different branches of the state is not clear as it should be (UCA El Salvador, 2022). The constant violence that impregnates daily life is dealt with by the National Civil Police and the military whose strategies are still based on repression and the use of force, opting out of investing in programs that could reintegrate those who break the law and prevent more violence.
The Salvadoran judicial system is not successful in responding to the levels of crime and violence and is still in debt to the victims of the armed conflict. Not only did the Legislative Assembly promote an Amnesty Law that was removed just a few years ago, but the Peace Accords did not include changes required to reconcile a society that had been torn apart by bringing justice to, at the very least, the cases heard by the Commission on the Truth for El Salvador (DPLF, 2019).
With regard to social and economic changes, the Accords were designed to seek development, but they ended up focusing on social aid programs that did not tackle structural issues. Moreover, current legislature promotes laws that limit and tax international aid while, at the same time, does not accept criticism towards any changes it makes in monetary policies (Legislative Assembly, 2021). The former, in particular, can become an issue for organizations that depend on financial aid from other nations and institutions to be able to continue with their work in communities.
It is clear that although the Accords brought the armed conflict to an end, they left out many other issues that are still affecting us. The peace that resulted from this process was negative peace, which means that even though direct violence stopped, structural violence remained (Barbosa & Magano, 2019). Every day, we face violence, death, and the disappearance of men and women, which is often overlooked by the government (DW, 2021). Young people are especially affected by this new conflict, so they often have to limit their activities due to the violence or opt for migrating in search of better opportunities.
The structural problems within Salvadoran society run deep, but as part of said society, it is critical that active citizens seek to preserve our weakened democracy. It is undeniable that such an approach is a privilege in itself, but Ubuntu also reminds us of the importance of promoting constant dialogue as part of the process of building bridges. Not only does this imply removing the differences of power and status, but it also allows us to see each other as equals (Abenoza & Fonseca, 2019). It is imperative to start a dialogue without judgment in order to start and embrace the transformations that we want to build. Not only is it a tool to understand our differences, but it is also a reflection of human plurality (Arendt, 2009).
It is not rare for people to dismiss someone’s opinion on the ongoing crisis based on the simple fact of whether they support the government or not. That is why the promotion of programs focused on active citizenship, institutional transparency, and human rights is so important for young people. By bringing these types of opportunities to impoverished communities, not only are they given the chance to broaden their horizons, they can also see themselves as potential leaders.
Even though our neoliberal economy pushes us to embrace individualism, dialogue can help us build a sense of community that is so necessary for democracy. By understanding that our lives are intrinsically connected to others, we will be able to comprehend better that we are part of a diverse community that, no matter our reality, deserves equal rights and dignity. This is something that nowadays seems to be lost in translation. The tendency of highlighting differences, of labeling groups as bad and others as good without any middle ground, is fairly common when discussing an ongoing issue, mostly political ones. But by doing so, we lose the richness that human plurality offers and, as a consequence, we drift farther away from solving structural problems.
Although El Salvador was able to put a stop to a dark period in its history, now more than ever, it is essential to promote dialogue as a tool to build bridges within a fractured society. In doing so, we can better understand our issues and then, start offering solutions that go beyond the answers needed for daily life and start also answering those that affect the bigger picture. Only then, by listening to each other, may we be able to build a new type of peace that will be accompanied by the search for social justice and equality.
• Abenoza, S., & Fonseca, D. (2019) What we talk about when we talk about dialogue. In Ubuntu Leaders Academy (2019). Building Bridges - Ubuntu and Servant Leadership. Partnership Edition. (pp. 121-138)
• Arendt, H. (2009) The human condition (2nd Ed.), University of Chicadgo Press.
• DW. (2021) El Salvador busca a medio millar de personas desaparecidas. [Website] DW. https://p. dw.com/p/43gJT
• Barbosa, M., & Magano, F. (2019) Conflict resolution and reconciliation. In Ubuntu Leaders Academy (2019). Building Bridges - Ubuntu and Servant Leadership. Partnership Edition. (pp. 139 - 150)
• Fundación para el Debido Proceso (2019). Tres años después de la anulación de la Ley de Amnistía en El Salvador: víctimas de la guerra derrotan nuevo intento de impunidad, aunque el peligro de retroceder continúa. [Website] https://www.dplf.org/es/news/tres-anos-despues-de-laanulacion-de-la-ley-de-amnistia-en-el-salvador-victimas-de-la-guerra
• El Salvador government & FMLN (1992). Acuerdo de Paz.
• Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas (2022). De la esperanza a la locura. Noticias UCA. https://noticias.uca.edu.sv/editoriales/de-la-esperanza-a-la-locura •
SAILEE RANE
Delegate of Guyana
We say that we live in a diverse society, a society where different types of people who do not share the same race, culture, ethnicity, beliefs, practices, traditions etc. ‘come together’ and form a community. But can we say that we live in a truly inclusive society? An inclusive society is a society that overrides the differences of race, gender, class, generation, and geography, and ensures inclusion, equality of opportunity and that all members of society have the capabilities required to determine an agreed set of social institutions that govern social interaction (Expert Group Meeting on Promoting Social Integration, 2008).
People sometimes use these terms interchangeably, but they are distinctly different. We certainly do live in a diverse society but it can often be seen that our culture does not embrace different perspectives which makes it almost impossible to retain diversity; social exclusion is an evil that is still prevalent in society. Many studies have shown that social exclusion is one of the most common causes of conflict1. This shows us the importance of the concept of building bridges in order to engage with our differences. This article aims to shed light on the importance of searching for common ground during peacebuilding, alongside emphasizing various aspects of peacebuilding like bridge building between communities, dialogue, reflection on personal identity, religious literacy, accountability and the importance of servant leadership through the lens of the Ubuntu methodology.
The goal of peacebuilding is to establish constructive relationships across ethnic, religious, class, national, and racial boundaries. It aims to resolve injustice in nonviolent ways and to transform the structural conditions that generate deadly conflict. In order to make it work over time, at all levels of society, and establish and sustain relationships between people locally and globally, it must focus on connecting people and groups on the ground -such as community and religious groups, grassroots organizations etc.- with policymakers and powerbrokers (governments, the United Nations, corporations, banks, etc.) It should aim not only to resolve conflicts, but to build societies, institutions, policies, and relationships that are better able to sustain peace and justice because just and sustainable peace requires a far more holistic vision that links together activities, actors, and institutions at all levels.2
Building bridges between different communities is one of the most important aspects of peacebuilding. It advances conflict transformation by facilitating those involved in hostilities to break the cycle of violence and revenge by appreciating the humanity of their opponents and the power of empathy. In order to build sustainable bridges, we need to search for common ground and recognize the importance of common humanity because first and foremost, our common ground rests on the fact that we are all humans. In essence, Ubuntu addresses our interconnectedness, our common humanity, and the responsibility we have to each other that flows from our connection.
In order to achieve the purpose of dialogue in peacebuilding, which is to understand and share different perspectives, we must first listen, allow feelings, look for strengths in others, draw out commonalities and shared struggles, create a safe and inclusive environment and, above all, showcase the will to change.
Storytelling is known to be one of the most effective forms of communication, and starting a dialogue is one of the key activities that the Ubuntu methodology focuses on. Our stories connect us to our inner selves and to those around us.
To tell one’s story is a human right- says Masha Hamilton, The Afghan Women’s Writing Project.
The aim of storytelling is to be empathetic; empathy is one of the five pillars of the Ubuntu methodology, and one of the largest contributors to building peace. As Mother Teresa said, 'if we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.' This state of belonging to each other stems from the fact that we are not only individuals, but also a part of the whole that constitutes the universe.
We have to look inside ourselves and work on our own contradictions; we need to know ourselves. We have to be perfectly honest and develop awareness. The Ubuntu methodology reiterates the idea of self-knowledge as research suggests that reflection on self-identity can promote open minds and decrease conflict (Davis, 2000). Realistic awareness of individual strengths and weaknesses is an essential quality for empowerment, leadership and peacebuilding. Our ability to find out more about ourselves depends on us stepping out of ourselves sometimes. It is important to know how to establish a critical distance from ourselves in order to understand the essence of our inner selves. From this position, we can see areas of personal weakness from which we can learn.
Religious literacy is of extreme importance in a world where information is at our fingertips and yet, there is still a large deficit in understanding when it comes to religions. There are many stereotypes about people of different faiths, which fail to address the wide range of diversity found within various traditions. These stereotypes can be perpetuated by the media, closed social circles, and by people without access to resources to support learning about the vast diversity and change that exists within religious traditions.
Religion can play an important role in peacebuilding in various ways. The idea of human dignity and the common humanity of all, derived from the notion that we are all created in the image of the Divine, are foundational to true peace. Religion plays an important role in post-conflict reconciliation, providing resources to help societies cope with the ravaging effects of war. Examples of accomplishments in this regard include groups like the Community of Sant ’Egidio whose achievements include successfully brokering the 1992 peace agreement in Mozambique after 30 years of civil war, and of interfaith reconciliation efforts in South Africa, especially by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who, grounded in his Christian faith, left a legacy as a peacebuilder through his anti-Apartheid activism and a promotion of peace and justice that is unparalleled.
Accountability not only aids the establishment of a historical narrative of the conflict by identifying the victims, perpetrators and the spectators of human rights abuses and other crimes. The culture of accountability helps set a standard for peace. In this society, accountability is often synonymous with punishment, shame and/or retaliatory harm,” says Ann Russo, Women and Gender Studies professor at DePaul University, in her essay on practices of accountability. “What if it became synonymous with taking responsibility for harm, making things right, being willing to understand, change, and transform the harmful behavior and its underlying motivations?”
The difference between accountability and punishment has to do with relationships. Punishment breaks a relationship; it is rooted in isolation, shame, and disconnection. Accountability, by contrast, requires communication, negotiation of needs, the opportunity to repair harm, and the chance to prove that we can change and be worthy of trust again; it bends more towards the concept of reformative punishment.
Servant leadership is a leadership philosophy in which the goal is to serve those around you.
Servant leaders lead with others in mind because they care about them. You cannot lead a community unless you care for them and you cannot serve that community unless you care for them. So, servant leadership is a type of leadership where one serves first and leads second, and where one does not use their leadership as an opportunity to seize power. These values are extremely important in the context of peacebuilding because one needs to have an altruistic perspective; the sheer belief in or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others should be of paramount
importance. The Ubuntu methodology specifically emphasizes the importance of servant leadership because everyone can be a leader because everyone can serve.
Servant leadership is focused on the common good, seeks to generate consensus and mobilize the collective will, in search of solutions to concrete problems.
By highlighting the key aspects of peacebuilding through the lens of the Ubuntu methodology, this article attempts to demonstrate various ways in which peace between communities is achieved. Peacebuilding plays an important role in creating inclusive societies by reinforcing the principles of common humanity, empathy and resilience. Building bridges, starting a dialogue, reflecting on personal identity, religious literacy, accountability and servant leadership are just a few of the aspects required in our much-needed efforts to combat conflict and build peace, but they are crucial ones that can help make a big difference. In the light of the above-mentioned approach to peacebuilding, the Ubuntu methodology can be seen to have played a vital role in the various aspects of peacebuilding.
• Arthur, D. D., Issifu, A. K., & Marfo, S. An analysis of the influence of Ubuntu principle on the South Africa peace building process, American Research Institute for Policy Development. 3(2). Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/1264
• Joshi, M., & Wallensteen, P. (2018). Understanding Quality Peace: Peacebuilding after Civil War. Routledge.
• Berkley Center. Common Ground: Engaging Religious Dimensions in the Search for Peace. YouTube. Available at: https://youtu.be/4xr0VR1V9NY.
• Berkley Center. Engaging with Difference, Religious Pluralism, and Building a Tolerant Civil Society. YouTube. Available at: https://youtu.be/LVcBzqp2OOY .
• Jayakumar, K, (2015) Storytelling for peace, [website] Peace Direct, https://www.peaceinsight. org/en/articles/storytelling-peace/?location=&theme=culture-media-advocacy (accessed 14/05/2015)
• Smock, D., R. (2006) Religious Contributions to Peacemaking: When Religion Brings Peace, Not War. [website] Peaceworks. Available at: https://www.usip.org/publications/2006/01/ religious-contributions-peacemaking-when-religion-brings-peace-not-war.
• Henshaw, A., Aden, A., Foy, C., & Chacar, H. (2015) Accountability and Reconciliation in Peace Processes. Democratic Progress Institute. Available at: https://www.democraticprogress.org/ wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Accountability-and-Reconcilication-DPI-December-2015.pdf
• Ubuntu Leaders Academy (2019). Building Bridges - Ubuntu and Servant Leadership. Partnership Edition. •
BLESSING NKECHI IKISEH
Delegate of Nigeria
Building bridges involves creating a community of changemakers. Bridge building has strong ties with servant leadership, collaboration, interpersonal/relationship building.
Greenleaf’s essay (1977), Servant Leadership as a Leader, describes servant leaders as builders of a better, more caring and humanistic society.
Servant leaders believe in a community united by a shared goal and vision. Notable thought leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Mother Teresa, etc. have lived out the servant leadership philosophy, deeply rooted in their concern for people.
The scholars that wrote in Greenleaf’s book (2002) contend that a servant leader becomes a servant first, and Jackson and Hackman (2018) implied that the practice and philosophy of servant leadership are deeply rooted in a concern for others.
Servant leaders act as collaborators, and their main focus and goal is to create inclusivity, inspiring a culture of care that fosters support and empathy.
The approach used in this article is the Ubuntu philosophy/methodology that prioritizes (a) building bridges; (b) the ethics of care; (c) servant leadership.
The result of the thematic research draws meaningful themes from Ubuntu Methodology:
• Lack of Interpersonal Relationships is a Sickness. This theme is deeply rooted in the Ubuntu Philosophy, the Ethics of Care. According to Clinical Researchers/Psychologists, people who lack interpersonal relationships can become mentally sick. The Journal of Occupational Health (Ulrich, Lennart, Gun and Ingvar, 2009) contends that poor interpersonal relationships, and low levels of employment and daily living support, breed depression, serving as the number one leading cause of disability and mental health. We can overcome interpersonal relationship sickness by (i) encouraging one another through acts of love and
kindness; (ii) genuinely caring about other people's work and daily lives; (iii) being easily approachable by being generous with our time; and (iv) encouraging others through the show of affection and empathy. This strategy builds a healthy and encouraging environment, fostering respect, trust, honesty, and bonding.
• Integrity in Relationship Building. This theme promotes the Ubuntu Methodology of Servant Leadership. To live a life of selfless service - full of dedication and commitment, you have to do more than your fair share of the work. Greenleaf (2002) implies that servant leaders are first servants before leaders. The willingness to show empathy should be front and center - learning, supporting and promoting fairness, inclusion and diversity. This strategy builds a strong community, managing teams with exceptional performance using integrity in relationship building.
• Collaboration is the New Normal in Servant Leadership. A study published in the International Journal of Servant Leadership promotes three main attributes of collaboration: (i) effective communication (ii) leading by example (iii) putting and valuing people first (Daniel, 2013). This theme is deeply related to the Ubuntu philosophy of Building Bridges. It reveals the ultimate characteristics of servant leadership. Servant leadership fosters collaboration, and collaboration engenders a community of bridge builders. This theme shows that prejudices, hate, inequality, injustices, etc., can be overcome by promoting collaboration. In Jiang and Linjuan (2017), the researchers purport that valuing people, collaborating, and effectively communicating reduces prejudices, inequality and hate. It fosters harmony, trust, fairness, inclusiveness and a diverse world. Therefore, collaborating, networking, partnering, and building bridges is not jealous or hateful. It promotes emotional intelligence by harnessing the power of many. It inspires co-operation, not competition. It focuses more on 'We' and less on 'I'. It overcomes obstacles by putting people first. It recognizes each other's strengths by treating everyone with respect.
In summary, the themes revealed in this article show that bridge building has strong connections with community, collaboration and servant leadership.
To be great is to serve others. While serving others, you find yourself. This article has uncovered three key themes from the research. These themes are in tandem with the Ubuntu philosophy of (a) building bridges; (b) the ethics of care; and (c) servant leadership.
The researcher has implied that greatness implicates a call to serve. To be a great servant leader, you must immerse yourself in serving others by taking care of those in your stead. Future research will look at how servant leadership is strongly connected to the sense of community in more detail.
• Van Brugge, D. (2013). Creating a Context for Collaboration. The International Journal of ServantLeadership, 8/9(1), 249-265. Available at: https://www.gonzaga.edu/school-of-leadershipstudies/community/scholarship-publications/international-journal-of-servant-leadership/ ijsl-issues/ijsl-volume-8-and-9 .
• Greenleaf, R. K. (2002). Servant leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness (L. C. Spears, Ed.; 25th anniversary ed.). Paulist Press. (Original work published in 1977)
• Greenleaf, R. K. (1977). Servant Leadership. Paulist Press.
• Jiang, H., & Linjuan, R. (2017). Creating an Engaged Employee Workforce: The Impact of Authentic Leadership, Transparent Organizational Communication, and Work-life Enrichment. Communication Research, 44(2), 225-243. doi:10.1177/0093650215613137
• Johnson, C. E., & Hackman, M. Z. (2018). Leadership: A Communication Perspective. (7th Ed.) Waveland Press.
• Tkalac, V. A, & Poloski, N. V. (2017). Engaging employees through internal communication. Public Relations Review. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2017.04.0 05
• Ulrich, S., Lennart, H., Gun, J., & Ingvar, L. (2009). Problematic Interpersonal Relationships at Work and Depression: A Swedish Prospective Cohort Study. Journal of Occupational Health, 51, 144-151. doi:10.1539/joh. L8134. •
The following interventions are transcriptions from the Ubuntu United Nations’ Third Seminar – Overcoming Obstacles: Overcoming Poverty and Social Exclusion which took place on November 21, 2021.
JOHN VOLMINK President of the Ubuntu Global Network and co-Chair of the Ubuntu United Nations
The Ubuntu United Nations (UUN) is a wonderful initiative for gathering the Ubuntu family from all around the world. It is such a privilege to be part of it and I must affirm that as the different young leaders were sharing their experiences, I could not help but wonder what would have happened if my generation, which is a few generations ago, had been given this same opportunity.
It made me wonder if the world would really have been a better place had my generation been given this opportunity. Knowing and hearing this new generation of youth leaders, I believe that these generations bound together here under the name Ubuntu United Nations are going to make a difference in this world. I am very excited to see (and I hope I live long enough to see) how the fruits of these UUN seminars are going to affect people in different parts of the world.
There is a thing entitled the Ubuntu Global Network Charter, a set of principles that binds us together. That charter reminds us that our true human potential can only be realized when we are interconnected with others. That is fundamentally the message. A person is only a person because of their relationship with other people. We, as human beings, cannot live in isolation.
We live in a community and that sense of community makes us who we are and what we are. We are tied to others in many ways. We share our successes and pain. and as individuals, we cannot separate our humanity from the humanity of those around us. This is a beautiful message to share with the world to convince them that this constitutes a better set of ethics than those we are currently living by.
The Archbishop Desmond Tutu speaks so powerfully when he says: “Ubuntu tells us that you cannot be human all by yourself”. In other words, as human beings, we cannot be happy alone, neither should we be left to carry our pain alone. All of us, whether we are rich or poor, young or old, have encountered obstacles or are dealing with obstacles, and invariably deal with pain; hence the word:
resilience. Resilience is one of the five pillars of the Ubuntu philosophy and resilience is that quality which helps us work through the pain when dealing with those obstacles. There is always a threshold and we have to be aware of the critical role resilience plays in our lives.
Those who were born into challenging circumstances, such as poverty and other challenges, develop resilience in order to deal with the challenges. For them, it is quite natural because there will always be challenges for them to face. People who grow up in conditions of hardship probably know more than most of us from an early age what it means to survive, to fight, to serve. They are mentally tough.
What about resilience? and self-knowledge? Self-knowledge is another pillar of the Ubuntu Leaders Academy and tells us that if we want to achieve our goals, it is crucial that we get to know ourselves. We need to make sure that the goals are congruent with the things that we value most. If there is congruence, we will be able to overcome any obstacle and we will be able to work through the pain. As we set our goals, we need to make sure that they congruent with the things that we value and treasure the most.
I want to be clear that resilience does not mean a triumphalist attitude based on individualism, but is rather based on an awareness that we live in a delicate web of connectedness with others.
To live without relationships is to live in poverty. Poverty is not necessarily the absence of goods, money or possessions. Real poverty is the absence of relationships which leads to the absence of hope. Individuals do very poorly when living outside of community: it limits our ability to cope with pain, adversity and challenges. If we have no one, we can have all the money in the world, but still be poor.
Ubuntu reminds us of the philosophy “I am because we are”, which brings me to the importance of connectedness. Our ability to cope has to do with our willingness to stay connected to our sources of support and to share our fears, commitments, our dreams, successes, failures and mistakes. Some people learn from their mistakes and they begin a bit more intelligently. Others find the experience of failing traumatic and avoid these situations. Therefore, they cannot overcome obstacles. If someone fears failure, they will avoid efforts. That is the result of fear; it makes people dislike sudden changes and shocks. Those people prefer routine tasks. But a person who is resilient is one who likes a challenge, who works hard and commits to a task, not because of a feeling of bravado, but because, in the spirit of Ubuntu, that person has a sense of connectedness with others and realizes that if someone fails, there should be a strong web of connectedness that provides a community safety net. There will be those that will ensure that if someone falls, that person will land on their feet and that gives confidence.
Self-confidence is an important part of Ubuntu because self-confidence makes a unique statement. It is not an arrogant statement. Self-confidence is not arrogance but rather it is related to a value statement. It is a statement that affirms “I know who I am”, “I know my value”. Self-confidence is
important because it is about focus and courage. Focus like Nelson Mandela who knew where he wanted to go and had the courage, even in the face of opposition and criticism, to continue working in the interests of others.
Ubuntu is not about going on a personal mission, but it is about going on a mission in the interests of the community. Ubuntu makes us aware. In 2006, Bill Clinton said that “Ubuntu means that the world is too small, our wisdom is too limited, our time here is too short, to waste any more of it winning fleeting victories at other people’s expense. We have to now find a way to triumph together”.
Poverty can be understood as the inability to participate in society with dignity.
It is very difficult to fight for one’s dignity when you feel the whole world seems unsupportive, and in fact even conspires against you. In the spirit of Ubuntu, we have to use our role as leaders, as Ubuntu leaders, to help our fellow human beings to overcome this terrible obstacle, the obstacle of poverty.
The Ubuntu project is a dignity project based on the ethics of care, empathy and respect. •
BY JOSÉ RAMOS-HORTA
No one has been trying to help fellow human beings living in extreme poverty more than my good friend, my brother and my mentor Muhammad Yunus.
Muhammad Yunus does not need an introduction. Everyone knows Muhammad Yunus. He founded the Grameen Bank which is a banking conglomerate specifically for the poor. It was started with only 40$ and is in fact, the only banking conglomerate owned by the poor in the world.
I visited Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh and I was so impressed with what he had achieved in his homeland.Actually, not only in Bangladesh; his inspiration has mobilized many others around the world in the fight against extreme poverty.
The pandemic exposed a real lack of solidarity among humanity. A company like Pfizer pharmaceutical that sells the Covid-19 vaccines has made 30 billion dollars in profit in one year. Whenever there is a pandemic or a higher number of cases of tuberculosis, dengue, malaria etc., pharmaceutical companies get richer and we get poorer and sicker. Furthermore, some of the traditional banks in the West, and also in Asia and Latin America, are merchants that are profiting from the wars in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan. Banks often go bankrupt through their own mismanagement even in places like the United Nations or the European Union. The salary of a bank Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in the United States or Europe runs into tens of millions of dollars and if, through their irresponsible mismanagement, they bankrupt the bank, they leave with a package of tens of millions of dollars.
These are some of the hurdles we face, and nothing seems to be changing, but with more people like Muhammad Yunus or the Ubuntu family members, we might be able to change the world. The Grameen Bank, a microcredit model, has expanded throughout the globe and it has improved the lives of many millions. It was a simple act.
Muhammad Yunus, I express my deepest gratitude to you for being involved in this initiative and in our fight to end extreme poverty. •
MUHAMMAD YUNUS
2006 Nobel Peace Prize laureate
It is a great shame that the world’s leaders have not paid enough attention to the vaccine campaign, and today, billions of people are deprived of vaccines while only some countries have received all their required vaccines. There has been waste due to expiry dates and richer countries introduced a third dose which meant that the third dose was received by more people in those ten countries than the first dose was in all the poor countries in the world put together. So, that is the Covid- 19 vaccine situation. Our appeal, together with Jose, is to make vaccines patent-free goods - intellectual property regulations should not apply in the case of vaccines because it is a life-saving device, it is life-saving medicine. If you apply patent rights, you create a wall of profit, and rich pharmaceutical companies (and they are all rich), build this firewall of profit so that knowledge remains inside that firewall.
Nobody can get through it. It is a very ugly scenario; there are people dying outside the wall because they have no access to the vaccine, and they continue to die, but they will not open up an opportunity for the knowledge to come out, to protect all those millions and millions of people around the world. It is not about giving away money; it is simply about sharing knowledge - the knowledge is there, out in the world today to protect people from Covid-19 - but that knowledge is monopolized by vaccine companies, pharmaceutical companies who have built up heavy walls of profit-making, making billions of dollars a day.
We are not asking them to give the vaccine away for free. We are asking for knowledge to be allowed out. Many companies already have the knowledge but because of intellectual property rights, they cannot use it because if they use it, they will be sued for billions of dollars in compensation. This is the strange life that we lead in this world - how selfish human beings can get! How self-centric human beings are! This is a good example of that! We are thinking of creating social pharmaceutical companies.
As we have shared, social business is a new kind of business. They are businesses designed to solve problems rather than make money. This world is built on one principle of economics: if you are in business, you have to maximize profit; that is the goal. But whoever said that human beings have to always focus on maximizing profit? Evidence shows that economics is based on that. I say it is based on the wrong thing: economics is based on self-interest - human beings
are defined as people driven by self-interest, meaning selfish interest, wanting to pursue selfish interests. In this model, all you care about is yourself, nothing else. So, you blind yourself to the rest of the world and you just pay attention to yourself – that is profit maximization. The economic world has been built on the basic principle of profit maximization and we keep insisting that this is the wrong interpretation of what it means to be a human being. Human beings are not only driven by self-interest, human beings are also driven by collective interest. It is argued that economics does not account for collective interest and I affirm that this is wrong because it omits something precious. As human beings, we are not only interested in taking care of ourselves; we are also interested in taking care of everybody else. That is where the vaccine comes in, that is where water comes in, that is where global warming comes in, and economics cannot handle that because economics defends that people are only driven by self-interest.
That is why economists tell us to give subsidies to the fossil fuel industry, so trillions of dollars are given away.
Regarding COP26 (United Nations Climate Change Conference): what a terrible situation! We need highly concrete, tough decisions to save this planet; the planet does not have much time left and we are on the verge of extinction right now. We have been screaming to tell the world what scientists are telling us about the situation. However, the leaders could not care less. An Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report drafted by all the top world scientists says that in just 10 years, just 10 years from now, the temperature of the planet will reach the increased 1.5 degrees Celsius. 10 years! And the Paris agreement says that we will keep global warming to 2 degrees Celsius or less. Sometime ago, scientists said that we have to keep global warming at less than 1.5 degrees until the end of the century. The IPCC, all the scientists, are saying that if we continue in the same way, we have only 10 years left before we get to 1.5 degrees Celsius - so by 2030 or 2031, we will have reached 1.5 degrees Celsius. The rest is history.
Human beings have become the most endangered species on this planet. We have been worrying about many other species that are endangered. Today, human beings are the most endangered species and we do not have much time left, so we have to work very hard! That’s where young people come in and that is why I am so excited to talk to you because you have to take the responsibility to make sure the world goes in the right direction. We have to make tough decisions that are not driven by our own selfish interests. We must be driven by the interests of the planet itself: a collective interest, in the interest of all. Yet, people challenge me saying that this is not happening because this is not possible. People are interested in their own interests, nothing else, and why should anybody do anything for anybody else? What is there in it for them? There is no incentive in helping other people because there is not profit in it. There is no money in it and money is the thing that makes things happen when it comes to individual human beings.
Having listened to these arguments many times over, I try to explain that making money may bring happiness but making other people happy brings incredible happiness. It is a much bigger motive than just being happy, it brings incredible happiness because once we see that we can solve the world’s problems, we get very happy and that becomes our motive, that is what we want to do. I tell them that the young people are ready, they have the technology, they have the creativity, they have the stamina and the commitment to save this planet, otherwise they do not have a future! That is very clear. If we cross the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming, we enter the red zone meaning that this world will be dangerous for human beings to live in. It will become more dangerous each day, and it is an irreversible process- you cannot come back out of it! Today, we can still come back, we have time to reduce from 1.5 degrees to just 1.4 or 1.3. It is important to realize that 1.5 is very hot and not at all pleasant.
Already, right now, we are at 1.1 degrees and it is already making so much trouble, particularly in low-lying areas, in the island countries and so on, like in East Timor and Bangladesh. Any increase would make it extremely difficult to survive because of the extreme weather that is already showing up at 1.1 degree Celsius. Many scientists are saying that it is not 1.5 degrees Celsius that we should be heading for, but rather 0 degree Celsius as 1.5 is already too much. What is 0 degree Celsius? 0 degree Celsius is the atmosphere that we had a hundred years ago before the industrial revolution. The whole trouble began with the industrial revolution. We have to go back to the situation of pollution 100 years ago as that is the safest weather and living condition for human beings to survive. Do not even compromise for 1.5 degrees. Today, we want to protect ourselves by not surpassing 1.5 degrees, but you have to reverse the gear to go back to 0 degrees Celsius. That is the aim. We have talked about this many times and I say that young people are the ones to protect us, because it is their world they have to protect; they have to be determined.
Leaders will not come to that conclusion because they are too busy taking care of themselves and taking care of their bodies and their businesses. That is their focus. The campaign before COP26 was to end the digging up of all underground fossil fuels. All fossil fuels should be left underground. They
should not be taken out of the ground as that is the safest place for them. As soon as they are taken out, they become poison to human beings. During COP26, it was not decided, or even argued, that we should reach for grade zero. The only decision was to phase down the use of fossil fuels, which can mean anything. It does not state anything really.
This is the phase we are in right now and that is the reason why it is mandatory to campaign for a World of Three Zeros. The role of young people is crucial if we are to head for a World of Three Zeros. What is a World of Three Zeros?
The first is zero net carbons!
The dangers of global warming happen because of global carbon emission, so we need to bring the world down to zero carbon emissions. We need to see this happening in our lifetime and to make it happen, we need to make harsh decisions.
The second is zero wealth concentration!
All the wealth of the world is concentrated in just a few hands: 1% percent of the population owns 99% of the global wealth, which makes us ask what the other 99% are getting? Nothing. It is getting worse every day. Today, it is 1% and 99%, but tomorrow it will be less than 1%. This is the kind of economic machine we have built. We have to reverse the machine, we have to redesign the entire economic mechanism, to be able to generate a new world, a world where people and profit should live together. They should not be separated out from each other. It can be done; our history shows us how financing can be done and how economic concepts can be redesigned. All the wrong things economists have put in our heads have to be brought out, thrown out and new concepts have to be created. The machine must be completely redesigned.
The third and last zero is zero unemployment by unleashing entrepreneurship in all human beings!
All young people can become entrepreneurs. But the educational system is telling them that they have to finish school, get a good degree, and then get a job: as if a job is our entire life. A job is not our life. A job is the end of their life because a job is driven by instructions, which is a kind of slavery. Who wants slavery in this world? We want to be independent persons. Human beings are born as entrepreneurs. We need to have a new educational system that promotes entrepreneurship, critical thinking, new ideas and ways of finding finance. Use your ideas and translate what you want to learn into business. We do not have to work for somebody else, we can have and run our own businesses. The world is becoming a place where artificial intelligence will make everybody unemployed anyway. Be an entrepreneur and create your own world!
To create that World of Three Zeros, I invite all young people to form Three Zero Clubs! Five young people can get together and form a club. Google “Three Zero Club” and you will be able to register yourself in a club and get connected with other clubs. Each club can get connected with other clubs that all are committed to creating a three zero world. That is the direction we have to move in, otherwise we have no escape. We have to protect this planet, so that we can hand it over to the next generation as a safer planet, not a planet which will be destroyed by our own actions.
Some countries are also in conflict with each other and war occurs, instead of agreeing to work towards solutions.
Our education has trained us, all over the world, that human beings are selfish beings and we believe it. Society has drilled it into our heads, and we started believing it, so now, we are selfish people. The question is: why should we help each other? “As a selfish person, I will just help myself. I do not care about what happens”
Governments behave the same way, they always want to help themselves, not other countries. If they want to make a good statement, to express some kind of sympathy, they only do it on paper. In reality, they are always trying to achieve their own self-interests, in this case, the self-interest of the country, not the interests of the people who are suffering, namely refugees for example. Bangladesh has a million refugees that have escaped from Myanmar and are staying in our villages. We are already a tightly packed country, but who cares? The Rohingyas are okay, the Bangladeshis are feeding them, keeping them and even giving them some support. No one talks about returning them to their own country or creating conditions to enable them to return home. They were citizens, some of them in politics, even ministers, and now, suddenly, none of them belong to Myanmar and were pushed out.
These kinds of things make me feel extremely sorry. Not only in Bangladesh, but in so many countries that are suffering right now with desperate situations. There are some very ugly cases around the world. That selfishness has to be overcome. We have to understand that we need to redesign our system. We believe that human beings are driven partly by self-interest but mostly by collective interest. We want a peaceful world, we want to solve the problem of poverty, to solve the problem of global warming. We keep on subsidizing the same fossil fuels that are going to kill us, and we know that it is because of government and business self-interest. It must stop.
We often see continued inaction and silence despite numerous plans and meetings to tackle worldwide problems like climate change.
We give the pharmaceutical companies money, but a few countries have more vaccines doses than the rest of the poor countries in the world combined. Even if all of those pharmaceutical companies worked day and night to produce vaccines, they still could not produce enough vaccines to vaccinate everybody. Despite this fact, they still do not share the intellectual property. If that intellectual property was shared, everybody could produce them. Bangladesh could produce them, India could massively produce them, South Africa and other countries in Africa could produce them, Latin America has an enormous capacity to produce them too, so we could have enough vaccines available today.
But of all the vaccines that were produced, 80% were taken by a few fortunate countries. This is what the situation looks like if we remain selfish and addicted to maximum profit. This is the problem with being addicted to the maximization of profit and that is the key to the entire financial economic system. We have to get rid of it in order to create a new concept. We call it “Social Business”: business that solves collective problems. Usually, the maximization of business profit only seeks to serve oneself (namely, the investor or the owner) but social business serves the collective interest. In this kind of organization, the investor does not want to make money. We have created many social businesses in Bangladesh and other investors are creating these kinds of business in other countries, such as in Japan, the United States of America, France and Germany.
There are large corporations that have been encouraged to start social businesses. Many universities have social business centers and there are now more than 90 universities in the world teaching Social Business and encouraging young people to think about becoming entrepreneurs rather than job seekers. We are job creators, we are entrepreneurs, we design things and we are free people. We are not subordinate to anybody. We are not slaves. We are not mercenaries who collect money from one person and hand it over to another. That is not living. Living is about dedicating ourselves to something and then unleashing our creative energy to solve problems in the world. That is what human life is. The satisfaction that I am useful to the world, not just to myself.
Young leaders must find a way to engage in sustainability in a country that applies public policies that do not favor the community.
Young people are the future. Young people are the pilots of this spaceship called Planet Earth. This Earth is a spaceship and it is actually floating in space. Young people have to take the role of the pilots of the ship, because this ship does not have a pilot right now, it is just drifting in space, and it does not have navigators. This ship does not have a flight plan. It does not know where it is even going. Young people are the ones who have to volunteer to become the pilots of this spaceship and become the navigators. They must have the flight plans, that is their responsibility. To define the flight plan means answering the following questions: where do you want to take this ship to? because it is going to crash soon. This is the direction we are going in. It is not very far away. In a few years, there will be a huge crash. So, unless young people take over the responsibility, we will not have a planet left.
This is not science fiction. We are going to crash. It is a reality. They have to become the navigators and make a flight plan. Start creating the flight plan. If young people are looking for a destination, I could say – “I will give you one” - but they can create their own. Just as an example, I can share a possible destination: create this three zero world. That is the destination. A world with 0 carbon emissions, 0 wealth concentration and 0 unemployment by unleashing the creativity of each person. If somebody starts working and takes tiny little baby steps now, they will take on a thousand-mile journey in seconds. We cannot think “Oh I am so small, what can I do?”. Together, we are a force. We are pilots. We should not consider ourselves as passengers in this planet. “I get a job, I get good improvements, I get a promotion and then I have a very nice retirement. My life is done” – is this the kind of passenger we want to be? Or do we want to be a pilot? If we are passengers and if the world crashes, we cannot blame anybody because no one took on the responsibility. You and I can take this planet in the direction we want. That is why we need to discuss and act on the Three Zero World and its leadership; we need to make up our minds. Nothing is impossible for human beings. All we need to do is make up our minds and what we desire will happen. •
BY UBUNTU UNITED NATIONS' TEAM
For the Ubuntu United Nations’ team, it is an absolute privilege to introduce Mr. Elbegdorj Tsakhiagiin. He is a public servant, a freedom fighter, and a policymaker from Mongolia. As Prime Minister, Member of Parliament, and President, Mr. Elbegdorj prioritized strengthening the rule of law in Mongolia, fostering social justice, fighting poverty, combating corruption, supporting environmental sustainability, and advancing active participatory democracy. He has also initiated and led many social, economic, and governance reforms.
Currently, Mr. Elbegdorj is continuing his work to improve public policy, governance, and democracy through the Elbegdorj Institute, a think tank he founded in 2008. During his tenure as President, he also focused on the impacts of climate change, and air and soil pollution, the most significant public health issues in the capital of Mongolia. Through his Green Belt Foundation, he also continues this work by bringing together multi-stakeholders to find novel solutions to these challenges. Servant leaders lead with others in mind because they care about them. You cannot lead a community unless you care for them and you cannot serve that community unless you care for them. So, servant leadership is a type of leadership where one serves first and leads second, and where one does not use their leadership as an opportunity to seize power. These values are extremely important in the context of peacebuilding because one needs to have an altruistic perspective; the sheer belief in or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others should be of paramount importance. The Ubuntu methodology specifically emphasizes the importance of servant leadership because everyone can be a leader because everyone can serve.
He aims to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in Mongolia successfully. •
ELBEGDORJ TSAKHIAGIIN former President and Prime Minister of Mongolia
When you hear the name Mongolia, I think some of you remember its great history. Maybe some of you think about Jiga San’ale, while others refer to it as an island of democracy between Russia and China, a very exotic place with friendly people. I think all those things are true and at one point, Mongolia ran the largest land empire that has ever existed on this Earth. My country became the second communist country in the world after Russia in the late 1980s.
In my country, the Democratic Revolution changed everything and during our great transition from Communism to Democracy, we did not shatter a single window or shed a drop of blood. The transition was totally peaceful and, thanks to our people’s free choice, I had the privilege of serving my country two terms as president.
When a person becomes president, that person usually becomes a very different person, but that is absurd. The truth is: if a good person becomes president, that person usually becomes a good one with good intentions. Therefore, if a bad person becomes president, they will usually continue to act in bad ways. When you become president, you must carry on working. My point is: Ubuntu means “Humanity” and young Ubuntu leaders of the world are the best hopes for humanity.
If Ubuntu leaders dedicate their service to others, and to making their community, country and world a better place to live, they will be good leaders of their community and country. I truly believe that.
I became president in July 10, 2009 and when I entered the government buildings and my room, the President Office of the time, I found it was really large. And so, I said
“I’m not going to sit in this office, I will make a citizen hall out of this office. Let’s remake this office into a citizen hall. I would like to build from my government a bridge to my people in order to keep me connected, in order to keep my government connected with the people”.
A month later, it was built. Before that, in Mongolia, we had more prisons and detention centers than citizen halls. Now, we have citizen halls in our government facilities and people come to those citizen halls to discuss drafts of decrees, governmental decisions, drafts of laws, before they are discussed
in parliament. People discuss it and contribute. This became a huge movement in my country. After a year and a half, we created more than 600 citizen halls all over Mongolia: every small community, every small town, has citizen halls, even detention centers have citizen halls now.
In order for people to participate, they need space and we must provide it. And after that, people who have less, need something to solve their needs and problems. They need something to be able to contribute. People need money. I initiated a Local Development Fund Initiative and we allocated some capital directly from our budget to local communities all over Mongolia. If the local community was far from the capital city, it got more money; if the community had a large population, it got more money. When people have economic stability, we ask them to bring and share their ideas and problems. They can use that money to solve them. When people have access to funds, they usually think “oh, we do not have streetlights” or “we have a garbage collection problem” or “we have sewage problems” etc. and they can change it.
After that initiative, my capital city governor and I had an idea. We talked about making the processes in our government services less bureaucratic. We took our city services out of the city hall buildings to the shopping centers. That is what happened in Mongolia. When people go to buy bread and butter, they can get their driver license, marriage licenses, permissions etc. Actually, if somebody has a construction business, they can get the sewage permission or land permission there too. After, we asked the people if they enjoyed this service and more than 90% responded yes. Even if somebody lives in an open, democratic country, they cannot get many documentation approvals, but we were able to bring those administrative services to the shopping center and 90% of our people supported this initiative.
Following this, I initiated an open government initiative with colleagues from Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia called “the Law on Glass Accounts”.
People are usually interested in how the government spends its taxpayers’ money (the public funds), so in Mongolia, we have a law in which every decision related to the expenditure of public money, should be updated and posted. Because of this, the decision makers became more responsible.
Young people, everywhere in the world, are enjoying the best of knowledge, the best of technology. We are all connected to each other. Today, it is as if we are living through a time of renaissance. Humanity is creating more than at any other time in our history. Humanity is enjoying more news, more knowledge and more technology. As Genghis Khan used to say, “Conquering the world on horseback is easy; it is dismounting and governing that is hard”. I believe this is still true today so we have to work together.
Young leaders must also find a way of tackling social exclusion.
Regarding social exclusion, I think it is a denial of rights, a denial of resources, a denial of opportunities. For me, social exclusion is related to age, sex, disability, religion, race, social economic status and even one’s immigration status. Actually, power is another form of social exclusion. When I reflect on social exclusion, I usually emphasize that it is the opposite of social inclusion. We need to deliberate about social inclusion when we address social exclusion and understand what it means.
I think it is very simple: everyone is invited to a party except certain groups – and that is social exclusion. Understood in this way, government has a role to play in social exclusion but so does the private sector. Government can produce the policy framework and create the legal environment for civil society.
We can identify what kind of social exclusion we have in our community and city and then, we can discuss it with like-minded people and deliberate about solutions.
To tackle the social exclusion problem, first of all, we should believe that social inclusion is possible. If we believe that, we can work together to achieve the goal of bringing excluded people to our party and community. And we can also learn from others.
Besides becoming self-aware of social issues such as poverty, there is more that young people can do in civil society to take actions to reduce poverty in their countries regardless of their socio-economic or education background.
Concerning our role in reducing poverty, I obviously believe that political will is very important but I believe it is even more important to believe in ourselves. At the same time, it is essential to observe what kind of resources we have, what kind of tools we have to contribute. Accountability from government will make a big difference, as will forming new alliances, sitting together and reflecting on strategies to tackle this issue, bringing the best services to people, helping each other and being public servants to others, especially, to the most vulnerable.
One thing I often think about is that we have to be authentic; we have to believe in ourselves. If we believe in something, we will talk from our hearts and if we talk from our hearts, people will believe us and believe in our actions. It is not about showing off; it is not about social media posts. It is about revealing the truth: “I care about you, we can discuss our challenges, form alliances and take action”. •
THAÍSE CONSTANCIO TEMOTEO Delegate of Brazil
Most people know Brazil from its Carnival, from its beaches, and from the Amazon rainforest. But we also have a lot of challenges. I think every country has its problems, but we are not a poor country, and despite that, we struggle with exclusion and social difficulties. We have a lot of people that do not have enough to eat, and since the Covid-19 pandemic, we now have almost 19 million people that are suffering from hunger. This is a situation that we have not faced over the last 12 years. It is very sad. If our wealth was shared with everyone, we would not face these problems. As I said, we are not a poor country, we have the 8th or 9th largest economy in the world, so it is not fair to have this amount of people struggling with poor education, poor sanitation facilities and extreme poverty.
We, as young leaders, can help to change things. I know people who are fighting against the lack of open access to education. I know people who are fighting for sustainability and the environment. I know people who are struggling to find good job opportunities for their colleagues, friends, family and community members. Our role, on this Earth, is to help others. Together, we are stronger. We can make big changes in Brazil and all around the globe. We can help people access good nutrition and health centers and provide proper schools for them to attend. Education is key. I think that through education, we can face a better future. Through education, we can reset our culture’s values.
In Brazil, and around the world, we need to save our forests, we need to save our water, we need to help people have access to clean water so they can avoid health problems. As young leaders, and as citizens, we can help our country and the world to be better. The Amazon rainforest is an essential part of the environment globally, so we have to save it. We have to make people understand that when we are protecting our forests, we are protecting the world, and when we protect the world, we are protecting ourselves. •
MONA SULIMAN
Delegate of Sudan
Poverty in Sudan is highly divided by regions because in this country, we have an uneven distribution of economic growth, mainly due to the conflicts in some areas. We also suffer from a severe lack of access to education, sanitation, fresh water, economic opportunities, etc.
Sudan has suffered from conflicts for a long time. People do not have land to cultivate. Inflation is also a complex problem. Salaries are not enough to respond to life’s necessities. Rural places are where people suffer the most with limited opportunities to access key services. Women are the most disadvantaged members of society, alongside older and disabled people. In Sudan, most women do not have access to education.
As a proud Sudanese, I believe that the young people can change our country regarding the equal access to opportunities. If we make an effort, we can do it. Personally, I have developed a smartphone application to locate surplus food from hotels, factories and even restaurants and then, after ensuring its high quality and quantity, the food is stored and then, delivered to people in need, especially to hospitals and schools. For me, my dream is to end hunger in Sudan. To develop a country where there is no wasted food. I believe that if I could do this and develop this system, each young leader can do the same. In fact, most projects start from small ideas. Change is within us. •
ANDERSON PEREIRA Delegate of Brazil
The Future will be decided in Education
We are living in a time when it is impossible to predict the future. Yet, it is precisely for this reason that it has never been so important to think about it. In this paper, the author sheds light on the greatest challenge of this century for humanity: education. He explores the historical relevance of the current moment, analyzes demographic data, and discusses the urgency of developing virtuous leaders like Mandela.
We are here to make a dent in the universe. Otherwise, why else are we here?
There is a common belief that on your last day on Earth, the person you became will meet the person you could have become. True or not, we should pursue a future where people can become their own best versions. Steve Jobs’ mantra, “We are here to put a dent in the universe”, is a metaphor that expresses the essence of living a meaningful life and building revolutionary change that could benefit mankind in an unprecedented scale.
In nearly 300,000 years of human history, several individuals have made dents in the universe: whether Mandela's leadership, Einstein's intelligence, Senna’s persistence, or even Mother Teresa's generosity, distinguished individuals have proved that humans can break through unimaginable boundaries and redefine the maximum of our potential. So, what differentiates these remarkable individuals from regular ones?
I asked this question ten years ago when I lectured at the EJT Meeting (Meeting of Young Transformers), a youth conference in Brazil that I created with some colleagues in 2012. Our purpose was to bring together the most engaged social activists to discuss how this generation could solve our country's main challenges.
Back then, I believed that the most influential young people in the country should come together and engage in common causes in favor of our society. I understood that a small, well-meaning team, with a common goal, was powerful enough to cause great transformations in the world. In fact, throughout our history this is exactly how change has ever happened.
If you look at the long-term horizons for our country, what do you think is the main challenge to our society?
There are more than 210 million inhabitants in this country named Brazil. According to Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA), Brazilians will reach, at most, 233 million inhabitants by 2047. Two thirds of young people will come from the poorest families where population growth is more pronounced. This will be the pinnacle of Brazil’s populational growth.
In other words, it is the moment when Brazil will have more people of working age than it has ever had and more than it will ever have. After that, population decline will begin. The United Nations (UN) estimates that by 2100, its population will have dropped to just over 180 million inhabitants.
Education is a window of opportunity that Brazil cannot miss. It is its chance to educate its citizens for the future and define Brazil’s success as a nation.
We need to equip the largest number of inhabitants that Brazil has ever had in its history, and will ever have in its future, to face the challenges of our times and learn how to: (i) live in a world with finite resources; (ii) deal with climate change; (iii) adapt to fast-paced technological disruptions; and (iv) collaborate in a diverse and interdependent society. These important challenges are not unique to Brazil, but are the same for any country this century.
We have already lived more than a fifth of the 21st century, and with this comes a whole new game. In this century, the most important asset of a company, a country or a society are the brains that form part of it. In a constantly changing labor market, where employment is becoming increasingly scarce, and manual activities are increasingly automated, intellectual capital is decisive in defining who will prosper.
Therefore, the real question we must ask ourselves is: how are we preparing the greatest number of brains that will exist in homo sapiens’ entire history?
Demography cannot be negotiated. The best we can do is understand it and act beforehand. Although the future is not yet written, it is certain that we are living in decisive moments, and since the best way to predict the future is to create it, the time we must act is now.
There are 8,324,608 possible combinations of human chromosomes. All of our chromosomes have developed and aligned as well as Mandela’s, Einstein’s, Senna’s, or Mother Theresa’s once did. Biologically, they were no different than any of us.
As the largest number of individuals in homo sapien history, our generation has in its hands an unprecedented potential and it is our responsibility to prepare, develop, and empower the next generation of virtuous leaders. They will find the answer to questions that have not yet been asked.
The Ubuntu Method, created by the Ubuntu Leaders Academy, was formed to tackle this challenge. Designed with five different chapters that were extracted from the lessons of the great leaders of our times, the methodology addresses Self-knowledge, Self-confidence, Resilience, Empathy and Service, as the main characteristics to be developed in this new kind of leadership.
We are living in a time when it is impossible to predict the future, but precisely because of this, it has never been so important to think about it. Big changes will happen in our world over the coming years. The government, private sector, third sector and civil society need to prepare for a new scenario. Our demographics have changed and will continue to change. And this is not a problem, but it is a fact.
The role of education in the 21st century should not be seen as a factory for the labor market, nor an ideological tool for politics. Education frees, transforms, and empowers. With it, we will have citizens that are more aware of their rights and duties, a greener and sustainable economy, a more prosperous society, and human beings realizing their full potential. It is the most important task of our times, and we cannot fail.
The future is certainly decided in education, because without education, there is no future.
• United Nations, DESA. (2019) Population Division. World Population Prospects 2019. http:// population.un.org/wpp/.
• Leitão, M. (2015) História do Futuro: O horizonte do Brasil no século XXI. Editora Intrínseca.
• O’Neil, D. (1998-2013). Recombination and Linkage. [website]. Available at: https://www2. palomar.edu/anthro/biobasis/bio_3.htm.
• Gonçalves, J. L., Fernandes, J. L., & Rogowki, A. (2021) Self-knowledge (Chapter 1) in Ubuntu Leaders Academy (2021) Pillars of the Ubuntu Method.
• Oliveira, Ana. (2021). Self-Confidence (Chapter 2) in Ubuntu Leaders Academy (2021) Pillars of the Ubuntu Method.
• Forte, Ana Castro, Santos, J. & Anzini, P. (2021). Resilience (Chapter 3) in Ubuntu Leaders Academy (2021) Pillars of the Ubuntu Method.
• Alarcão, M. & Fonseca, S. (2021). Empathy (Chapter 4) in Ubuntu Leaders Academy (2021) Pillars of the Ubuntu Method.
• Montenegro, E., & Gaspar, J. P. (2021). Service (Chapter 5) in Ubuntu Leaders Academy (2021) Pillars of the Ubuntu Method •
MERYL THIEL Delegate of France
Towards a new path of Human Rights: When diversity generates universality
Diversity generates universality and belonging to the Ubuntu community makes this assumption true. The program promotes empathy, resilience, and a sense of leadership: the singularity of the bond that unites us is based on the recognition of common values despite geographical and cultural heterogeneity.
From now on, I am giving a new meaning to “Service”. Thanks to my participation in the seminar, I have enhanced some skills and detected others. I have strengthened my active listening ability; developed a new expression of patience; and expanded my creativity: I can provide a distinct approach to human rights, one that overcomes classical obstacles.
More broadly, being an Ubuntu delegate has challenged ways I have conceived life in three ways which I will explore in this article: partnership, leadership, humanity.
The late Desmond Tutu introduced a new vision of human relations. Far from classifications in terms of economic and/or humanitarian development, this great man succeeded in promoting an African concept by extracting its universal dimension.
During the seminar, the great Desmond shared with us his benevolence and hope for the future we could build. He considered that “I am because you are: my humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together” (Ubuntu, 2019) and established the minimum requirements to achieve a fair and democratic society which included equal civil rights for all, a common education system and an end to deportations.
The seminar highlighted the importance of doing. Action is a demonstration of consistency with what is said. A human leader is a leader who knows how to combine words and actions. The methodology followed during the seminar combined moments of listening to the speakers with interactive elements that gave us a foundation for thought and practical application through discussion sessions.
Dialogue has been promoted, stimulated and respected, leading us to partake in a dynamic of exemplary and inclusive tolerance, and in doing so, limit the description given by Godelier, for whom “we are actually in a society whose own functioning separates individuals from each other, isolates them even within their families, and gives them hope only when in opposition to each other. It is a society which releases, like no other, all the forces, the potentialities that are dormant in the individual, but which also obliges each individual to isolate himself from others, using them” (Godelier, 2000).
The Ubuntu concept emerges as a necessity to solve the shortcomings of our system. It is by allowing a collective awareness that humans belong to a larger whole that global solidarity can emerge and become the basis of our future actions.
Marcel Mauss discovered that social links were founded on the dialectic gift/counter-gift in some traditional Melanesian societies (Mauss, 2001). This is a service that mutually obliges the giver and the receiver and that, in fact, unites them through a form of social contract. Indeed, "giving is not first of all giving something, it is giving your own self in what one gives [...]" (Godbout, 1997).
The partnership would therefore be based on an exchange of humanity where the protagonists are in a situation of equilibrium, avoiding relations of domination. It makes me remember that in Bahasa, the language spoken in Malaysia and Indonesia, “Thank you” is “Terima-Kasih” (literally ReceiveGive). It is by practicing this dialectic in our daily life that we can seek to become better partners.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner, Maria Ressa, said that “you cannot succeed if at some points you have not failed”. Resilience is indeed a cardinal element of leadership. Leadership today means vision and service, not ordering or coercing. The leader is the one who, through their pragmatism and experience, is able to serve humanity and work for its progress, guiding it towards the vision they share with the world.
It is clear from the Ubuntu seminar that the same great people who have marked history by their humanity are the ones who have experienced in their flesh the beauty of service and the difficulties of defending innovative visions that use non-racial and non-gendered approaches.
John Volmink recently drew attention, in his interpretation of this leadership model molded by the Ubuntu perspective, to the deep similarity between serving and leading (Ubuntu, 2019).
It is important to clarify the concept of “serving”. In our societies, there still remains a social devaluation of the status of those who serve. There is still the idea that the social role of “servants” or “servants of the land” belong at the base of the social pyramid. There is still the memory of the statute of slavery, dispossessed and deprived of full human dignity (Beck, 2015).
Serving is an act of love and respect that contributes to building a humanity that is more inclined to work for the common good (Gandhi, 2012). Service is beyond the concept of domination: it participates in a visionary and humanistic approach of sharing, which makes us better humans.
Nelson Mandela wrote in his book The Long Walk to Freedom: “I always knew that at the bottom of every human heart, there is mercy and generosity (…). Love comes more naturally to our heart than the opposite” (Mandela, 1994, pp.729).
This has been such a mantra during the seminar. Far from individualism and unbridled competition, this seminar highlighted the power of the fraternal link between young people from different cultures and nationalities. We have all come together to understand the importance of a community based on doing and not only on saying.
I have learned a lot during this seminar: learned to develop empathy in order to better understand the suffering of others; learned to be resilient in times of difficulty in order to nurture hope; learned to share experiences to flesh out a new type of leadership. This is how the Ubuntu vision has reinforced my personality.
• Beck, Ulrich (2015). A sociedade de risco mundial – em busca da segurança perdida. Edições 70
• Gandhi, Mahatma (2012). Autobiographie ou mes expériences de vérité: Présentation et notes de Pierre Meile. Paris: PUF
• Godbout, Jacques (1997). O Espírito da Dádiva. Lisboa: Instituto Piaget.
• Godelier, Maurice (2000). O Enigma da dádiva. Lisboa: Edições 70
• Gonçalves, J. L. (2012). “Dádiva, reciprocidade e reconhecimento: por um novo vínculo social.” In Paula Cristina Pereira (org.) 2012. Espaço público. Variações críticas sobre a urbanidade. Porto: Ed. Afrontamento, pp. 149-167. ISBN: 978-972-36-1282-0
• Mandela, Nélson (1994). A Long Walk to Freedom. Boston: Little, Brown & Co.
• Mauss, Marcel (2001). Essai sur le don. Forme et raison de l’échange dans les sociétés primitives. Chicoutimi: UQAC. Available at: http://classiques.uqac.ca/classiques/mauss_ marcel/socio_et_anthropo/2_essai_sur_le_don/essai_sur_le_don.html. •
YAHYA AL-TAIE Delegate of Iraq
Private sector vs public sector jobs and employment in Iraq, with some Iraqi local economy insight
As all Iraqis know, it is very rare that a public sector employee is fired except for an egregious offense, while in the private sector, favoritism, nepotism, social connections and bribery contribute to an unequal playing field when applying for jobs. In fact, there are many compelling reasons to cause young people to prefer public sector jobs. Another important benefit of public sector employment is the presence of a reliable pension plan. In addition, there are a large number of paid holidays and personal time off (PTO) days, compared to the private sector.
This may be the most important reason to explain the poor service one experiences when interacting with Iraqi public sector civil service entities in comparison to the private sector, where employees can find themselves jobless at any point of their career. On the other hand, private sector jobs typically pay double the compensation compared to an equivalent job in the public sector.
If you are a young Iraqi with a college degree, and among those who are working in the private sector, either by choice, or because you could not find a suitable opportunity to join the public sector, then we are in the same boat!
Many young Iraqi graduates dream about landing a public sector job and this is a big problem. For this issue to be solved, we need to understand the underlying root causes. What is so special about public sector jobs in Iraq that makes many young people willing to do anything to land one? By “anything” I mean using connections, favoritism, or the paying of bribes that could amount to thousands of dollars just to get a job that would not pay more than a few hundred dollars a month, at best. As an investment, the math does not add up here!
In fact, there are many reasons that compel young people to prefer public sector jobs. Working in the public sector ensures job security for life.
This, in my opinion, is the main reason. As all Iraqis know, it is very rare for a public sector employee to be fired except for an egregious offense. It is common knowledge that only a minister or a deputy minister-level employee can fire a public sector employee ranked below them.
On the other hand, private sector jobs typically pay double the compensation compared to a similar public sector equivalent job function. However, job security is nowhere to be found in the private sector in Iraq. Private sector employees can find themselves jobless at any given point in their career. This does vary depending on the organization and its internal management system.
This article attempts to identify the most common causes and discuss the implications.
The absence of job security in the Iraqi private sector is mainly linked to the lack of existing laws and regulations, or when present, the lack of their enforcement. The existing laws and regulations are woefully outdated and are based on customs that are no longer relevant in today’s modern Westernleaning democratic societies.
The majority of updates to these older laws and regulations are predominantly in favor of the employer rather than the employee. Furthermore, even these weak and outdated laws are not properly enforced, resulting in violations by the private sector employer without fear of reprisal. A simple example of this can be seen in the significant portion of private sector employees who lack the basic protections of an employment contract.
Another important benefit of public sector employment is the presence of a reliable pension plan. It may not equal the pensions traditionally provided by the private sector (in a perfect scenario) but it garantees a basic safety net that the average Iraqui can live a decent life on in retirement.
The private sector pension system is on much shakier ground, and the guarantee is not as strong as that in the public sector, if at all. Furthermore, a private sector employee in Iraq rarely has an employment contract and is therefore rarely registered in the social security system.
Without a registered employment contract, there is no pension plan to talk about. Occasionally, one sees taxation and social security deductions without the benefit of an employment contract in place, this could result from employer manipulation, and therefore, the future benefits under these conditions are severely restricted.
According to the current labor law, if the employee is registered in the social security system in the private sector, there will be a monthly deduction of 5% from the base salary in addition to a contribution of 12% of the base salary by the employer, totaling 17%. These deductions are accumulated in the social security department and paid back to the individual only when they are unemployed for over a year.
But it is not paid back entirely! The amount typically paid back is less than half of this amount (or 8% to 8.5% out of the deducted 17%).
This amount is made in either a one-time lump sum payment or paid out on a monthly basis and would fall woefully short in covering the basic needs of an individual, let alone a family! (in this common scenario, what financial security is there?)
Another main reason why many Iraqi youths prefer a lower paying public sector job over a job in the private sector, is the minimal level of effort required in the majority of public sector jobs. In addition, there are a large number of paid holidays and personal time off (PTO) days, compared to the private sector.
This tends to fuel a cycle of cynicism and self-defeat that has a dampening effect on the ambitions of generations of Iraqis.
In a public sector job, the employee does not usually need to develop further knowledge and skills, nor continuously enhance their performance, once the job is secured. This is the opposite of what is seen in the private sector industry, where one has to prove their value on a daily basis. This single fact might be the most important reason behind the poor service one experiences when interacting with the Iraqi public sector civil service entities.
If you work in a private sector job, you realize that you can lose your job from poor performance or a lack of skills development.
One more point I would like to discuss is the corruption in private sector employment in Iraq. Favoritism, nepotism, social connections and bribery contribute to an unequal playing field when applying for private sector jobs. In these cases, qualifications and skills hardly matter. Equal employment opportunities are not practiced in Iraq.
In my point of view, the solution to this dilemma is not to demand that more public sector jobs are created, but rather to encourage the private sector to play by the existing rules and regulations in employment laws, and pass additional laws to strengthen the power of the private sector employee, with more protections and enforceable rights.
Levelling the playing field between employer and employee has a long history in the labor laws of Western societies, that at various times has seen the advancing and/or receding of labor unions. I am not advocating for labor unions here but establishing the fact that when one side holds all the power, society is weakened and is no longer on a sustainable path.
It is well known that the public sector wage costs in Iraq form a significant portion of the national budget every year. This, combined with the dangerously high levels of corruption, represents a substantial impediment to the economic development so sorely needed in Iraq.
With the rising demand for renewable, sustainable, clean and green energy across the entire globe, the future global demand for oil is expected to gradually decrease. This poses what could be the most dangerous economic threat to Iraq’s future, as oil exports form up to 95% of Iraqi revenue. This is a very important issue that Iraq needs to face. Planning alternatives and solutions in advance is critical.
Empowering, stabilizing, regulating, and encouraging the private sector in Iraq has the potential to strengthen the economy, reduce the dependence on public sector employment, and create an economically viable middle class that can strengthen the Iraqi economy.
This is a noteworthy issue that needs to be addressed as soon as possible. Planning solutions in advance is a must. Empowering the private sector in Iraq is a major factor in creating a sustained internal economy, including the renovation and development of industry and agriculture. Creating more jobs will result in better internal cash flow, followed by internal financial stability, that will have a positive impact on all other aspects of life in Iraq.
A healthy private sector that is held accountable to shareholders, the public, and its employees, is the key contributor to a healthy economy. I pray that the existing Iraqi government wakes up to this urgent need before it is too late, so that we might live to see our grandchildren enjoy the fruits of their efforts.
• The Iraqi Labor Law (Act 37 of 2015) in action since (13/4/2015) Available at: (https://iraqld. hjc.iq/LoadLawBook.aspx?page=1&SC=020220164139899. •
The following interventions are transcriptions from the Ubuntu United Nations’ Fourth Seminar – Ubuntu Lives: Human Rights which took place on December 5, 2021.
JOHN VOLMINK President of the Ubuntu Global Network and co-Chair of the Ubuntu United Nations
Building on the Ubuntu pillars of self-knowledge and self-confidence, the Ubuntu Lives themes regard the ways in which we can become aware that each of us has a story that we should own.
I am currently writing my own story, my own life story, which is called “One Act of Kindness” and it links back to the whole issue of Ubuntu. Somebody walked into my life and with one act of kindness, changed me completely. The important thing is to recognize that our story makes us unique. Through reflection and personal storytelling, we come to understand that in the spirit of Ubuntu, we can inspire others and bring a message of hope and strength to our respective communities.
Every time I tell my own story, I notice that people grapple with it and many people talk to me about it. It is a responsibility, my own responsibility, to share it with my own community and the broader global community.
I just want to affirm that it is important that we inspire people and bring a message of hope and strength to our communities. The promotion of human rights and human dignity is critically important in a world that is defined by widespread disregard for human rights and selfishness. We firmly believe that young leaders sharing a commitment of Ubuntu, the ethics of care, bridge building and servant leadership will make a huge difference. By working together, they will have a huge impact and make this a better world. The digital revolution has created an amazing opportunity for the current generation to interact with each other and dialogue on a global scale.
I am always interested in listening to others as they share how they have dealt with obstacles and built resilience and courage. We inspire others through our examples as leaders. I will never forget when I was in the United States of America, where I lived for ten years, and on February 11, 1990, I saw Nelson Mandela walk out of prison. I heard him say the same words that he said when he went into prison and although at the time, I was filled with resentment and bitterness, I told myself that
if he can do this as my leader, I will try to do it too. He inspired me to try and forgive. By sharing with others how we have dealt with obstacles, we inspire others.
An Ubuntu life is the one that is underpinned by sincerity, truthfulness, compassion, empathy and, most of all, a deep respect for others. It is very important to have a deep respect for others. We cannot expect others to exhibit these attributes if we cannot demonstrate them ourselves. We have to demonstrate them; we have to be the change we want to see. An Ubuntu life aims to bring about change through a process of openness and transparency but also through community involvement. An Ubuntu life is not a selfish life, it is based on teamwork within a collaborative environment that fosters solidarity. Working together toward the same goal. The good of the community always shines through in an Ubuntu life.
People learn from one another, and everyone grows from that experience. Ubuntu promotes the empowerment of others through mentoring and building relationships. Just by talking about our own story, we mentor people whether we intend to or not. We can challenge people through mentoring and building relationships. We can challenge people when we explain how to search for opportunities and create innovation not only for the individual, but for everyone.
The world is focused on survival and survival is central to Ubuntu. It presupposes the sharing of resources based on a mutual concern for existence. None of us are safe unless all of us are safe. Survival depends on working together. Solidarity entails valuing collective thinking according to a community-based understanding of ourselves. We find each other in community. John Maxwell makes the point that a lot of people believe that they are successful because they have everything they want, but there is a difference. John Maxwell differentiates between success and significance. When we speak about success, we speak about how we have added value to ourselves. However, John Maxwell believes that significance comes when you add value not only to yourself, but also to the other. He argues that we cannot have true success without significance. Success is a journey, but some people stop at the point when they have only added value to themselves, and then they miss out on the reward of significance.
Ubuntu life stories are expressions of generosity, compassion, a concern for others and the dilemmas that they face, and a willingness to sacrifice one’s own self-interest to help others.
I end this article by quoting Nelson Mandela:
“When the history of our time is written, will we be remembered as the generation that turned its back on a time of global crisis or as a generation that did the right thing?” •
PRINCESS RYM ALI OF JORDAN Founder of the Jordan Media Institute
Children’s rights were recognized after the First World War with the Geneva Declaration in 1924, and later in 1959, with the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. The following chapter by Mr. Kailash Satyarthi addresses the more than 160 million child laborers across the world.
I think some of you may be familiar with A Christmas Carol. The book was written by Charles Dickens who often denounced the dire situation of children in Victorian England. It is in fact a universal story. There is a part where the main character, Scrooge, meets the ghost of Christmas future who shows him these two wild ragged children coming out of his robes. The ghost tells Scrooge, “They are Man’s. The boy is Ignorance. The girl is called Want. Beware of them both, and all of their degree”.
What Kailash Satyarthi does, what the laureates and leaders and the eminent boards of men and women who work with him do, is work hard to ensure there are no children called ignorance or want, so that the future of all is not compromised and to make sure that the basic rights of children, which are basic human rights, are respected. Maybe he is a bit like the Charles Dickens of his time, or maybe he is more powerful because he actually acts on it. He reminds us of the importance of compassion and that solutions are interconnected.
On December, 10, 2021, the world celebrated the anniversary of the Declaration of the Human Rights adopted by the United Nations (US) in Paris in 1948. That was just three years after the end of the devastating World War II.
I invite young leaders to re-read the text of that declaration. They would enjoy it. It is also worth reading the constitution of the United States of 1776 and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen that dates back to the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789. Both texts were important sources for the Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. Of course, we cannot ignore that the American Constitution was drafted by slave owners, that racist practices have not disappeared in the US even today and that at the time, the French colonial enterprises often tried to remind the world that the motherland of human rights could not possibly be accused of human rights abuses.
Nowadays, there are many reasons to be satisfied with the progress achieved worldwide and to have hope, but questions need to be asked. COVID-19 is showing that the rights of the individual are becoming an exclusive absolute in some places.
The popular saying “the freedom of one man stops where that of another man’s begins” seems to have been forgotten these days. I am reflecting, for example, on how people refuse to wear a mask even if that puts other people in danger. Some people refuse to be vaccinated because it is their right to refuse, disregarding completely the rights of their neighbor not to be infected.
The same goes with the freedom of speech; the interconnected social media world is rife with examples. Freedom of speech is a basic fundamental human right, but it does not give anyone the right to tell lies. It sounds obvious but it is important to remind us of these facts when in recent days we have seen people speaking on behalf of former President Donald Trump and asserting that his lies were actually merely alternative realities.
Just as importantly, individual rights come with duties. Everyone should be encouraged to act responsibly because society cannot possibly function if we all decide that we have every right but no duties.
In Asia, I think it is often said that what Westerners call international values are actually western values. Asians consider that individual rights cannot exist without duties to the family. They speak of family values, for example. Now I mentioned this in a previous intervention, but I think it is worth mentioning here again.
The African Union adopted the Charter of Human and People’s Rights in 1980. That text is far from being perfect and in some countries on the continent, neither human nor people’s rights are fully enjoyed by everyone sadly. But I believe that Africans are fully justified in demanding that the individual cannot really enjoy liberty and personal rights if collective rights are not fully recognized and respected.
I am not certain that members of the Africa Union actually spoke of Ubuntu specifically during the drafting phase of that charter, but it is certain that the spirit of Ubuntu permeates important parts of that African Charter of Human and People’s Rights. It reflects the notion that a code of conduct for humans needs to be a code of conduct for their co-existence.
We must use our imagination to jump over brick walls. Ubuntu tells us that human beings do not stand alone on this Earth. Each one is part of a family. He or she is a member of a community, a citizen or a country. A member of the human race. They have rights within their family, community, country and humankind but they also have duties to their family, community, country and to the human race.
As far back as the mid- renaissance period, the English poet and scholar John Donne wrote a poem called “No man is an island”, which reflects on the link between man and humankind that seems to have been forgotten recently: “no man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as any manner of thy friends or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore, never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee”.
As we are called to do our part to help curb this pandemic, it is worth remembering our rights as human beings within communities and that each one of us exists through the others. To evoke Nelson Mandela: It is up to us all, and to each one of you here today, to make sure we are remembered as the generation that did the right thing. •
BY JOSÉ RAMOS-HORTA
The Ubuntu United Nations (UUN) is synonymous with human fraternity. The UUN is synonymous with solidarity and a profound belief in human societies and individual freedoms: freedom from arbitrary arrest and torture, freedom from summary execution, right to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal. The UUN is synonymous with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It has been a privilege to be able to count on some of the greatest global personalities as they have lent us their wisdom, their decades of experience and their struggles to build equitable, just, fair societies, and an equitable distribution of the wealth of the nation.
One of the human beings that I have most admired over the years is Professor Kailash Satyarthi from India. Kailash won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 after surrendering his life and comfort for 30 years to fight to free children from slavery and child labor. He was only 20 years old when he graduated from university with his first degree and he would soon get married. He told his fiancée that he was not going to work in a bank, in the civil service as a bureaucrat, or set up a business. Instead, he was going to dedicate his life to protecting the children of India and of the world, to free children from slavery and from child labor.
Over the decades-long struggle, he was threatened. His wife followed him with no hesitation. She followed Kailash’s vision, his generosity, his heart and his courage and ever since, Kailash, his wife and whole family including his in-laws, have dedicated themselves to this global vison and struggle to free the best gift from God to us - the children.
Without the children that are born every second of every minute around the globe, humanity would cease to exist. If humanity is to keep getting better, we must care for unborn babies, we must care for the mothers who are carrying them in their bodies, in their souls, we must care for babies from day one to give them the best possible lives, the best possible nutrition, and to their mothers so that they become healthy children living in absolute love and freedom.
This is the vison of Kailash Satyarthi which I share. I am Chairman of the steering committee of Nobel Peace Prize laureates and global leaders for children’s rights in the fight for freeing children from child labor and child slavery so I have been working with Kailash, his wife and family for years and each time I am inspired by him.
We have this extraordinary man from India, one of the largest democratic countries in the world with 1.23 billion inhabitants, a fascinating civilization with tremendous hopes and opportunities but also with grave challenges for the people and for the security of the country.
When I look at India, when I look at what Kailash has done and when I look at myself (for I have done a bit in my small corner of the world), we have made tremendous progress. I am not alarmed by the setbacks in the fight for democracy and human rights. I am not alarmed by the alleged rising of the far right or the rising of personalities such as Donald Trump in the United States who then lost out to a better man, President Biden. And I am not too concerned about the rise of extremism because this is part of humanity’s progression to a better world: there are ups and downs, there are walls, big walls ahead of us, but we must not bang our heads on the brick walls; we must use our intelligence, our imagination to jump over these brick walls or turn around, we must continue with our struggle for human rights and democracy.
Just believing is not enough. We have to stay focused and we have to use our brains, our intelligence to fight for democracy. We cannot use dogmas or extremism. We must use our hearts and our brains to fight for democracy, for human rights and for freedom.
That is how we can succeed. •
KAILASH SATYARTHI
2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate
I am confident that whatever problems we are facing in the world, the solutions exist, and the solutions are the young people. Their conviction, their commitment, their compassion, their energy and their courage give me the faith to believe that the future of humankind is as bright as the young leaders are.
Ubuntu for me is something which should live in our hearts and in our souls. In my opinion, it has four pillars:
It is compassion. That is why I always call for the globalization of compassion. It is not about showing sympathy to each other and being artificial or formal “Hello, Hi! How are you?” but rather experiencing deeper feelings, feeling the suffering of another as one’s own suffering and then, trying to solve that suffering. It is not limited only to human beings; it goes beyond that to include animals, plants, trees, mountains, rivers and oceans: everything in the universe. If the planet or people are at risk, we have to be compassionate.
The second pillar is gratitude. We have to build a supply chain of gratitude. I am sitting in a room which we call Balasam or Rehabilitation. Here, we promote education and leadership for young people who have been freed from slavery and trafficking. I feel safe. The people who built this room, the electricians, plumbers, the people who have given me food or those who grow food in the farms, I own them my gratitude. I am sitting here and wearing clothes. Somebody, and many people in fact, are responsible for the food and for the cotton and stitching in these clothes. And if I keep on thinking, I start to feel a deeper sense of gratitude towards them. No leader, no corporate, no one, no educated person, academic, whoever, can accomplish and achieve great things in life without the support of many other people. So, many people are responsible for it. Most of the time, we lose that sense of gratitude for others and we feel that whatever we have achieved is only mine.
The third pillar is responsibility, mutual responsibility. Through the years, we have created networks of things. In our modern world, we have even created Artificial Intelligence and Technology. But let us reflect on the network of responsibility. Gratitude and responsibility are interlinked.
The fourth pillar is building a culture of tolerance. Respecting diversities and differences. We have created algorithms of everything. Let us try to create an algorithm of diversities because there are different beauties in humankind, in human society.
For me, these four pillars are the pillars of Ubuntu.
When people have the sense that “this is mine and this is yours” or “it is mine and that is yours”, they have a very limited outlook, short heartedness, a mean mentality. The reality is that, the world is just one family. The world is one large family. Whoever wants to make this world a better, more sustainable and peaceful place has to feel that they are one. The world is one. Humanity is one. That is the lesson that we have to learn all the time. But especially in this “post pandemic period”, with more variants coming.
We have to learn that we cannot solve any problem in the world in isolation. The problems are all interconnected, and the solutions are also interconnected. We are interdependent and we have to think and act as one. Unfortunately, as we are now reading this book, 48 000 additional children, new children, will be pushed into child labor today. Every day, 160 million children in the world are working at the cost of their freedom and childhood. It means that there are 160 million empty seats in the classroom; 160 million jobs for adults are taken by, or given to, children because children are the cheapest source of labor. It also means that we miss out on 160 million climate actions because when these children are forced to work in mines, factories and other places, they cannot be taking part in any kind of activity linked to climate justice.
These are all interconnected issues. But unfortunately, and ironically, I would say that more than half of these 160 million children are from Sub- Saharan Africa alone. This is the manifestation of systemic and institutional racial discrimination. A child laborer cannot be employed by an American company or a European company in Europe or America, but these companies can easily employ and exploit children in Africa, Latin America and Asia.
How can we think that this world could be an Ubuntu world if this kind of discrimination and hypocrisy is going on? Young people have to take charge.
A few years ago, a group of Nobel Peace Prize laureates and world leaders jointly launched the 100 Million Campaign. The 100 Million Campaign is a global campaign to mobilize 100 million young people to devote themselves to a better future for 100 million marginalized children who have been denied their rights and liberty. At least 100 million young people are ready to take up challenges and sacrifice their time and energies; they are ready to do everything possible for people and the planet to establish democracies, equalities and justice in the world. Therefore, we need to bring together these 100 million young people to be the champions and spokespersons for the 100 million others that have been left out.
No voice can be more powerful, louder, more genuine and honest and compassionately wise than the voices of young people. We have to make this world a sustainable, peaceful and just place. Young people have to take charge.
We have to live with that hope. Ups and downs will come in the history of humankind; this is human progression, an evolution towards freedom and a newer world.
When I see the youth in India and elsewhere in the world, I am confident that they are the leaders of today and the leaders of tomorrow!
We are with them and we will follow them. And when I say we will follow them, I say with complete honesty that their minds and hearts are purer than my generation’s. They can take up the challenge and they are the ones who are going to bend the arc of history towards the poorest people and the poorest children in the world. •
DANISLAVA TOSHKOVA
Delegate of Bulgaria
My name is Danislava Toshkova and I am from Bulgaria in Southeast Europe. It is the most corrupt country in the European Union so it is hard to talk about human rights in a place where most of the rules and laws are followed only on paper and not in reality. That is why I believe that the power is in the hands of the people and if we are brave enough to raise our voices, we can achieve social change.
I know that raising our voices is a challenge because the fear of being rejected is greater than anything else. For example, the fear of losing our jobs is often bigger than the desire to tell the truth. Despite that, I am convinced that the truth must be told. My solution to overcome that challenge relies on arts and culture as tools to express ourselves and to communicate, define problems and seek solutions.
I was raised without a father, and my mother was very busy working constantly so I had to raise myself and find my own way in life. This is where arts and culture came in because they had a great impact on my personality. They enriched my life. They taught me how to cope with challenges and how to overcome obstacles, namely hunger, cold, loneliness, violence etc. That is why I believe that culture is a basic need and it is a great tool to help yourself when nobody is around. When we think that we do not have anything, we must know that we always have ourselves and that is a lot.
I believe each person has the potential to gain radical imagination. Imagination is a strength that nobody can take away from us. I consider myself as part of the Ubuntu philosophy “I am because you are” because in my context this means that we all have common ground. Our pain, suffering, struggles and desperation are things that everyone can relate to and there is no better way to express our thoughts and feelings than by using creativity and critical thinking, or as the historic Roman philosopher Seneca once said:
“We suffer more often in imagination than in reality”.
This is what encouraged me to create my Non-Governmental Organization entitled “Reflektor”. I wanted to share with people what I have learned. We create social projects through the means of art, science and new media, and foster social change.
There is a special connection between visual storytelling and human rights. An American photographer called Lewis Hine captured children working in factories and he advocated to end child labor by showing their suffering, their injuries from the machines, and their poor working conditions. The United States government ended child labor after he raised awareness of this problem. Millions of Americans found out about it. It was 1938 and he obviously experienced violence and death threats, but he continued his mission and succeeded. I am sharing this example because visual storytelling is something my organization does. We use visual storytelling, make documentaries and workshops for disadvantaged communities, we educate and support young people and we basically target global topics and local issues. We also work on topics like poverty, social exclusion, climate change, mental health and others because all problems are intersectional. They are connected.
I have a special invitation for all Ubuntu fellows from all over the world. My organization, Reflektor, has launched an online platform where we want to share personal stories of people who are working on social problems. I would like to interview these people and find out more about their context. I believe that this is a great way to share our perspectives and find new friends and supporters for our causes.
Let’s shape our future together. We have no excuses not to change the world. •
DOUGLAS OGUTU
Delegate of Kenya
My name is Douglas Ogutu and I am an artist based in Nakuru, a county in Kenya, East Africa.
Before I start telling my life story, I just want to ask a question: What did you say you wanted to be when you were young? Think about it for a second.
Most of you are young people. If you had a cousin or a brother who was in grade two or three and you asked them “what do you want to do?”, what kind of answers would you expect? Perhaps, “I want to be a lawyer” or “I want to be a doctor, a neurosurgeon”. Children respond quickly but I have never known anyone to wake up one day and say, “I want to be an artist”.
If anyone says that, those around them often reply, “that is a failure”. My entire life, I have lived my life going against the current. Even when I was growing up and discovered my talent at a young age, I continued to believe that “I have a talent but I’m still looking for that better job”.
One day, I just reached a point where I said to myself: “No, I want to live my own life” and then I decided to follow the path of being an artist.
I can tell you that was not the easiest decision in terms of my subsequent experience because after graduation, I decided to put my certificate away and invest in music and I started to learn all by myself. But remember, I had no formal education in music. It was not an easy journey because if you are all by yourself, it means there is nobody looking out for you. There is no support and you have to figure it out alone. Let’s face it – I live in Africa, where everybody believes that no one can do well and succeed without an 8a.m. to 5p.m. office job.
What kept me going was the fact that I could work, bring people together and inspire people not to give up; always through my art.
The journey of having to create my own company from scratch, the journey of deciding “this is something I can live from, it can pay my bills and at the same time, it can inspire people” is not an easy journey. It requires resilience all the way. It was difficult to learn to play an instrument, to learn
to be a poet, to learn to be a musician... but it has given me life lessons, especially because of the context of the African continent, on understanding democracy and the demands for consistency, commitment and resilience on the part of those who want to change.
I learn from playing instruments and also chess. It has taught me that failing is not the end, it is part of the process. I have learned to embrace the fact that there was a time when I could not afford a meal and yet I had an academic certificate which could have got me a job and taken away all of these struggles. But, for me, art is a gold mine because it allows me to touch lives. My music has started to travel all over the world, so while I am here in Nakuru (Kenya) in my studio, someone in Portugal or India can go to YouTube and hear a message from me. That really blesses my heart.
To end, I want to encourage someone: it does not matter the path that you are seeking, what matters is if you know your purpose. I have discovered that my purpose is to nurture people and the best tool that I can use is being an artist. But you can be a teacher or maybe a parliamentary representative. Whatever you are, wherever you are, just ensure that you are living your purpose and be resilient in whatever you are doing. •
ROHULLAH SARWARI Delegate of Afghanistan
I am Rohullah Sarwari from Afghanistan, a country everyone knows. Unfortunately, most people are afraid when they hear about this wild land.
Honestly, these days I am afraid too when I hear the name of my country and I want to share some stories about this dangerous land and how difficult life can be when you are in it.
The Ubuntu United Nations program focuses on human rights issues and highlighting Ubuntu heroes who sacrificed their lives and worked hard to build a peaceful environment for humanity.
In my opinion, the world is frequently a dangerous and unbearable place to live. However, we are able to coexist in such a horrible world with tragic events and horrible moments because of the work of those who never give up and who try hard to build a special environment. One of these outstanding persons, whose work was the best example of a worldwide hero and traditional human right defender, was Mr. António Guterres who always tried to promote human rights around the world, particularly in Afghanistan. Although Afghanistan is a dangerous place to live, there are many people who are kind, honest change makers and peace builders working to grant people access to all basic human rights. Unfortunately, the new regime in my country puts human social activists and change makers at risk. Sadly, most of them are not able to breathe anymore and we have lost them because they lost their right to be alive. For example, there was a social activist whose job was to bring smiles to people but when the new regime came to power, they punished him by putting bullets in his head for no clear reason. It was just because he was an important person who tried to make people happy.
Nowadays, being in Afghanistan is almost impossible. The Afghan people have experienced a horrible collapse. Now they witness the effects of this change in their daily lives. For example, during the winter in Afghanistan, most of the population is not able to have a piece of bread and does not have access or the possibility to heat their homes to fight off the cold. Human rights are not meaningless, they have a right to have enough food and a warm place to survive.
After the regime took over the government council, everything changed. The economy was destroyed. There are no jobs for anyone. Insecurity has increased significantly. The people of my country now face an unknown future, a dangerous destination with empty pockets.
If we go back a few months, the situation was a little different. There was a light of hope that co-existed with inequality and insecurity. People had courage and they were trying to improve their lives. For example, my colleagues and I woke up early in the morning and got ready to go to work and, since we were social workers, we met with the most vulnerable people daily. Even with an unfair system, we were able to give them a ray of hope and cover their basic needs.
I am the most fortunate person among my colleagues because I had already left Afghanistan to study. My colleagues are more at risk and most of them have to live in hiding. They now live in vulnerable conditions and are tired of life; most of them became refugees. For example, our team leader was a lady who spent a large part of her life fighting for women and girls’ rights. She studied psychology and the word “impossible” did not feature in her dictionary. A few days ago, I called her, and she was disappointed, tired and hopeless in a refugee camp in Pakistan with an unknown future.
I came to India with a student visa, so I do not have a work permit. There is nowhere that could hire me. I am obliged to borrow money from my Indian and international classmates and send it to Afghanistan.
Lending is something that we have to pay back and these days, paying my classmates back has become a difficult challenge in my daily life and it has almost put an end to my studies.
I am trying hard to do my best, I am sure I will succeed and my situation will change, but it is very important to me that my family can meet their basic needs in Afghanistan.
At the end of the day, I am still hopeful. I clearly see signs of hope shining brightly and making it possible to continue to move forward. Young people are the sign of hope, the bright future. I believe everyone should have an opportunity in this world. I am sure there will be many bright days and moments that will shine after these dark and horrible nights.
I am very happy to be part of the Ubuntu program and grateful that it has created this wonderful and inspirational moment for us. •
RALYCIA ANDREWS
Delegate of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Tools of liberation and acceptance: are Caribbean diasporic festivals more than mere partying?
W. E. B. Du Bois postulated that societal revolution is dependent on advocacy and protest by the transitional and complex identities in the Caribbean which are often formed from the black emigration movement and colonial experiences. His studies on the black diaspora focused on concepts such as gender, nationality, culture and race, and he came to the same conclusion that the practice of advocacy through festivals unify, liberate and reaffirm Caribbean identities through the practice of community and prevents many individuals from being labelled as ‘other’ (Du Bois, 2018). His studies influenced the notable Stuart Hall and his experience with Black Europe and so, I would like to examine the Notting Hill Carnival.
Founded by Claudia Jones and Rhaune Laslett, the Notting Hill Carnival is a socialist political movement that resulted from the migration of large groups of Caribbean people, also known as the Windrush generation, to Europe in June 1948 where they experienced hostility, racism, anti-immigration sentiments and impoverished conditions, relegating members of their community to the lower class.
The Notting Hill Carnival, as a Pan- Africanist movement, challenged the racial violence that was inherent in black European communities, sparking a revolutionary movement that encouraged cultural unity through rebellion and that secured black diasporic identities by directly challenging the state (Francois, 2021; Gutzmore, 2000). The Notting Hill Carnival was such a threat to the planter class that the first outdoor event was not held until 1966. Prior to its exposure to the streets of London, the carnival was held in the homes of the founders complete with steelpan bands and calypso music and the festive air of Caribbean carnival that strived for cultural education and liberation.
Even with subsequent riots in 1976 and 1981, the Notting Hill Carnival took to the streets of London in the form of parades, costumes and music from across the Caribbean region to establish West Indian
identities in postcolonial England as the festival scape assimilated to the carnivalesque (Ferdinand, 2018).
The Notting Hill carnival, with its strong element of play, altered festival politics and redefined conceptualizations of class power relations by providing an outlet for advocacy and entertainment, encouraging the London population to become more accepting of social inclusion, much like many other diasporic festivals, “Carnival is not a spectacle seen by the people; they live in it, and everyone participates because its very idea embraces all the people. While carnival lasts, there is no other life outside it. During Carnival time, life is subject only to its laws, that is, the laws of its own freedom,” (Bahktin, 2002, p. 86).
Therefore, through the carnivalesque, members of the Caribbean no longer simply populated Europe, but rather integrated into it. The majority of the community eventually stopped viewing the West Indian population as a contagion and began to reevaluate their presence with this new movement that allowed for diasporic sensibility. It is through the carnivalesque that their transnational identity allowed for the erasure of borders to create a community that aimed for conscious, unbiased integration.
The Notting Hill Carnival cultivated community pride, made room for the excluded and also provided an economically stable form of advocacy that has allowed it to persist to this day. It challenged the demonization of black British people and empowered black men and women through self-expression, costume and music through an outward representation of internal pride.
• The liberation of female identities and the resistance of western concepts of identity
The adaptation of diasporic festivals to include tourist and commercial interests has notably reduced some aspects of cultural expression to fetishization. However, this section examines the perceptions and representations of the body and sexual biases within diasporic festivals and methods of overcoming these biases and the colonial gaze. “Caribbean women have subverted, and continue to subvert, such negative valuations by engaging in carnivalesque masquerade that revalues bodies, especially colonized female bodies,” (Perkins, 2011, p. 361). Diasporic festivals have rightfully challenged the historical labels such as vulgarity, sexual promiscuity and deviance assigned to Caribbean femininities.
This questions the colonization of gender, with a gender system that reflects the power of colonialism. The colonized conceptualization of gender is the primary archetype; it enables social stratification, gender biased roles, and defines the range of expressions, attributes, interests or behaviors that are allowed or expected of an individual.
The act of constraint via the binary, cis-heterosexist gender system is dominant in most Caribbean societies and has infiltrated the festival space. Social commentaries regarding the presentation and appearance of the black Caribeean female body in dancehall, bacchanalian and carnivalesquer spaces.
With many of these performances, the structure of colonialism enabled sexuality to be gathered into one common figure, creating tension between sexualities. It can be argued that until the 1970s and 80s, Afro-Caribbean festival spaces represented hetero-sex aesthetics, allowing men to be present (but not necessarily respected). It was mainly during the post-colonial period that colonial aesthetics became more concerned with individuals who wanted to be identified outside of that aesthetic, removing women from central spaces in public forums unless for specific purposes.
Carnival in regions of Europe from the 16th to the 18th centuries was vastly different and was often referred to formally as Masquerade, complete with ornate masks and ball gowns, preceding fasting during Lent. This was altered during the post emancipation period which saw an increase of members of the black community becoming middle class citizens and injecting aspects of African culture into masquerade spaces, thus creating Carnival, and prompting the “sanitization” of Carnival practices, specifically the sanitization of black women in Carnival practices (Isaac-Flavien, 2014; Noel, 2010).
The Jamette movement is one of the most notable acts of liberation through radical feminism in festival spaces in the region which transcended to the carnivalesque in the diaspora. “In the late nineteenth century, as the economic and socio-political situation for the formerly enslaved became especially dire, their masquerade illuminated their conditions. They created what became known as the Jametre Carnival… the word jamette is often used to describe both the Carnival of the late nineteenth century and licentious twentieth-century working-class women,” (Noel, 2010, pp. 62).
Historically, the black body is consistently overly sexualized and underestimated, and it is of ample fascination and entertainment: “The black body is not only a natural, physical body, but a political and cultural body upon the surface of which are already imprinted multiple historic subjections. In speaking of the black female body, then, the particular contexts of representation have to be historical as much as they have to be culturally located,” (Davies, 2010, pp.186).
Recalling the legacies of Saartjie “Sarah” Baartman, who is both a symbol of exploitation and female empowerment, black women have altered the narrative of carnivalesque eroticization and radicalized notions of femininity and gender, and reclaimed the power of the divine feminine. Jametre Carnival used satire to unearth, scrutinize and challenge the perceptions of black women, not only within the carnivalesque but in society in its entirety, from the judiciary to the medical system. Costumes such as the Dame Lorraine, Baby Doll and the pisse-en-lit masquerade were used as vessels of rebellion.
Their politicized bodies— an aspect of black women that society fixated on and saw themselves fit to control— served as a placard for advocacy and challenged the racial and social stratification inherent in post-colonial societies. These costumes paved the way for discourse regarding the perception of black women by offering transformative potential through self-representation, the affirmation of female sexuality and fearless expressivity.
• The resistance of western concepts of identity and solidifying minority identities through diasporic festivals
Colonialism attempted to distinguish between religion and culture within the Caribbean region without realizing that the two are inseparable, and the application of Eurocentric customs or perspectives often dismantles the foundation of diasporic festivals. In fact, the retention of festival practices is an instrument for grassroots movements across the region and has transformed minority indigenous communities by recognizing objects and activities of great spiritual and ritual significance. “While kinship and political structures could not be transferred from Africa to the Caribbean under the conditions of forced migration, kinetic expressiveness, artistic skills and mental epistemologies were retained. These retentions covered domains such as religious ideas, musical instrumentation and morphology, dance choreography, culinary forms, hair and dress aesthetics, language syntax, economic activity and cooperation.” (Warner-Lewis, 2011). Caribbean festivals are an amalgamation of African, Indian, European and Middle Eastern practices that resulted in creolization. As a result, several ritualistic festivals throughout the region are often similar to those practiced in the aforementioned regions. For the purpose of this paper, masked and stick-fighting festivals will be examined.
The Post-Harvest Festival (Ethiopia) which entails the Donga, the Mwaka Kogwa festival (Makunduchi Tanzania) and Silambam (South India) all contain stick-fighting rituals as a part of their festival practices similar to the stick-fighting Kalinda or stick-licking festivals practiced in the Caribbean region and its diaspora. All of these practices involve intense ritual preparations rooted in the spiritual or religious nature of said communities; the fighters are usually indigenous males who aim to prove
their masculinity with stick fighting, seen as a rite of passage; fights are performed in a ring formed by the community; drumming and/or jovial and ritualistic chanting is present; and these martial art practices often require ancestral veneration or the shedding of blood within the ring (Echtler, 2006; Kumari, 2019 & Sere, 2020).
Festivals that include masked ritual dances with masks made out of carved wood, straw, wire, cowrie shells and leaves such as the Junkanoo/John Canoe (Jamaica, Bahamas), the Egungun masquerades (Yoruba—similar to Jamaican Junkanoo), the Habinahan Wanaragua Jankunu Festival (St. Vincent and the Grenadines, United States of America, United Kingdom and Central America) and FESTIMA, a festival of African masks (Burkina Faso, West Africa), sustain and re-enact anti-colonial resistance: “we are borne back through the years to understand the drum that beats always within us: the drum that is the spirit of our ancestors ... Their voices call out to us across the centuries.” (Ferguson, 2000 as cited in Bilby, 2010, pp. 185).
The increased practice and documentation of these stick-fighting and masking practices overturn destructive, hegemonic masculine identities wherein black males are seen as “primordial conduits for patriarchal aggression”. The hypermasculinization and infantilization of black men who had to be “trained” or “broken” in order to disband their “hyper-aggressive” and “hypersexual” ways in addition to self-imposed and societally-imposed victimhood is not allowed space in the ring of these festivities. Ego, the stick and the mask with complementing warrior aesthetics serve as inherited strength to imbue self-control, return dignity and ownership to black men, and promote male socialization in
the societies in which there are unbalanced perceptions of identity. Moreover, the mask allows for the creation of one’s own hierarchy, integrating marginalized communities and allowing them to dictate what constitutes as order, authority or the law by which their people should be governed: “The area of morality is one powerful relevant avenue through which traditional African masking concepts are used to form people and reinforce in them the important idea and value of good behavior and harmonious community-living. With masks as communal values embodiments, every social group in Africa attempt to evolve its distinct ethical code to match its unique governance systems.” (Casimir, 2015).
This thereby allows marginalized communities to use the festival as a space to disregard all societal oppressions as they grant themselves freedom through the illustration of traditional wisdom.
Popular culture has ensured that Caribbean festivals have a very polarizing effect on Western metaculture which has essentially leached its way into Caribbean societies, both shaming and shrouding Caribbean identities. Even though modern-day society often questions the utility of our festivals, they have proven to be of utmost importance in documenting our complex colonial history and reviewing the damaging narratives associated with the portrayal of our extremely diverse and multicultural region.
Caribbean diasporic festivals have effectively become tools of liberation and resistance, having integrated historical, intercultural, interdisciplinary, religious and spiritual aspects that are inclusive of divine mind, body and naturalistic connections from the region to disband colonialism, racism, discrimination, ostracization, hegemony and many labels that Caribbean people have been assigned. The Carnival celebrations are not just about having a good time, it brings about a decolonization of the hips, a shake of the ankles to free our spirits, an emancipation of thought and a re-adornment of every oppressive movement to unleash a joyous soul.
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• Bilby, K. (2010). Surviving Secularization: Masking the Spirit in the Jankunu (John Canoe) Festivals of the Caribbean. New West Indian Guide / Nieuwe West-Indische Gids, 84(3/4), 179–223. DOI:10.1163/13822373-90002440
• Casimir, K., Nwakego, O., & Umezinwa, E. (2015) Masking Traditions and Their Behavioral Functions in Accounting for Stability and Order: A Critical Exposition of Select Study of West, East and Central African Masks. Open Journal of Political Science, 5, 115-127. doi: 10.4236/ ojps.2015.52014.
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• Davies, C. B., & Williams, C. (2010). Black/Female/Bodies Carnivalized in Spectacle and Space. In Black Venus 2010: They Called Her “Hottentot” edited by Willis, D (pp. 186–199). Temple University Press. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt14bt8mv.25.
• Du, Bois W. E. B., & Alexander, S. L. (2018). The souls of black folk: Essays and sketches. Massachusetts: University of Massachusetts Press.
• Echtler, M. (2006). They bewitched the generator: state power and religious authority at the New Year’s festival in Makunduchi, Zanzibar. Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis, 19, 51-68. doi.org/10.30674/scripta.67300.
• Ferdinand, N., & Williams, N.L. (2018). The making of the London Notting Hill Carnival festivalscape: Politics and power and the Notting Hill Carnival. Tourism Management Perspectives, 27, 33-46. doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2018.04.004
• Francois, J. (2021). Carnival collaging: Notting Hill Carnival as a constellation of culture. The Architectural Review, City Portraits.
• Gutzmore, C. (1993). Carnival, the state and the Black masses in the United Kingdom. In Owusu, K. (Ed) Black British Culture and Society (2000). Routledge.
• Isaac-Flavien, J. (2014). The Translation of Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago: The Evolution of a Festival. Tusaaji: A Translation Review, 2(1). doi.org/10.25071/1925-5624.37814.
• Kumari, H. S. (2019). Traditional Martial Arts In South India. Think India Journal, 22(35), 840-850.
• Noel, S. A. (2010). De Jamette in We: Redefining Performance in Contemporary Trinidad Carnival. Small Axe, 14, 60 - 78. doi.org/10.1215/07990537-2009-044.
• Perkins, A. K. (2011). Carne vale (goodbye to flesh?): caribbean carnival, notions of the flesh and Christian ambivalence about the body. Sexuality & Culture, 15(4), 361-374. doi.org/10.1007/ s12119-011-9106-1.
• Sere, S., Muarifuddin, M., & Masri, F. A. (2020). The Representation of African Cultural Identity in Black Panther Film by Ryan Coogler (The Application of Stuart Hall’s Theory). ELITE: Journal of English Language and Literature, 3(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.33772/elite.v3i1.876.
• Warner-Lewis, M. (2011). West Africa in the Caribbean: art, artefacts and ideas. Critical Arts, 25(4), 555-564. doi.org/10.1080/02560046.2011.639994 •
The following interventions are transcriptions from the Ubuntu United Nations’ Fifth Seminar – I Have a Dream: Gender Equality and Environmental Protection which took place on December 19, 2021.
JOHN VOLMINK
President of the Ubuntu Global Network and co-Chair of the Ubuntu United Nations
The preservation of human dignity lies at the heart of Ubuntu and it cuts across culture, religion, gender, orientation, race and class. Human dignity draws our attention to the right to be regarded as worthy of honour and respect. Our dream of attaining gender equality, in particular, has been bedevilled by many factors. Allow me to point out just two. The one is the notion of privilege and the other the problem of lack of respect.
The problem with privilege is that it increases the chances of some of having things their own way, of being able to set the agenda, and to determine the rules and standards and how they are applied. Our focus on issues of race in the country where I live, South Africa, has obscured the deep-seated patriarchy in our society. We have failed to recognise that for every category that is privileged, whether by virtue race or by gender, another category is oppressed in relation to it. Just as privilege tends to open the doors of opportunity, oppression tends to slam those doors closed. The privileged get to decide who will move ahead and who will stay behind. Those who are oppressed are denied the opportunity to be participants in the choices that affect their lives.
We have to remind ourselves today that for too long male privilege have allowed men to determine, unilaterally, who gets taken seriously, who receives attention and who is accountable to whom and for what. For too long we failed to recognise that male privilege has granted a false sense of superiority and the permission and authority to act on that presumption without having to worry about being challenged. Ubuntu values and Ubuntu lives will always confront privilege because it is an assault on human dignity. Ubuntu will never undermine the belief in equality of gender, orientation or race.
Then there is the problem of respect. Respect is showing high regard for other people, self, property, authority and country. The concept of respect helps us to understand that all people have value as human beings. It is one of core values embedded in the Ubuntu philosophy. It is based on an ethic of
care. Ubuntu seeks to build partnerships built on respect and equality. No partnership can ever work without mutual respect. We need to show more respect to each other, within our own community and across communities in our countries and in the world.
The callous disrespect for women in our society and also in many other parts of the world has deep historical and cultural roots and is the underlying cause of gender-based violence and gender inequality and discrimination. There is a big difference between earned strength and unearned privilege. Power from unearned privilege is just a licence to dominate and to gain unearned advantage. As a member of the male species enjoying unearned advantage, I am becoming increasingly distressed that there are so many things on which I and those in my category, have been silent. I realise that unless I speak out I will be a participant in receiving and demanding unearned entitlement. Through partnership across gender and race, we can act against this and can cancel the effects of this legacy of repeated injuries and abuse.
The issue of environmental protection seen through the lens of Ubuntu is another focus of this session. Protecting the environment is based on an ethic of care which is a fundamental Ubuntu value. Caring for the environment is a pre-requisite for the survival of humankind as well as nature.
This perspective is based in part on a worldview that sees the Earth and all life upon it, including all human life-as essentially worthy of respect. This reverence for life will help us to become kinder and gentler and will help us to seek to understand the natural world with a sense of awe and reverence not to dominate or control it.
Our disrespect for the environment has resulted in climate change which can now be seen as nature’s way of hitting back at humanity. Climate change is a serious threat to humanity and it is a sad reality that those most adversely affected by climate change are those who live in developing countries and do not have the means to adapt to natural disasters like floods and drought. If we are going to pursue sustainable development and peaceful coexistence between rich and poor in this world we have to recognise the need for united action. We need a new global ethic of care based on an awareness of our inter-connectedness and interdependence as human beings and also with non-human nature. Unless we act now we will lose the opportunity to avoid global conflict, political instability, mass migration and greater depletion of the earth’s resources.
It is so important that privileged groups become aware that their narrow quest to protect their own interests by elevating themselves above a common humanity, will ultimately lead to total destruction. Disrespect for the environment and failure to recognise the needs of others can never form the basis of a sustainable future.
Finally, n ethic of care from an Ubuntu perspective does not only involve care for other humans, but it embraces all of non-human life as well. It extends, in the first place to other humans because it calls for a shift from individuality separate from the community toward individuality embedded in the community. But our fellowship is not only a social fellowship but also extends to all of nature. Ubuntu allows us to see value not only in other humans but encourages us to see value in all of nature. We should never regard the environment as something to be exploited and commodified but to respect and sustain. •
BY THE UBUNTU UNITED NATIONS TEAM
It is an honor to introduce Mrs. Michelle Bachelet. She was elected President of Chile on two occasions (2006 – 2010 and 2014 – 2018). She was the first female president of Chile. She served as Health Minister (2000-2002) and was the first female Defense Minister in Chile, and in fact Latin America (2002 – 2004).
During her presidential tenures, she promoted the rights of all but particularly those of the most vulnerable. Among her many achievements, education and tax reforms, as well as the creation of the National Institute for Human Rights and the Museum of Memory and Human Rights stand out, as do the establishment of the Ministry of Women and Gender Equality, the adoption of quotas to increase women’s political participation, and the approval of Civil Union Act legislation, granting rights to same sex couples and thus, advancing LGBT ( Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) rights.
In 2018, Mrs. Michelle Bachelet assumed her functions as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights where she continues to carry out actions to maintain and build peace globally.
For the Ubuntu United Nations, Mrs. Michelle Bachelet is a true servant leader and an inspiration. It is a great privilege to count on her support, expertise and availability in this project. •
MICHELLE BACHELET
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Each young person is a leader or a potential leader in our task of building societies that are inclusive and respectful of the equality and dignity of every person so that we can all thrive and develop peacefully in a healthy environment. It is crucial to assert the 30-year Agenda for Sustainable Development, the United Nations Common Agenda issued by the Secretary General in September 2021, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the great body of human rights international treaties which member states have agreed to because, as the COVID-19 pandemic has made very clear, we cannot continue on our current course.
We need better laws, institutions and economic systems that will end the suffering, discrimination and lack of opportunity which has harmed millions of people around the world, threatening stability and confidence.
We need universal health systems and universal social protections that are affordable, and which provide short and long-term investment in a safer and more inclusive world. We need to build forms that truly empower people to raise their voices freely and participate in meaningful decisions so that they can live in dignity and equality, free from any form of discrimination, whether based on gender, salary, race, disability or any other status. We need real action to address the massive human rights impact of today’s interconnected and accelerated crises of pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss.
Covid-19 and climate change are very different phenomena, but they are connected. Only global action can ensure that everyone is vaccinated and protected. We need urgent, real and decisive change, and both national and international solidarity for those who are most vulnerable and who possess the fewest resources. We also need to rebuild better from the pandemic, leaving no one behind, so that we can face our environmental challenges.
I want to thank and celebrate everyone who has been speaking up and defending human rights. Many young people have led initiatives to help communities whose lives have been devastated by the pandemic. Young people across the world have also rightly shown a sense of urgency and outrage concerning our global environmental crises and they have led important protests against the harsh and systemic racism found in many societies. There are meaningful ways to solve issues together.
The pandemic, like climate change, demonstrated that there is no such thing as a far-away country. What happens to people in other places affects us, not only because we too can be affected or overwhelmed by environmental shifts, but because supplies that our economies count on will be shattered. Severe political turmoil will spread.
Of course, there are conflicts of interest and economic, social, ideological and other kinds of differences. But we need to understand that working together and trying to find common ground is where we can help each other solve our problems and create a fairer, sustainable future.
We need to build bridges. Another key lesson that I have taken away from this terrible experience is the protective value of human rights. We need to see a concerted and comprehensive effort to ensure that people everywhere can live and work in decent conditions without discrimination and with respect for their human rights. We should be building a new economic paradigm that is sustainable, inclusive and green, helping people become more resilient to crises by reducing equalities and promoting human dignity. Doing this requires institutions that are transparent, participatory and accountable. Wherever the opposite takes place, corruption, repression and impunity will find space and mistrust will breed. In this situation, we would fail to empower everyone in society to contribute to the extent of their capacity. I want to emphasize this problem because we must be clear that discrimination against one group does not only harm the individuals that are being directly targeted, but all of us.
The pandemic has again reminded us of the many devastating acts of racism. Around the world, communities that are attacked with systemic and long-standing discrimination have suffered from disproportional deaths as well as far higher poverty rates, child labor rates and other negative impacts, namely discrimination against women and girls. It is also the main obstacle to development; it weakens all of society, it harms everyone.
Combating all forms of discriminations should be a core priority for every country, community, and perhaps every human being. We all need each other, and we all need justice as all of us are navigating new challenges in unmapped territory, and it is precisely in such times of crises that we need good principals to guide our path.
When national leaders turn away from shared principals and the search for shared solutions to global problems, increased suffering and chaos ensue. We have seen it before, but the opposite is also true when we can identify principles that we can all share and act on: we can generate rapid changes.
Human rights-based policies leave better outcomes for people all the way across the social and economic spectrum, and also beyond our borders. They encourage reconciliation, and prevent differences, conflict, inequality, suffering and discrimination of all kinds. They build confidence in social harmony. They deepen trust. They build hope.
I hope that everyone can take away from this discussion the sense that shared solutions can be achieved and they will make the world, and all our societies, a better place to live. This is true whether we are talking about new roles and agreements to combine our actions to target a common problem (like climate change or COVID-19) or, even, for policies that are grounded and built on inclusion and solidarity, and guided by human rights goals, designed to lead to better, more effective outcomes.
These initiatives have worked in the past and I have witnessed them in my lifetime. They can work in the future, in the next generation, a future we will share with billions of other people across the globe. •
BY UBUNTU UNITED NATIONS TEAM
It is a distinct pleasure and privilege to introduce Mr. Danilo Türk. He was the first Slovene Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN). During this time, he secured the election of Slovenia to the UN Security Council (1998–1999). Later, he was a member of the UN Human Rights Committee and also served as UN Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs under Secretary-General Kofi Annan. During his extensive career, he was also the third President of Slovenia (2007 - 2012).
President of Club de Madrid, he was also recently appointed by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to the High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism, co-chaired by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Stefan Löfven.
He is one of today’s true peacebuilders on the planet and it is an absolute honor to count on him as a supporter of this pioneer initiative. Mr. Danilo Türk has long been recognized as an expert and global advocate for human rights and his work has been connected with human rights and the fight for equality for more than 40 years. •
DANILO TÜRK former President of Slovenia and current President of Club de Madrid
First of all, I want to reiterate our gratitude to everyone who has worked on this project: Mr. Rui Marques, Miss Mónica Rocha e Melo and all the staff members that have worked on the organization of all the activities that have constituted the Ubuntu United Nations (UUN) trainings and achieved such great results. I also want to thank all the young people who have participated for their incredible effort and commitment. I am sure the UUN training provided them with useful knowledge, skills and motivation for their renewed commitment to act in their countries as bridge builders seeking the common good for their communities.
As President of Club de Madrid, an organization of 110 democratic former heads of state and governments from more than 70 countries, I believe that democracy is best shaped by the citizens and leaders of each country. For almost 15 years, the Club de Madrid has promoted the idea and concept of “shared societies” in which all individuals hold the status of being equal contributing participants, free to express their differences while very importantly, joining their voices to that of a broader population, with the inclusive implementation of the 2030 Agenda as a guiding framework. It is important to do this and to respect everyone’s dignity and human rights while providing every individual with equal opportunities to engage in policy development.
As partners of the UUN initiative, Club de Madrid welcomes any initiatives that may arise from the dialogues, and I welcome you to meet with our secretariat in Madrid to discuss further ideas for the future.
The theme of gender equality is one of the most central issues in which the youth play an important role. In fact, the entire generation plays a relevant role in addressing this challenge. In early 2021, Club de Madrid established a global commission to provide recommendations for democratic responses to emergencies and we have produced a report, that will be published shortly with a number of key recommendations, in which we include the importance of female participation in decision-making processes.
26 years ago, feminist activists and young people from all over the world came together and worked on achieving gender equality through the historic Beijing Declaration. There was, and is, a consensus on the centrality of gender equality for the achievement of all Sustainable Development Goals and
human rights, including the promotion of peaceful, inclusive societies; justice for all; and effective and accountable institutions at all levels. Despite all of the advances and all the efforts that civil society has engaged in, we must continue to work on this important objective.
At Club de Madrid, we put gender equality at the center of our work because our vision of democracy can only be achieved through equal rights and opportunities for all.
I will share some thoughts regarding climate change and the problems which characterize our era. The Glasgow Climate Pact, which was agreed at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference in November 2021, contained some encouraging commitments but it has been largely criticized for not going far enough.
Young people play a crucial role in combating climate change and we have seen how young people are demanding urgent climate actions and have contributed a sense of urgency and outrage in the political sphere, leading important protests in the streets and in conferences. Young people have constructed a powerful platform for change and for proposing ideas for concrete actions to address climate change.
Climate change is also an important subject for Club de Madrid. Our organization has put together a project which has the objective of building upon the experience of the leadership of the Club de Madid members (former presidents and prime ministers). This initiative will pay particular attention to the potential of participatory mechanisms to transform policy-making processes. And this has to be intergenerational and gender- based. As I mentioned, young people must be part of all the important conversations and that is why UUN is so significant.
I encourage everyone to remain connected through the UNN mobile app that the organizers have created. It is a huge network of future leaders for the construction of a more just and equitable world. This is important because no initiative, no particular set of meetings, like the ones that we are having this year, can be final. Continued progress is mandatory. Our important work has to continue. I will conclude by quoting one of these inspiring young people, a young woman, a leader and a Noble Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai:
“There is a moment where you have to choose whether to be silent or to stand up”.
I encourage the youth to stand up and continue working to build more inclusive, respectful and equitable societies, and a better world. •
AIKANDE NKYA
Delegate of Tanzania
My name is Aikande Robert Nkya. In my chaga language, Aikande means “thank you”, so I prefer to be called Aika.
I have been working with communities for almost eighteen, if not nineteen years. I have been working with a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that works mostly with women and girls so I want to share some insights regarding gender equality.
I have been working with girls, especially those who are in secondary school in Tanzania. What we do is ensure that we are able to empower them, that they have equal opportunities and equal rights, that they know what they are supposed to do in life and support them to guarantee that they can and will reach their goals.
After working with this organization for a long time, I was able to start my own organization entitled “The Nguzo Women and Youth Foundation”. Our website is still in construction, but will soon be ready.
The aim of this NGO is to offer support and insist on gender equality. Our primary focus was not on the community as a whole. But then, we changed. My organization, and the project that we are currently developing, supports kids in primary schools, especially girls while still delivering some sessions that include boys. We do not want to rely only on girls and thus elevate girls while subjugating boys. We try our best to support both. Because of the stigma that has been around in my community for a long a time, girls were not given leadership opportunities even within their families or in making decisions. With the program I have started, we speak with the girls’ parents so they know that having a girl is a blessing and allow her to contribute in family decision making.
I am happy with everything I have learned from the Ubuntu philosophy. I will keep on supporting our girls and our boys. In my NGO, we look to ensure that nobody is left behind due to their gender. Girls will be empowered and we will try to keep training and educating them, opening their minds to know who they are, what they can do and also bring awareness to the community, so that it is aware of what girls can do, what opportunities are available and how they can participate in them. •
FLORENCIO VENTÉ
Delegate of Colombia
My name is Florencio Venté, I am a delegate from Colombia but I am currently based in Brazil.
First, I want to share a little bit of awareness. One in three people on Earth is a migrant and during the last year, over 281 million people have migrated. People do not always migrate because they want to, some of them have to.
According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, 64 million people have been displaced because of climate change and it is estimated that 1 billion people will be forced to move in the next year because of earthquakes, floods, forest fires, and other aggressive climate events.
Last year also presented several challenges: the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic hit immigrant communities especially hard. They do not have access to healthcare or basic needs because of their status. Women, children and youth are the most marginalized. Half of the people that migrate are women and these women are more vulnerable of their skin color, religion and nationality. They also suffer from the psychological effects of losing their loved ones, their children and parents during the journey. Women are subjected to higher risks, as well as the deprivation of human rights, gender abuse, sexual exploitation and slavery.
Reading this text, someone may think: “what do I have to do with migration?”. As I always say: we are all migrants in one way or another. Maybe you decided to move from one country to another, or from one city to another, or one village to another. That makes you a migrant as well. Or maybe you are a result of a diaspora, maybe your parents decided to move to another place, and they had to face these different challenges. Why should we, as young leaders, think about how we can create more sustainable migration? Because more equal migration for all people on Earth is crucial.
For instance, I want to share my story and about the work that I am currently developing.
I am leading “Glocals” which is an initiative that promotes the inclusion and social and economic development of migrants and refugees.
We want to scale our work to all different nations. We promote entrepreneurship and the creation of small businesses owned by migrants and refugees. Most of them are led by women.
We also promote language and cultural exchanges to embrace diversity as a way to confront the issues of racism, xenophobia and change the narrative around migration. With regard to advocacy, we are also part of the local council where we promote different social policies. We promote participation in major political spaces and in decision-making platforms. That way, we impact over tens of thousands of people in our communities.
We believe that migration is part of our human nature and our human responsibility is to make it more sustainable and equal for everyone.
To finish, I just want to share that Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream. But for the Ubuntu leaders, it is not a dream, it is an urgent need to act because the world needs people who are willing to take small and huge actions. So, I ask: are you with me? •
HAFSWA SHIRAZY
Delegate of Kenya
My name is Hafswa Shirazy and I am from Kenya. I am just in love with the Ubuntu Leaders Academy and think that Professor John Volmink is amazing.
I was so hoping that a program like this would come about; it was a big dream of mine to meet with people who are so positive and who bring out so much positive energy and want to bring a lot of changes. Since I started this program, I have met other changemakers from Kenya as well.
“I am because, you are” defines everything. I think we have to care, and want to know, that each other are doing well. In these turbulent times, we have been through a lot of issues especially with the Covid-19 pandemic. With regard to the meaning of service and serving, (I actually work in the community and with youth leaders) we try to be mentors, we try to empower people and to guide them through positive thinking, to become changemakers and leaders.
The world faces numerous chronic vices, climate change, HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and Aids (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), COVID-19, financial crises, poverty, unemployment, terrorism, etc. …
If we look at everything negative that is going on, nothing is changing and therefore, we need high levels of stability and sustainability which in turn, can increase the need and opportunity for global cooperation and methodologies like Ubuntu. It is important for us to be more human and be people who love ourselves and our diversity. In this program, the team was able to gather people from Portugal, Brazil, Haiti, the Philippines, all over the world. People from all corners of the globe have come to discuss important things that they want to see in their lives.
We have to be people who care for each other; we all came from the same blood and we may have different colors and we are all different people, but we have the same heart and we should love each other the way we are.
The Ubuntu Leaders Academy and the Ubuntu United Nations system states five pillars of good which are so significant, and I would like us to remember and apply them even more in our lives: self-knowledge, self-confidence, resilience, empathy and service. Maybe we will not become great leaders but, more importantly, we will be great human beings. As Nelson Mandela used to say:
“No one is born hating… People learn to hate and if they can learn to hate then they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally… than its opposite”
and another great quote from Martin Luther King Jr:
“We need leaders not in love with money but in love with justice. Not in love with publicity but in love with humanity”.
This is my dream: that we will embrace diversity and love each other regardless of our race, regardless of our religion.
I will just finish with one more quote:
“There is no greater calling than to serve your fellow men. There is no greater contribution than to help the weak. There is no greater satisfaction than to have done it well”.
We, as changemakers, need to give ourselves to our people. We need to do the simplest things and start with one person, maybe our neighbor. •
ANXHELA BRUCI Delegate of Guyana
Human trafficking survivors face several challenges while accessing the labor market and securing sustainable employment opportunities. This paper brings the experience of “EmpowerFULL” (FuqiPLOTË – in Albanian), a three-phase socio-economic empowerment model which assists in the economic reintegration process of survivors of human trafficking through capacity-building sessions and mediation in the labor market for access to sustainable employment opportunities. The first and second phases of the program were piloted with (n=10) girls and women survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking in Albania. Additionally, this paper presents an effective way of working closely with survivors to identify and break any visible and invisible barriers in their personal development and employment process.
The analysis is based on the Ubuntu pillars of self-confidence and resilience by looking at the personal development process of the participants through the Ubuntu values perspective.
Reintegration is a process which aims to place survivors in a safe environment that provides the conditions required for physical and mental well-being (Andrijasevic & Mai, 2016; Surtees, 2015). It is also the first step which determines the willingness of trafficking survivors to re-establish their ties with the community or build a new life in a different community (Surtees, 2015; Muraya & Fry, 2016).
The process of reintegration combines a series of interventions which aim to increase access to vocational training, employment, and sustainable income (Surtees, 2017).
Additionally, interventions might include personal development opportunities aiming to strengthen self-esteem and maintain interpersonal relationships (Agolli & Bruci, 2019; Muraya & Fry, 2016).
A study on the reintegration process of victims of human trafficking from Albania conducted by Ramaj (2021) found that after the rehabilitation period in emergency shelter, victims were faced with similar challenges to the ones they had when they were rescued from trafficking. Lack of employability skills and an unstable labor market play a crucial role in the process of reintegration and its effectiveness, since lacking a sustainable income increases the risk of trafficking (Meshkovska, Bos, & Siegel, 2021).
Investing in the creation of sustainable job opportunities has a critical role in preventing any form of modern slavery. Accessibility and sustainability in the labor market has a positive impact on the reintegration of survivors of modern slavery by contributing to a smoother transition from the post-trafficking period to employment and the securing of sustainable income. For example, a Thomson Reuters Foundation study (2016) found that the risk of re-trafficking increases by 80% when the reintegration process does not include access to sustainable job opportunities.
The study raises concerns related to the accessibility of the labor market for survivors of human trafficking, especially in cases where survivors lack education and employment skills.
EmpowerFULL(FuqiPLOTË- in Albanian) is a socio-economic empowerment model which assists in the economic reintegration of survivors of human trafficking through capacity-building sessions and the provision of sustainable employment opportunities in Albania.
We work together with survivors to identify and break any visible and invisible barriers in their personal development and employment process. The intervention is based on three objectives. First, to assist in the financial independence of trafficking survivors from state and non-state organizations. Second, strengthen the personal development and leadership skills of survivors. Third, to seek the advancement of survivors’ economic empowerment and equality as a priority in the social protection policies of Albania.
The model was piloted in 2021 with (n=10) girls and women survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking in Albania. During the first phase, ten participants took part in a two-month intensive training program on personal and career development.
The program included sessions on soft skills, assertiveness, self-esteem, skills exploration, setting boundaries, visualization, and creating new habits by challenging the “victim narrative”. At the end of the sessions, 90% of the participants successfully completed the first phase and were eligible to embark on the second phase.
During the second phase, participants were financially supported to attend vocational training courses and access tools that would support their employment skills. A personalized growth plan was developed based on the skills and aspirations identified for each participant during the first phase of the program. 30% of the participants were supported with technology assets including laptops and tablets. 20% signed up for vocational courses and were equipped with tools needed to practice their skills. 30% set up small enterprises mainly in the fashion industry, and the rest were supported with capacity-building sessions on strengthening their portfolios and CVs.
The process of reintegration differs based on the individual factors of each survivor (Surtees, 2017).
Therefore, a one-size-fits-all approach is not suitable for the reintegration of survivors. EmpowerFULL provides a tailor-based approach, which puts the needs and aspirations of each participant at the center of the intervention.
A pilot model with a larger sample of participants would provide a more comprehensive overview of the challenges in the economic empowerment process for survivors of human trafficking. Since there is a gap in the literature regarding economic reintegration practices for survivors of human trafficking, further research could explore the impact of such initiatives, clustering them based on regions.
Furthermore, there is insufficient data to support evidence-based interventions for economic reintegration initiatives. Future research could contribute to understanding the reintegration process by directly exploring the experiences of survivors through their perceptions.
• Andrijasevic, R., & Mai, N. (2016). Trafficking (in) Representations: Understanding the Recurrent Appeal of Victimhood and Slavery in Neoliberal Times. Anti-Trafficking Review, (7), 1-10. doi: 10.14197/atr.20121771
• Meshkovska, B., Bos, A., & Siegel, M. (2021). Long-term (re)integration of persons trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. International Review of Victimology, 27(3), 245–271. doi.org/10.1177/02697580211011445
• Muraya, D. N., & Fry, D. (2016). Aftercare Services for Child Victims of Sex Trafficking: A Systematic Review of Policy and Practice. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 17(2), 204–220. doi. org/10.1177/1524838015584356
• Nasufi, I.A., & Bruci, A. (2019). Government Responses to the Survivors of Trafficking in Human Beings: A Study of Albania. International Journal of Law and Political Sciences, 13, 489-499. doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2702606
• Ramaj, K. (2021). The Aftermath of Human Trafficking: Exploring the Albanian Victims’ Return, Rehabilitation, and Reintegration Challenges. Journal of Human Trafficking, 1-22. doi.org/10.1080/23322705.2021.1920823
• Surtees, R. (2015). Beyond Trafficking. The re/integration of trafficking victims in the Balkans, 2007 to 2014. KBF and NEXUS Institute.
• Surtees, R. (2017). Supporting the Reintegration of Trafficked Persons: A Guidebook for the Greater Mekong Sub-Region. Nexus Institute, UN-ACT and World Vision.
• Thomson Reuters Foundation. (2016). Jobs to Restore the Lives of Slavery Survivors and Prevent Re-trafficking. Trust Conference. •
ASHUTOSH MISHRA Delegate of Thailand
Leaders can support and cooperate with young people that are willing to do something for our environment. One of the reasons for becoming a leader is to contribute to one’s own community in a meaningful way. If student council members joined the sustainability project, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) objectives would be achieved by 2030. The idea of teaching the concept of sustainability to first-year university students, otherwise known as the teaching lab, is vital in the general education course in many Thai universities.
Service-learning in education provides a method of teaching through which people learn, develop and grow through active participation in thoughtfully organized service experiences. When combined with existing studies or additional curricula, these provide teachers, youth leaders, and the community with an effective means of cultivating environmental service. Youth leaders need to engage in social activities that serve the local community and provide experiences of service which can be used for self-reflection and lifelong learning.
Education should not be the only responsibility that schools and universities take on. They should also be busy fulfilling duties such as service learning. To this effect, service projects that form part of their regular work duties will be more attractive than those requiring additional efforts.
In the 21st century, every country has its own unique set of concerns, alongside global issues, for which there is growing pressure to find fair and sustainable solutions. Leadership must be adaptable and constantly evolve to ensure evermore equity.
It is essential that higher education institutions fully contribute to sustainable and democratic societies. Learning should be designed to nurture essential skills to develop creative minds, thinkers and grass-root level learning required for the next generation of leaders.
Education institutes no longer tell students what to think; instead, they teach them how to think. The Education for Sustainable Development Initiative presented a conceptual framework for lifelong
learning and added the fifth pillar - Learning to transform oneself and society – it is the learning from which individuals and groups gain knowledge, develop skills, and acquire new values as a result of education. They are equipped with tools and mindsets for creating lasting change in organizations, communities, and societies (AIU HESD 2021).
Education institutions help student leaders not only gain expertise in their field but also to foster reflective and critical thinking habits, empathy, the skills of collaboration and listening, and taking action for environmental projects. At these powerful institutions of knowledge, new generations of leaders are learning how to expand traditional measures of quality to include a greater focus on creating a better world based on ethics and equity.
Several universities offer servant leadership educational programs, including community visits, leadership camps, booths, and some degree programs. Additionally, servant leadership practices are
Sustainable learning lab: Universities need to become role models for environmental learning. Education institutions need to provide for research platforms and take action to leverage the campus as a testbed for innovation and the co-production of sustainability leadership, knowledge and practices.
Reforming academic courses: Aims to address the well-being and happiness of students with a strong emphasis on mindfulness, self-awareness, critical thinking, reflection and other socialemotional skills. Academics need to design syllabuses that teach skills that will be in demand in the future. When students have knowledge and practice in skills, they are also equipped to serve others.
Training and Development: Universities must be more flexible and adaptable. In this new era, universities focus their work on achieving 17 SDGs, such as climate change, sustainable cities and community, quality of education, life on land, etc. Lifelong learning is also required to attract student alumni leaders to come and upskill themselves with short development courses.
Volunteer Workshops: These workshops build the distinctive capabilities that allow for work on a grassroots level. Students need to actively participate in selfless acts or activities that benefit others. This has a significant impact on the community as a whole. Student leaders develop life skills and become well-rounded individuals. Students learn how to do organic farming, recycle waste stuff, purify water, or take part in other health-related issues, etc. environment workshops provide opportunities for students to visit a nearby community area and learn how to solve a problem of future sustainability in a sustainable way.
This is a good way of developing servant leaders who know first-hand the grassroot level of the environment. Educational institutions need to develop structures to encourage learning to understand, learning to do, learning to live, and learning to be - and this can build a group of powerful student leaders.
This is where students should share and be exposed to a new perspective, pushing them out of their comfort zones, forming new friendships, and leading as servant leaders. The aim is to develop students in environmental service-learning beyond the classroom. A student servant leader may take the lead on an ecological community project. They learn how to take on, or assign to someone else, a leading role in a project.
A student’s primary motive for going to college is not to buy many books, write papers and sit exams graded by professors. It is not even to have the classroom and all-around college experience; it is to gain skills or expertise and pursue a career as a servant leader. In my concept, students need to follow four words: Learn, Think, Do, and Share.
• https://www.iau-hesd.net/
• Sawheny, Y. and Mishra, A. (2021). Lessons from organizing a virtual international event after bringing students together online to hone their leadership skills in sustainability. Available at: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/lessons-organising-virtualinternational-student-camp-develop-nextgeneration-leaders.
• Bettencourt, L., Pine II, J., Gilmore, J., and Norton, D., (2022). The “New You” Business. Available at: https://hbr.org/2022/01/the-new-you-business.
• UNESCO. (2017). Education for Sustainable Development Goals. Learning Objectives. Education 2030. UNESCO publications. •
LUCIE CALLÉJA Delegate of France
The civil society sector and the concept of community, deep-rooted in African cultures, are reflected in the Ubuntu philosophy. While governments constitute essential actors as decision makers at national and international levels, it appears imperative to strengthen the work done at the grassroots level.
This paper aims to connect the Ubuntu values to the role of communities in the search for peace and gender equality. Civil society actors have been active in implementing the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda and creating an enabling environment for African women to participate in conflict resolution and peacebuilding. However, community-based efforts still need to be strengthened. This article analyses grassroots initiatives that include women as peacebuilders through the case study of the ‘Peace Hut’ initiative of Liberia. We argue that bottom-up approaches to peacebuilding are crucial to reduce the gap between policy and action and contribute to the establishment of peace and stability in Africa.
On a global scale, humanity is being threatened by conflict, genocide and human rights abuses of all kinds. In a fragmented world, the elimination of destructive behaviors becomes a priority to enable cooperative relations and build a harmonious future.
The search for peace and reconciliation is embedded in the Ubuntu philosophy, otherwise defined as a “platform for bridge building, resolving conflict, inclusiveness, transformation, equity and proactive community development.” (Volmink, 2019:48) The restoration of broken relationships and the establishment of peace requires collective engagement and action. This article connects the Ubuntu paradigm to the role of grassroots women in the search for peace.
Around the world, women peacebuilders play a fundamental role in conflict-resolution and peacebuilding. Based on several reports and interviews conducted in the field, our analysis focuses on Liberian women and the grassroots ‘Peace Hut’ initiative. We argue that bottom-up approaches are crucial to establishing sustainable peace and stability globally.
Peacebuilding, referring to the activities that “reassemble the foundations of peace and provide the tools for building something that is more than just the absence of war”, requires long-term engagement to enable reconciliation and eliminate conflictual relationships (Brahimi Report, 2000:3). The notion of peacebuilding appears to be directly connected to the Ubuntu philosophy, “dealing with the brokenness of society, bringing together parts of the community that are being broken apart.” (Volmink, 2019:63). In this regard, this concept finds itself at the heart of the reconciliation process.
In the case of Liberia, women’s collective engagement brought to an end fourteen years of civil war. In 2003, the country initiated a post-conflict recovery, with grassroots women’s activism at the forefront.
The ‘Peace Hut’ initiative, co-founded in 2006 by several women activists, including Leymah Gbowee and Annie Nushann, brings people together to solve conflictual relationships. Through public hearings, the Peace Hut members mediate cases affecting their communities’ security and wellbeing. They address issues of violence in collaboration with men and security forces. According to Leymah Gbowee, the Peace Hut contributes to ending patriarchy “from the inside out” (Gbowee, 2011).
In this perspective, it is essential to recognize the importance of thinking globally and acting locally, in line with the Ubuntu paradigm, emphasizing “individuality at the service of the community.” (Volmink, 2019:60)
The Peace Hut initiative gained attention with the support of United Nations (UN) Women, urging states “to learn from their transformative example and to support the replication of Women Peace Huts in similar contexts as an effective women-led conflict prevention and peacebuilding initiative that yields vital peace dividends.” (UN Women, 2019).
In 2019, the UN Population Award was granted to the National Peace Hut Women of Liberia, becoming officially registered as a national Community Based Organization. Nevertheless, despite some capacitybuilding support from UN Women and other international agencies, the Peace Huts mainly rely on members’ contributions to the social fund, or village savings.
As observed during the fieldwork in Liberia, the lack of resources constitutes a major obstacle hindering their peacebuilding work. Thus, we emphasise the need to strengthen collaborations at all levels, from local actors to decision makers, and provide an enabling environment for grassroots initiatives to address people’s needs.
The Liberian case pictures grassroots women as active actors in conflict-resolution and peacebuilding processes. The Peace Huts of Liberia are directed toward the common goal of establishing harmonious relationships within the community. This perspective is rooted in the idea that social fragmentation threatens peace and security.
This article advances the importance of community-based initiatives to fill the gap between policy and implementation. Thus, collaborative action and partnerships between all stakeholders appear essential to promote bottom-up approaches to peace and to build sustainable, equal, and inclusive societies. Aligned with the Ubuntu philosophy, grassroots initiatives are crucial to address the needs of communities and give a voice to the most vulnerable.
• Brahimi, L. (2000). Report of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations. General Assembly Security Council, A/55/305-S/2000/809, UN. Retrieved from: https://undocs.org/A/55/305
• Gbowee, L. (2011). Mighty be our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer and Sex Changed a Nation at War. Beast Books.
• Nobel Women’s Initiative Delegation to Liberia and the 20th African Union Summit in Ethiopia. (2013). Women Forging Peace. Available at: https://assets.nationbuilder.com/ nobelwomensinitiative/pages/38/attachments/original/1624233774/Delegation_to_Liberia___ African_Union_Summit_2013-_Women_Forging_Peace.pdf?1624233774.
• UN Women. (2019). Statement: Peace Hut Women of Liberia wins 2019 UN Population Award: Statement by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director. Available at: https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2019/6/statement-ed-phumzilepeace-hut-women-of-liberia-wins-2019-un-population-award.
• Volmink, J. D. (2019). UBUNTU: Philosophy of life and social ethics. In Ubuntu Leaders Academy (2019). Building Bridges - Ubuntu and Servant Leadership. Partnership Edition. •
The following interventions are transcriptions of partners’ speeches delivered during the Ubuntu United Nations’ seminars which took place between October 24 and December 19, 2021.
ZACARIAS ALBANO DA COSTA
Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP)
It is my great pleasure to be part of the institutional support that CPLP provides to the Ubuntu United Nations (UUN) initiative. I believe that you will recognize that CLPL is, fundamentally, a friendship pact. Its creation is based on the principle of solidarity in diversity, which is why it is so meaningful that this program is headed by young people who, every day, demonstrate their capacity to mobilize in order to build a better, equalitarian, just, and sustainable world.
The topics of discussion in the seminars provide a strong structure for the present and future actions of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries. These are expressed in the constitutive declaration of CPLP that states that our community, founded on the perennial values of peace, democracy, rule of law, human rights, development, and social justice is concerned with the collective future of its countries. It is, therefore, focused on organization and the promotion of these objectives. This is something that CPLP has been working on, aligned with the United Nations’ Global Agenda for Development, firstly by discussing the Millennium Development Goals and, more recently, with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
As part of this journey, it has been possible to think about and structure the cooperation of CPLP by intersecting SDG goals with human rights and by stimulating synergies between human rights mechanisms and the SDG goals. This process seems clear to us, as over 90% of the goals are directly connected to human rights treaties. At CPLP, this is translated to designing strategies for cooperation between sectors such as, for example, the Nutritious and Healthy Food Strategy that promotes healthy eating as a fundamental human right.
The enjoyment and full exercise of all human rights by each and every citizen of our member states is, to everyone involved in CPLP, a horizon that we should aim for every day. That is why, for CPLP, the sentence “not to leave anyone behind” must represent not only a rhetorical objective of the
2030 Agenda, but also a human purpose that incites us to reinforce the human rights watch agenda, especially in today’s society, strongly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the global laboratory on inequality, based in the Schools of Economics of the University of Paris and the University of California, Berkeley, in the last decade, inequality was the main focus of public debate and, as we know, the pandemic has impacted the most vulnerable in a disproportionate manner.
The inequalities in people’s protection and the ability to handle the pandemic and its social costs emphasize the importance and urgency of social change to ensure the well-being and future protection of the population, its children and young people. The pandemic threatens their education and future, especially, of the underprivileged.
The declaration of the IFS (Institute for Fiscal Studies) Deaton Review of Inequalities highlighted the tremendous costs of the pandemic among young people. According to another source, the 2021 Report of the World Bank, the COVID-19 pandemic devastated economies and aggravated the inequalities suffered by millions of people across the globe. This document states that, in 2010, 100 million people were already living in extreme poverty and over 720 million suffering from famine. In the light of this reality, we have to demand that the existing social-economic political structures are rethought for the post-pandemic rebuilding context so that global dialogue is reinforced concerning the ways this crisis should be overcome and so that more inclusive and equalitarian societies can be built, aligning political structures with the vison and goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
There is no doubt that the pandemic provided us with harsh lessons about the social vulnerabilities that arise from inequality. Investing in supporting the youth and much-needed sectors is, without a doubt, one of the stronger ways to break the chain of inequality that persists across generations. In an era marked by populist and hate speeches, young people have demonstrated that it is through union and cooperation that we are able to overcome our differences.
It is our wish that UUN contributes to mobilizing youth leadership in CPLP, contributing to the promotion of peace and the sustainable development of our community. For CPLP, young people are our priority and this academy, built on non-formal education, is aligned with ideals that value the individuality of young people, empowering them to change the future. For this reason, it can count on the support of CPLP in this journey and we are counting on all of you to travel it together. •
RIBEIRO DE ALMEIDA Camões Institute
One of the structural features of human history, especially in recent centuries, has been the protection of the individual and the promotion of its economic, social and human rights. We have achieved so much to date and will continue working on perfecting this idea.
Unfortunately, in my opinion, from what we can see in today’s world, we have lacked a sense of community. The individual and the community are not contradictory, quite the opposite. In Psychology, for example, there are extensive international studies that have proved that happiness, prosperity and even life expectancy increases significantly when an individual is surrounded and supported by its by those around him and when they feel and act like a component of a complex human and social system.
This is exactly the fundamental idea conveyed by the ancestral term, Ubuntu. We can only grow as individuals through the others around us. Humanity needs to analyze interdependence and complementary interdependence. Community and diversity are the driving forces of this laudable and groundbreaking initiative developed by a good friend, Rui Marques and the civil society agency Elites, an initiative that has evolved to be a major global project, now endorsed and supported by all relevant international stakeholders committed to building a better future.
I will not go into much detail on how our future depends on our young people as our future generation. But to quote the Nobel Literature laureate Mr. Pearl S. Buck:
“The young do not know enough to be prudent and therefore they attempt the impossibleand achieve it, generation after generation”.
They are the dreamers and the doers, and they are the overachievers. Youth is a synonym of hope, the hope of dreaming of, and working towards, a better world. They have the map to help build an apparently utopic, but also feasible, set of inclusive and diverse principles for humanity for the years to come.
With this in mind, I can only sincerely praise, support and even congratulate this very honorable and groundbreaking initiative conducted by the Ubuntu Community of Leaders, and hope that it grows year after year in terms of scope, quality and results.
I strongly encourage all young leaders of tomorrow to never lose the hope and stamina required to build a better future. •
ISABEL MOTA
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
Twenty years ago, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation was the first follower of a promising idea pursued by Rui Marques through the P. António Vieira Institute. The idea was to test the idea of building capacity in, and fostering a culture of, building bridges, the ethics of care and the affirmation of a new style of leadership.
The P. António Vieira Institute wanted to honor Nelson Mandela’s humanist vision, a vision of indepth dependence and complementarity: “I am because you are”. Ten years after its inception, the Ubuntu Leaders Academy is present in countless local communities in Portugal and is now being replicated in 190 countries, through the Ubuntu United Nations initiative, an achievement that one must celebrate.
In one decade, more than 10 000 youngsters have got involved and over 1800 educators have been trained. The results of external evaluations show very significant outcomes in terms of self-confidence and the acquisition of personal and professional skills.
In times of growing complexity where polarization is spreading the dangerous belief that humanity is an impossible equation, more than ever we need to highlight the impressive contributions of the Ubuntu Leaders Academy. This means building bridges to support a new generation of young leaders and driving the type of progress that enhances our common human belonging.
These are the types of competencies that are needed for the 21st century and it is a great honor for the Calouste Gulbenkian foundation to have supported this effort since its very beginning; and we continue to offer our support. •
LUÍS ALVES
Erasmus + Youth in Action Agency
Right now, more than 300 young people, from all over the world, are taking part in five Ubuntu United Nations (UUN) seminars. This is a very impressive number. But first, I want to greet the P. António Vieira Institute (IPAV) that promoted this initiative and thank them for inviting us to be one of the participants in this event. It is our great pleasure to attend, and I was even more happy to be given the opportunity to hear those speeches and find out more about the scope of this project in this new phase: reaching more people, being present in more countries, mobilizing more partners etc., so that more people can benefit from the merits of the Ubuntu model that IPAV is now sharing, literally all around the globe. I am very happy with the success of the Ubuntu model and I am very happy that the Erasmus+ program has played an important role in its startup, its development and in its internationalization.
The Erasmus+ program is a European program that plays a role in supporting youth mobility projects, but our central objective is the promotion of youth citizenship: the training of young citizens, so they are able to contribute positively to the life of their community, able to fight inequalities and exclusion, able to fight intolerance, and equipped to be actors in different fields (economic, social, political). In order to achieve these objectives, we need more than just good words. Good words are important, but we also need to create real spaces for the training and participation of young people, such as the UUN. This is precisely what this project is all about: matching good objectives with concrete instruments with concrete instruments, a tried-and-testes way of making real impact on the lives of young people as they advance to become leaders capable of making a difference and making positive contributions to the life of their communities.
This is a project that contributes to our objectives, but I would say that it causes an impact that extends much further than the projects that we finance.
I want to salute all participants and the P. Antonio Vieira Institute, and I want to wish this project every success in the upcoming months and years as it reinforces these Ubuntu movements. There is only one way to find solutions to the problems and challenges we are facing in the world: more participation, more citizenship, more capacity to fight intolerance, more sense of belonging to a community; all of which is built together based on positive values. We can find all of these in the Ubuntu project and in the Ubuntu model. •
DANIEL OBST
AFS Intercultural Program
My name is Daniel. I was born and raised in Germany, but I live in New York. I have an American father and a German mother and when I was six years old, my parents adopted a 12-year-old Cambodian refugee boy and a few years later, they adopted a girl from India and another boy from Colombia. My personal upbringing in Berlin looked a lot like the United Nations General Assembly around the dinner table and that has really shaped my life and also my career.
I work in global education and the organization I represent, the AFS (American Ambulance Field Service) Intercultural Program, started during World War I when a group of volunteers got together and affirmed that it was necessary to support the war effort by driving ambulances. These AFS volunteers were on a humanitarian mission to transport hundreds of wounded civilian soldiers. When World War II ended, these same volunteers thought “how can we preserve peace in the world?”. They realized that the only way to achieve that was by promoting the mutual understanding of cultures. This shift transformed AFS from a wartime ambulance driving organization into a peacetime organization that has developed international exchange programs for young people since 1946. So far, we have organized exchanges for more than 500 000 young people around the world.
Being a global citizen is not something that just happens. It takes skill and we have to build it over time. What connected all the Ubuntu United Nations speakers was the notion of citizenship. We have global and local citizenship which are crucial in matters of humanity. There are three traits that I believe are common among global and local citizens around the world: the first is focused on the “we”, we all have a responsibility towards each other and to our community; the second is empathy and embracing differences, we use empathy to understand both our local community but also the world. We have a lot more that connects us rather than divides us and we know how to make use of our different strengths and work together constructively, no matter what our cultural backgrounds are; the third trait is being flexible. Our global challenges are incredibly complex, and we need to be able to look at the global challenges from many different perspectives. We need to be able to assess ambiguities and, then, take action in our local communities. •
MARIANO JABONERO
Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI)
First of all, as Secretary General of OEI, I would like to send a message of solidarity, support, and commitment to this brilliant initiative and to all its participants and team members.
We must live together, and in peace. I think that is at the heart of the matter and it is something that we all share with a certain degree of learning from what has happened in recent times.
I believe that the participation of experts, Nobel Peace Prize laureates and other renowned people in this project gives it a special strength. I believe that the participation of the OEI contributes in some way to that strength and, especially, to the Ibero-American dimension.
The OEI has supported this project since its beginning and we already have some impressive figures. The Ubuntu United Nations received thousands of applications and thousands of young people registered from many countries, many of them in the Ibero-American region.
This initiative also comes after a critical moment for humanity, the COVID-19 pandemic. Over recent years, we have lived through very difficult, dramatic, truly tragic times because hundreds of thousands of men and women have lost their lives in this process. It has had an impact on all our lives in one way or another. Solidarity, support and participation have been fundamental in these times and what Ubuntu proposes has become more important than ever. Many times, it has been said that we will get out of this pandemic sooner or later, but only if we do it together. This is a historical process unlike any other after World War II, which has put our capacity of resistance and resilience to the test.
In recent years, the OEI has been working intensively on affective, moral and ethical education, especially education in human rights, democratic citizenship, and values. This perfectly points to the objectives of Ubuntu, and therefore, we would like to always collaborate with this program.
The OEI has existed for 73 years; we are the oldest organization in the Ibero-American system of cooperation. We stay very active in the region, promoting hundreds of cooperation projects in 19 countries with alliances with all governments, municipal and departmental entities, multilateral banks, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), UNICEF, and the European Union.
This gives us a certain strength, and, in this case, that strength is concentrated in particular in the Institute of Education, Human Rights and Democracy whose headquarters are in the city of Bogotá, Colombia. Justifying our presence, demonstrating our support, and our commitment, and also reinforcing our role after this pandemic has kept us active.
Count on us and on this message of living together, collaborating, standing together and all that the Ubuntu philosophy represents. The OEI office in Portugal has been leading this process in a very active way. I have to congratulate the OEI director in Portugal and the General Director for the Dissemination of the Portuguese Language and Bilingualism, Ana Paula Laborinho, and all those who, in one way or another, collaborate with us: trainers, directors, politicians, experts.
I am sure this project will be very successful and, it can count on the OEI for support. •
CARMEN GARCIA Tomillo Foundation
Tomillo is an active foundation engaged in providing opportunities for young people. We work with disadvantaged young people, mainly in Madrid. We try to develop their potential and their skills, and try to develop their willingness to grow, belong to their communities, and become active members of the global community. The Tomillo Foundation shares values, objectives, pillars and a framework of skills with the Ubuntu United Nations (UUN) and the Ubuntu Leaders Academy. We are aligned not just because we both put others at the center but more because we both view service as the basic condition for the solid and healthy development of a human community. This is crucial.
We encountered UUN many years ago and since then, we have worked together on many occasions, mostly in training sessions, to understand and read the Ubuntu pillars in our language (Spanish) and in our specific contexts. We are now partnering to move forward with the Spanish Ubuntu Leaders Academy together with the SM Foundation.
We all know that it is only together that we can move forward towards this shared dream of building bridges towards unity in diversity. We are more than happy and honored to be part of this movement and we deeply hope that the Ubuntu spirit is increasingly present in our world and that it spreads. I am sure this will be spread by young people.
Thank you for spreading the word and philosophy of Ubuntu. •
MAYTE ORTIZ SM Foundation
The SM (Santa María) Foundation and myself are very happy, grateful and also touched to be invited to participate and support the Ubuntu United Nations initiative.
For us, it is an honor to be able to present our activity and to know that we are a part of such powerful and extensive movements. The SM Foundation works in ten countries, dedicating its activity to ensuring that no boy or girl is left behind. This is our mission and we act through three areas: the first has to do with socio-educational intervention, directly with those boys and girls who have some kind of special need, preventing them from being able to have a normal schooling experience; the second field of action has to do with research and education evolution; and the third has to do with the professionalization of teachers. We have worked intensively in this third area over the last seven years with 190 Ibero-American institutions to identify, through dialogue and reflection, where schooling is going and what type of people we have to train to face the great challenges of these days.
Meanwhile, during 2020/21 we realized how a tiny virus that is born in one place of the planet can have a global repercussion that paralyzes us all. This crisis, the worst health crisis and socioeconomic situation that we have seen for a century, made us rethink what model we are currently using to train people in order to solve the complex problems the world is dealing with.
In order to accelerate this recent reflection, it is mandatory to incorporate new agents from the educational community, including young people so that they too have a voice and can tell us what they believe they need in order to act upon these new challenges. We need global citizens, and from the perspective of the ethics of care, they must be capable of transformation, of being proactive and providing innovative solutions. It is exactly at this point that we discovered common ground with the P. António Vieira Institute in Portugal and started this amazing journey together. In fact, we already have a publication regarding the theme of the ethics of care. We work hand-in-hand with the Ubuntu Leaders Academy precisely to train the youth who will be the “Generation Go”, the one who will deal directly with climate change, gender equality, human rights, intercultural and interfaith dialogue, and other interconnected issues. We, at the SM Foundation, are going to continue collaborating with the P. Antonio Vieira Institute in the Erasmus + program to find concrete practices that can be used in the classroom and be able to achieve our dream.
Education is essential to achieve our objectives. We are all dependent on each other, we are all connected, and only together, in this global movement, can we achieve a fairer, more supportive, more peaceful, and generally better world. •
JOSÉ RAMOS-HORTA
Former President of East Timor
and 1996 Nobel Peace Prize laureate
During the weeks of the Ubuntu United Nations (UUN) training, we have heard from hundreds of young leaders as well as some older ones, some former heads of state, and some extraordinary individuals who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their life commitment to the struggle for justice, for human freedom, and for fighting for dignity.
During the program, we have heard from extraordinary colleagues, some of them friends of mine. We had the incredible testimony of Kailash Satyarthi with whom I work closely on child labor and child slavery, because in this 21st century, or any century, the notion of child labor and child slavery should shock the conscience of even the most cold-hearted person.
We have heard from one of the great champions of the fight against poverty, the empowerment of the poorest particularly of women, my friend with whom I have also worked closely over the years, Professor Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank and of the micro credit initiative for the poor. Moreover, we have heard from so many others such as Mrs. Michelle Bachelet, former President of Chile and the current United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights, an extraordinary woman who endured torture during the Pinochet dictatorship and has been a courageous voice in recent years in the promotion and protection of our rights in the fight against tyrannies with impunity that violate the basic rights of fellow human beings.
The UUN has taken us on an extraordinary journey. I would also like to address some words of gratitude towards our UUN Co-Chairperson Professor John Volmink for his battle against Apartheid in South Africa and fight for a democratic majority rule in that nation, someone who worked closely with Nelson Mandela. In fact, one of the greatest gifts of God to humanity was Nelson Mandela and Mandela himself left us the gift of his message of reconciliation, bridge building and human fraternity.
We also heard the wise words of the current United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. António Guterres and the great man who is the President of Portugal, Professor Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who enjoys 80% popular support in his country.
I would also like to congratulate Rui Marques, President of the P. Antonio Vieira Institute and Director of the Ubuntu Leaders Academy, who is a medical doctor but decided to dedicate his whole life to humanity and solidarity rather than practicing his medical profession. Of course, we have to celebrate the great staff in Lisbon and Porto who have technically orchestrated the UUN, perfecting this journey. To all the delegates, I extend my tremendous appreciation as well.
The struggle is not over. The journey is not over. The journey towards the mountain top from where we would enjoy seeing a world different from the world of today, is not complete.
After centuries of humanity and violence, we are facing extraordinary perils in the 21st century and have backtracked seriously in the way we use nature and in the way we abuse nature with big corporations, pharmaceutical industries and general industries whether in the United States (US), in Europe, in Brazil, in India or in China.
Generations have exploited Mother Nature to enrich their own societies, their own countries. Chinese and Indian exploitation is catching up with the 100-year European and American exploitation of mother nature. We are facing extraordinary perils in climate change.
We, in East Timor and in many small highly developing states, are victims of the voracious appetite of the rich and powerful and their exploitative nature. Fish stocks around the world are depleted.
People living on the shores of Europe, for example, a few years ago could sail just a few miles and they could catch fish, but today they have to travel thousands of miles away from their own countries into our West African waters, in the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean... to continue to deplete the fish that we need for our own survival.
Another monumental challenge entails poisonous waste dumps into the ocean by pharmaceutical companies; the companies that collect waste hospital and dump it into the ocean. Cruise ships and cargo ships also dump garbage into the waters.
The 21st century should have been a century of real enlightenment, enlightenment towards nature, enlightenment towards societies and human beings and we should have, by now, been able to eliminate child malnutrition and extreme poverty. We should have been able to bring clean water to every community in the world. We should have been able to eliminate illiteracy and we should have been able to create world health care centers around the world for mothers, children and babies so that they could grow up with good nutrition and grow strong for the future of their own countries and humanity.
We are facing extraordinary perils in the relationship between the superpowers, increasing tensions are visible in Europe. Russia has deployed hundreds, thousands of troops to the Ukrainian border because the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has been thinking of admitting Ukraine. Russia has some legitimate concerns in that after the fall of the Soviet Union, NATO expanded towards the borders of Russia and that is why Russia took over Crimea, because it did not want the strategic port in the Baltic Sea to become a NATO naval base that could directly threaten Russia.
Totally understandably, they are paranoid, because the Baltic states and Poland were captive of the Soviet Union when the Soviet Union was in existence and so do not trust the intentions of the Russians. This requires greater leadership, vision and wisdom on the part of the United Nations and a good starting point could be to work towards a neutral Ukraine along the lines of Switzerland, so that Ukraine does not join NATO with its sovereignty and integrity protected by a commitment by Russia, the US and other countries. That could be a better solution than joining a military pact.
We also see tensions between the US and China and rather than lessening the tension, it seems that President Joe Biden is continuing the rhetoric and the sanctions against China. China today is a global power. It is dominating Artificial Intelligence and all kinds of communication technology. It is no longer the peasant country of the 1950s and 1960s, the country of the cultural revolution, suffering from famine caused by Mao’s policies. Nowadays, China is a superpower, sustained by 1.4 billion people with extraordinary innovation in computer science, medicine, food production and high tech; it is the main producer of global goods. If somebody goes to the Vatican City and is a Catholic Christian, he or she will buy Christian souvenirs but if we look at the back of the souvenir, they are all made in China.
President Jo Biden and President Xi Jinping should show leadership intelligence, vision and wisdom to lessen their tensions and become partners in leading our world into a more predictable, peaceful world, working together to eliminate extreme poverty, bringing clean water, education and hospitals to countries across the world. That would be my hope.
How can the young people of the Ubuntu family contribute? First, they must contribute to consolidating peace in their own communities and countries. They must think globally about peace but act locally to build bridges in their communities, schools and countries. This way, we are building blocks of peace globally.
We are all connected by being human beings. To survive and to prosper, we must extend our hands to everyone, be more generous, more compassionate and show genuine solidarity to the countries on the periphery.
For those rich families and rich corporations in developing countries, show your wisdom and a sensitivity and compassion to help in your own countries to lessen the division between the rich and the poor.
Last but not least, how can we in this 21st century still have such a disparity between men and women? We must close the gap. We must work harder for our girls, our grandchildren, our sisters, our daughters, to enjoy the same opportunities as their brothers. We cannot underestimate how extraordinarily powerful the contributions of girls and women are to the progress of our societies. Imagine if as well as the boys, all the girls had the same opportunities and support to study? Our countries would be transformed dramatically. •
Anxhela Bruci is a social justice advocate committed to the fight against human trafficking by empowering survivors in their reintegration path. She founded "EmpowerFULL" which assists in the economic reintegration of human trafficking survivors. She holds an MA (Master of Arts) in Global Crime and Justice from the University of York and an MSc (Master of Sciences) in Administration and Social Services. Anxhela is involved in research on social protection and reintegration practices in the human trafficking context.
Adama Dieng as a former United Nations Under-Secretary-general and Special Adviser of the SecretaryGeneral on the Prevention of Genocide (2012-2020), he is a well-acclaimed human rights expert and lecturer on issues relating to International Humanitarian Law, Human Rights Law, Criminal Justice. Currently he is a member of the United Nations Internal Justice Council and the Special Adviser to the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity and the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
Aikande Nkya is a young peace advocater from Tanzania. She has a Master’s Degree in Cooperative and Community Development and currently works in the Girl Livelihood and Mentorship Initiative (GLAMI). As a servant leader, she has an extensive experience in volunteering, helping institutions like the Moshi Children Center, the Caring Community Center in Moshi Northern Diocese, among others.
Anderson Pereira is CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Universia Brasil, Santander's global educational company. He was elected by Forbes as one of the Under 30’s list and entered in the Guinness World Records for having held the largest biology class in the world, at Universia’s Educational Festival. He is a Global Shaper at the World Economic Forum and was elected by the United States Department of State to be part of the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative.
António Guterres is a portuguese engineer, politician and diplomat who is serving as the ninth SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations since 2017, winning two terms in a row. Prior of this appointment, António Guterres served as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for 10 years. Before joining the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, he served as Prime Minister of Portugal (1995-2002), as President of the European Council in early 2000 and also as co-Chairman of the first European Union Africa summit in 2000.
António Vitorino has almost 30 years of international, and national political experience. Before being elected in 2018 as the tenth Director General of the International Organization for Migration, he served as European Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs (1999-2004) and as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense of the Portuguese Republic (1995-1997). He is also an experienced lawyer and renowned academic serving as a Professor for 25 years at the Lisbon Law School and NOVA University.
Aradhana Baruah is from the land of Blue hills and Red river of India, Assam. She is an Undergraduate Law student, and also pursuing Bachelor's Degree in Social Work. She has participated in three Model United Nations and various public speaking and debating platforms. She aspires to fight against injustice through the medium of Law, and contribute towards upliftment of man and nature, transcending ethnic and community differences.
Ashutosh Mishra is currently working as an International Affairs Officer and Coordinator (President Office) at Siam University working from last six years. He is also the member of Impact Youth Sustainability “IYS”. He has graduated with MBA (Master of Business Administration) from Siam University. He is passionate about social service and community learning to lead towards Sustainability which is one of the pillars of Siam University.
Ava Masumi Bandari is an Iranian girl who lives in the Republic of Korea. She has a Master’s Degree in Linguistics and currently she works as a translator.
Ban Ki-Moon served as Secretary-General of the United Nations (2007-2016), placing efforts into making the United Nations more transparent and efficient, being crucial in the humanitarian response to the aftermath of several mega-disasters and supporting democratic transitions across the world. Under his leadership, the SDG's Framework was drafted and adopted. He was and is a strong advocate for the empowerment of women and has fought successfully for the creation of United Nations Women.
Bernardo Toro is a colombian philosopher and educator, one of the most important thinkers in Latin America. Besides being an academic dean at the Universidad Pontifical Javeriana in Bogotá, he presides the Social Foundation, that aims to fight poverty in Colombia. During his career, he wrote several books and articles on Democracy, Education and Citizenship and he is best-known for creating the Codes of Modernity, a sevemskill list every children and young people must learn in order to be more participative in the 21 st century.
Blessing Nkechi Ikiseh is career Mentor at the University of South Wales, United Kingdom. She is a Writer, Psychologist, Social Entrepreneur and Researcher. Through these experiences, she developed passion for social change. This passion birthed the Training and Education initiative Bibieandrea Services Venture. The latter addresses the problem of unemployment and poor-quality education. Her programme has already provided quality education and grants and empowering for over 2,000 Nigerians.
Carmen Garcia, during early 2000’s, was Managing Partner of the Great Consumption, Distribution, Industry and Group Services of Madrid and she was responsible for Diversity Program, Women in PWC. In 2008, she became the Managing Director of Tomillo Foundation and its Executive Chairwoman since 2014. She has also been member of the Spanish Association of Foundations (AEF). In 2018, Carmen founded the Learning to Be Foundation.
Daniel Obst is currently the President and CEO Chief Executive Officer) at AFS (American Ambulance Field Service) Intercultural Programs. Previously, he was Deputy Vice President of International Partnerships at the Institute of International Education in New York. Daniel Obst co-edited several publications, including “Developing Strategic International Partnerships”, “Global Perspectives on International Joint and Double Degree Programs”, among others. In 2013, he was appointed to serve on the United States National Comission for UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).
Danilo Türk is diplomat, professor of international law at Columbia University in New York, human rights expert and political figure who served as President of Slovenia from 2007 to 2012. He was the first Slovenian ambassador to the United Nations from 1992 to 2000 and the United Nations Assistant Secretary General for Political Affair from 2000 to 2005. Since 2013, he is a Member of Club de Madrid and, on October 2019, he was elected as the organization’s President until 2022.
Danislava Delcheva has a strong background in mass media as a journalist at leading TV & print media companies in Bulgaria and as a public relations & cultural manager for artists and art organizations. She is a project manager for damar, a visual arts studio specializing in cover art and visual anthropology. Danislava is a founder and CEO of Reflektor, a mission-driven organization creating social projects through art, science and new media to foster social change.
David Livingstone Smith is a professor of philosophy at the University of New England. His current research is focused on dehumanization, race, propaganda, among related topics. David Smith is the author of seven books and numerous academic papers. One of his best-known books is Less than Human: Why we Demean, Enslave and Exterminate Others which was awarded the 2012 Anisfield-Wolf award for non-fiction.
Douglas Ogutu is a graduate of Masinde Muliro University with a degree in B. Ed Arts. He also holds postgraduate certificates in music production and Music for Social Action from Berklee College of Music and Yale University respectively. He is the founder of Dowe Music &Arts-an academy and a production studio. He offers training in music and arts, Entrepreneurial Skills, Writing, Design Thinking and Leadership. He uses art as a tool for economic empowerment as well as advocacy for sound leadership.
Dunja Trifunović is a climate activist, delegate of the Pre-COP26 conference with expertise in sustainable food production, and experience in education she acquired as Chair of the Children and Youth in Agriculture program and WWF Adria educator. She is a member of multiple Working groups of YOUNGO organization and her achievements in peacebuilding and environmental action has been recognized awarding her as Global Peace Ambassador and European Union Climate Pact Ambassador.
Elbegdorj Tsakhia was one of the key leaders of the Mongolian Democratic Revolution and since then have continuously served Mongolia first as a Member of Parliament and then Prime Minister and President. He has also advocated for democracy and human rights in Asia by creating Asian Partnership for Democracy.
Emanuel Castillo, entrepreneur, programmer and languages lover, founder of Izipizicourse, making Latin America a more competitive society worldwide through English language and scaling izipizicourse to a new online education phase.
Erin Gruwell is the founder of the Freedom Writers Foundation. She created the Freedom Writer Method, a progressive teaching philosophy and curricula designed to achieve excellence, while she was a teacher at the Wilson High School, best-known by its challenging environment and students from vulnerable contexts. By valuing and promoting diversity, she transformed her student’s lives. Inspired by Anne Frank she and her students captured their collective journey in the Freedom Writers Diary which was turned into a movie.
Fidèle Ndayisaba is the Director-General of the International Electricity Society of the Great Lakes regions. Prior to this appointment, Fidèle Ndayisaba served as the Executive Secretary of the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission in Rwanda (2016-2021), as Mayor of Kigali, Rwanda’s capital city (2011-2016), and also as Governor of the Southern Province (2007-2011) turning him a specialist on public affairs.
Florencio Venté is a Colombian migrant and social impact entrepreneur residing in Brazil, currently serving as one of the Migration Youth and Children Platform's Latin America Focal points. He is the founder of Gocals, connecting migrants living in Brazil with local people through cultural and social exchange to combat xenophobia and discrimination and member of the Youth council of his city.
Geoffrey Corry is a self-employed specialist in conflict resolution, mediation training and dialogue facilitation working through his own Athena Consultancy for the last 23 years. He is former board member and chief facilitator of peace workshops at the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation.
Gunnar Stalsett, Bishop Emeritus of Oslo, among his impressive church career, chaired the Norwegian Church Aid and the Oslo City Mission. He has been a member of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee for almost 20 years and was also the founder and chairman of the European Council of Religious Leaders. Beside his support and activity over many human rights and peace process initiatives around the Globe, he is now Honorary President of Religious for Peace.
Hafswa Shirazy is a peace advocater and servant leaders from Kenya, living in Old Town, Mombasa. Currently she works as a Project Managar in communitarian and social initiatives and doing psychosocial support and counseling for vulnerable youth, but want she most enjoys is her work as a volunteer. She is very independent, goal oriented and goal driven. She always wants to help or bring changes forth to assist those in need.
Isabel Mota was Deputy Director at the Portuguese Republic’s Ministry of Finance (1978 -1986) and Counselor at the Permanent Representation of Portugal in Brussels in 1986. Then she was Secretary of State for Planning and Regional Development. Her career in Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation started in 1996 Director of the Planning and Control Service. She become a board member in 1999 and the first female President of Gulbenkian between 2017 and 2022.
Professor John Volmink, born in Cape Town, with a PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) in Mathematics Education, has dedicated himself to managing South African Non-governmental organizations involved in the progress of education, health and the community. He played a major role in leading post-apartheid Education reform in South Africa. John Volmink is currently President of Ubuntu Global Network and Co-Chair of the Ubuntu United Nations.
José Ramos-Horta was an active defender of the people of East Timor. After his country's exile of almost three decades, in 1996 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for his work for a just and peaceful solution to the conflict in East Timor" and for fighting for the human rights of East Timorese. He was Senior Minister in the new government and later Prime Minister, and President of East Timor. Besides of being the President of Ubuntu United Nations he continues to carry out actions to maintain and build Peace globally.
João Ribeiro de Almeida holds a Law degree from the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon and started his diplomatic career in 1990. Since then, João Ribeiro have been working in Lisbon, but mainly abroad, crossing countries throughout the world as Greece, East Timor, Croatia, Angola, Colombia, among others. In 2020, he was appointed President of Board of Camões Institute.
Kailash Satyarthi is one of the most vocal leaders in the global fight against child exploitation by rescuing tens of thousands of children from the scourge of slavery. His tireless efforts to protect every child as his own led him to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014. Today, he continues to fight for the rights and protection of children with the same passion.
Lucie Calléja is a PhD researcher in Political Science and International Relations at the Institute for Political Studies of Universidade Católica Portuguesa (IEP-UCP) and Research Fellow at Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) since October 2021. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Political Science at Université Lumière Lyon II in 2015 and concluded the MA in Governance Leadership and Democracy Studies at the Institute for Political Studies (IEP-UCP) in 2017.
Luís Alves is an entrepreneur and manager in the public and private sphere, in national and internacional missions, with an extensive experience in design, implementation and evaluation of public intervention projects. Before being the current Director of the Erasmus Plus – Youth in Action Agenct, he also served as Executive Director of Porto Lazer and he was Vice-President of the Portuguese Youth Institute.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa is the 20th President of the Portuguese Republic since 2016. During his life, he pursued a career in journalism, being connected to highly respected communication enterprises. He always was politically active, participating in the founding process of the Social Democratic Party and in the drafting of the 1976 Portuguese Constitution, still active today. He is also the founder and member of countless social solidarity institutions.
Mariano Jabonero is passionate about research and education. He held managerial positions in the Spanish Ministry of Education and has worked in all Ibero-Americans countries as consultant for several international organizations. He was also a professor at the Faculty of Education at the University of Madrid and is author of various articles, conferences and texts. Since 2018, Mariano is Secretary-General of the IberoAmerican States Organization (OEI).
Mario Salazar Núñez is a graduate in medicine, who has led various student political organization groups, spearheading transformative processes, fighting for student rights and social justice. He participated in the Student Federation of his university, led his student union and was part of the young constituent assembly. He currently continues to lead social initiatives focused on the fulfillment of the 2030 agenda, with a permanent commitment to peace, education, and human rights.
Mayte Ortiz has a long career in the field of educational management, having been a teacher and tutor for infant, primary and secondary educational levels in different schools in Madrid. Currently, she is still linked to teaching through teacher training. With more than 22 years in the SM (Santa María) Foundation, she has held management positions in different projects within the area of educational innovation. Currently, Mayte is the General Director of SM. She is also a Board Member of the Social Studies and Applied Sociology Foundation (FOESSA).
Meryl Thiels holds a PhD in International Law. She currently works both as a lecturer in Justice and Legal Systems for the Federal University of Maranhao (Brazil) and as a legal counsellor in Human Rights for the High Commissioner of Human Rights (Monaco). She stands for clarity, empathy, efficiency, responsibility and adaptability as the major skills to achieve the change we want to see in the world.
Michelle Bachelet, who previously served as President of Chile from 2006 to 2010 and 2014 to 2018 for the Socialist Party of Chile, serves as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights since 2018. She is the first woman to hold the Chilean presidency and the first elected female leader in South America. She was appointed the first executive director of the newly created United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
Mona Suliman studied information technology at the University of Science and Technology. She has been involved with youth projects. In addition to serving as the general coordinator of the 2022 TEDx Conference, managing events and volunteering in youth organizations such as the United Nations and Young African Leaders Initiative, she has also participated in national and international innovation competitions, including the falling walls labs and HULT prize. Mona Suliman is content writer, business adviser, and social activist on issues pertaining to youth and children.
Muhammad Yunus was awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in demising poverty through microcredit, through the founding of Grameen Bank (Bank to the poor). He already received 143 awards and 63 honorary degrees worldwide. Mr. Yunus is also founder of over 50 social businesses and has published several books addressing strategies to tackle Poverty and Social Exclusion.
Pastora Mira Garcia is internationally recognized for her example of forgiveness in the face of hatred and violence. In September 2017, when Pope Francis visited Colombia, she was chosen to narrate her commitment to “love one another”, after her experience during and after the colombian armed conflict (1964-2016) which costed hundreds of thousands of lives, including members of her family. Pastora Mira is the coordinator of the Centro de Acercamiento, Reconciliación y Reparacíon (CARE) of San Carlos.
Philip George Zimbardo is a psychologist and former professor emeritus at Stanford University. In 2003, he received the Nobel Prize in Psychology for his thesis in which he described politicians as Uniquely Simple Personalities. In 2005, he received the Havel Foundation Prize for his research on the human condition. He conducted an extraordinary research on the psychology of heroism, and he is the founder of the Heroic Imagination Project, a non-profit organization aimed at understanding and promoting everyday heroism.
Princess Rym Ali of Jordan, is a journalist, who founded an Non-governmental organization that aims to establish an Arab center of excellence for journalistic education. She has a career in international broadcasters such as CNN, BBC and others. Awarded with several prizes, she was also distinguished by President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa with the order of Infante D. Henrique for her efforts in the field of cultural and intercultural exchange. Princess Rym Ali is the President of the Anna Lindh Foundation and the Co-Chair of the Ubuntu United Nations.
Queen Liwali is an Economics major graduate as well as the professional development director -Rotaract club Kilifi as well as the secretary of the Global shapers community -Mombasa hub which is part of the world economic forum, currently she is working for P. António Vieira Institute in the Government Blue Economy project implemented at the Kenyan coast through the jumuiya ya kaunti za pwani and European Union aiming at creating employment, reducing poverty and achieving gender equality for the youth in the coast of Kenya.
Ralycia Andrews is a proud Garifuna, Vincentian, aspiring Biological and Cultural Anthropologist, and a youth activist. Her work is driven by ancestral verneration and a need for sustainble development through servant leadership of which she practices daily in her activism through volunterinism by creating and participating in platforms that serve the Caribbean region and beyond. Ralycia is currently pursuing her BSc C (Bachelor of Sciences) in Biology with a minor in Cultural Studies at the University Of The West Indies Cave Hill Campus, Barbados.
Rameesa Khan is the founder of a founder Menstrual Talk and PhD scholar. She is working on menstrual matters to end period shaming and stigmas associated globally. Wrote a short story book on Period's Awareness for children so they can understand what Period's are and it's an important biological process.
Rešid Dževdetbegović is a young professional with a proven track record in peacebuilding in BosniaHerzegovina. In 2021, he was awarded a tittle of Peace Ambassador by the Institute for Economics & Peace, the European Commission and the One Young World. Besides peacebuilding, his expertise encompasses policy development in fields of human rights, migrations and democratic governance. He is an awarded debater, youth activist and volunteer.
Rohullah Sarwari is a Master student at I.K. Gujral Punjab Technical University in India. He has years of work experience as social worker in AKS (Afghan Knowledge Solution), whose aim is to bring and share knowledge, and rescue vulnerable citizens in Afghanistan. He has developed as Administrative Assistant, Secretary Directorate at Kabul Municipality of Afghanistan. He has also worked in the Afghan social service sector, building a clean, unpolluted and healthy environment.
Rosemarie Mercado is the director and co-founder of the Youth Research Center CEIJUVE. She currently serves as deputy coordinator of Líderes Solidários, an organization that focuses on the political participation of young people and in the consolidation of transforming social leadership in El Salvado.
Rui Marques is a portuguese entrepreneur, manager and social activist. He currently presides the P. António Vieira Institute (IPAV). He has been involved in several solidarity actions regarding the self-determination of East Timor, the integration of homeless people and the integration of refugees. Rui Marques served as High Commissioner for Immigration and Intercultural Dialogue and as National Coordinator of “Programa Escolhas”. Since 2010, he is the President of the Ubuntu Leaders Academy project.
Sailee Rane is a 4th year law student at the University of Mumbai, India. She has been a part of Girlup Mumbai as a content creator, a link in the girlup campaign chain which is an initiative by the United Nations foundation to inspire individuals all across the globe, primarily working for women empowerment and gender equality. She aspires to be a litigating lawyer and ultimately hopes to work in the field of constitutional and human rights.
Shamim Ali has over 5 years of work experience in leading effective youth programming, community campaign, and research. Shamim is committed to positive youth development, women empowerment and raising awareness around the sustainable development goals. She is known to make a positive contribution to local peacebuilding efforts within her communities and has ability to define proposed solutions to local community challenges particularly in hate, extremism and polarization.
Thaíse Constancio Timoteo is graduate in Social Communications with a concentration in Journalism, seeking further education in the Social Impact and Sustainability field. She has experience in directing activities for students and young professionals. She also has managerial experience with Youth Communities and Racial Diversity Groups. Hostess of podcasts and local social events. Thaíse Timoteo was Sustainability Leader by United People Global and one of the Brazilian Delegates at the Ubuntu United Nations.
Ubiraci Pataxó is “the son of the Coroa Vermelho village” (Brazil), where he is an apprentice of the Pajé ancestral wisdom. He works as an indigenous therapist, educator and speaker. He is a researcher in the projects Collective Health, Epistemologies of the South and Interculturalities, at the Federal University of Southern Bahia, in partnership with the University of Coimbra (Portugal), and Web of 5 cures: All of us are relatives, which involves indigenous peoples in Brazil, Peru, Mexico and Canada.
Yahya Al-Taie is an Iraqi Engineer, with more than 12 years of experience, 6 years of which in construction projects management in the Private Sector and more than 5 years in Humanitarian Emergency Relief, and International Development projects. He has worked with several private entities, and Non- Governmental Organizations, Embassies and Consulates. Yahya leads a charity volunteering group in Iraq since 2014.
Zacarias Albano da Costa is an East Timorese politician and diplomat. Former teacher and journalist, he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Republic of East Timor between 2007 and 2012. During the last years, he also worked with the Asian Development Back and the United States Agency for International Development. Currently holds a number of voluntary positions including President of East Timor Red Cross. On 2021, Zacarias took over as Executive Secretary of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries.
The Ubuntu United Nations is a project supported by the European Commission, through the Agência Nacional Erasmus + Juventude/Desporto (National Agency Erasmus + Youth/Sport). The project is promoted by Instituto Padre António Vieira (coordination), Fundación SM, Fundación Tomillo and Artevio Marketing SRO.
The dialogue platform for young people from all over the world that seeks to bring global change agents to an intergenerational debate on the greatest current challenges. The program aims to reach young people from all countries with a seat in the United Nations, with the aim of engaging them in the defense of Human Rights, Social Justice and Sustainable Development. The program also foresees the development of 4 Intellectual Products:
1. Ubuntu Global Network online platform with a social network and resource library;
2. An online facilitation toolkit;
3. Book with contributions from participants and guests of Ubuntu United Nations training;
4. Collection of tutorial videos Ubuntu Leaders Academy dynamics and methodology.
The Ubuntu values that inspire us all, namely ethics of care, bridge building and servant leadership underpin this noble mission and the journey towards building a better world.
The participation of youth is a hope and a shining light to the world. Youth of today the future is yours! They have to make the difference: working on building one family and interacting with each other in a spirit of brotherhood, sisterhood. (…) We have to unite nations and people, embrace all, and together build a shared destiny.
For this endeavour, it is on the youth of today that the future we desire depends on. This is true now and will be even more in the near future.
