Celebrate with us The International Day of Peace 2017 and support the special November event of 200 Creators of Peace women who are at the heart of resolving tensions and transforming community conflicts in Kenya.

Towards an Inclusive Peace is looking for volunteers to broaden its team for the second year of the event that will take place on 11-15 July 2018. If you want to be part of a dynamic team from around the world that is dedicated to the process of preparing and running the event, please get in touch with us.

The invited guest speaker, Dr Lillian Cingo (the founder and former manager of the ‘Phelophepa Train’ which provides health services to the disadvantaged communities in rural areas), encouraged the elders on how to face their fears, using her own life’s journey with the Phelophepa train and how she had to learn to drive the train and manage a smooth flow of logistics. She shared that she felt that the reason why people’s fears never come to an end is because they are afraid of judgement. ‘Courage to deal with fears begins when they are expressed, because sharing is offloading,’ she said. The seniors felt encouraged by Dr Cingo’s motivational speech and the interaction with the IofC team. They would love to have more such times.

In the beginning, participants found the concept of reflection difficult to grasp but as time and activities were shared they understood what reflection is. One of the participants responded, “People assume what kind of a person one is by looking at how one behaves and reacts. However, the facilitator defined mirror reflection as ‘a mixture of one's story and inner encouragement to share one's story. With this I am confident to live my life as the internal mirror shows and not as the eternal mirror wants.’

On 6th April, teenage boys and girls between the ages 10 – 15years from Protea Glen, Kagiso and Noordgesig (areas around Johannesburg) gathered at the Initiatives of Change (IofC) office in Klamson Towers, Johannesburg to have fun and learn at the same time. The motivation that drove them to come that day was to explore a topic called 'Behaviour' whereby the IofC team guided them through the positiveness and the negativeness of behaviour and what the consequences are thereof.

Dr Imad Karam, Executive Director of Initiatives of Change International, received a Peace Through Media Award at the Tenth International Media Awards dinner in London last month. Describing him as an award-winning Gazan documentary film maker, the nomination cited his films on forgiveness and peacebuilding, including Beyond Forgiving and The Imam and the Pastor.

‘We are the citizens of today and tomorrow,’ stated Kehkashan Basu, 17, winner of the 2016 International Children’s Peace Prize, as she opened the fifth edition of Children as Actors for Transforming Society (CATS). Empowering children to become the leaders of tomorrow is what CATS is all about. CATS 2017 gathered 264 children, young people and adults of 34 nationalities to promote inclusion and to give children experiencing exclusion a voice.

In a bid to create a safe space for youth to express their opinions and expertise, 15 young entrepreneurs, grassroots activists, educators, environmental professionals and students gathered to take part in the Emerging Leaders Programme during the Caux Dialogue on Land and Security (CDLS) in July.

The Imam and the Pastor film, produced by IofC's 'For the Love of Tomorrow Films', is being used to foster peace and reconciliation in the Central African Republic.

Discover the highlights of the Caux Forum 2017!