Trustbuilding Programmes

Some of IofC’s most significant stories concern trustbuilding and reconciliation – particularly the work to rebuild Europe after WWII in which the conferences in Caux, Switzerland, played a major part. IofC also played a role in helping Japan move towards reconciliation with her neighbours in Asia and the South Pacific from the 1950s onwards. More recently, IofC has been invited to help support reconciliation in the world’s newest country, South Sudan, after decades of war. A small, but growing team is in place to support dialogue efforts in that country.

In another major African conflict zone, IofC has worked for the past decade in the Great Lakes region of Africa helping to build trust and reconciliation – including significant accompanying of government and rebel groups in Burundi on their path towards peace. IofC also continues grassroots efforts in a number of other places including work in racial reconciliation through Hope in the Cities in the USA and through Creators of Peace, which aims to engage women in their role as creators of peace at every level of society in over 30 countries.

 

Participants in Juba Sudan Creators of Peace Circle workshop.Creators of Peace

Creators of Peace challenges women of all backgrounds and beliefs to discover their unique potential to create a culture of peace in their homes, communities and the wider world.

 

 

Great Lakes photosGreat Lakes Project

Since 2000, Initiatives of Change has been working towards peace in the Great Lakes region, in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.

 

 

  Nigerians receiving Award from Jeni StepanekImam and the Pastor

'The Imam and the Pastor' depicts the astonishing reconciliation between Imam Muhammad Ashafa and Pastor James Wuye, and the peace-making initiatives which have flowed from it. The film, narrated by Rageh Omaar, shows that it is possible for the perpetrators of inter-religious violence to become instigators of peace. It is both a story of forgiveness and a case study of grass-root initiatives to rebuild communities torn apart by conflict.

 

Connecting Communities

This is a programme, based in South Africa that seeks to facilitate honest conversations between people who share a common history and want to build a joint future. It promotes nation building, healing, creates new networks of learning across traditional barriers. From this can come change and even new and practical initiatives to address social and economic problems.