“Information is the key to life. Without information, people do not have an agenda and simply accept what is said at the discussion table.” These were the challenging words of Mr Kennedy Walusala, President of the Regional Multifunctional Youth Forum at the opening of the 1st Eastern Africa Youth Conference (EAYC).

Nagwa Raouf has written a message, following the massacre in front of the Coptic church on New Year's Eve in Egypt, and sent it by email to her Christian friends in Egypt and Lebanon. In its original Arabic form, it was published by the Lebanese newspaper Al-Nahar (probably the most important Lebanese daily) on 3 January.

Over 600 people filled the room at the eighth Annual Celebration Gala of the We Are Family Foundation on October 26, 2010 in New York. Among the honourees were Imam Muhammad Ashafa and Pastor James Wuye for their work of peacemaking in Nigeria and other parts of Africa.

Portia Mosia, who has been running Peace Circle workshops together with Jackie Euvrard and others throughout this past year in South Africa, writes: “I am so grateful for the opportunity to follow my conviction through working with the Peace Circles programme. It has been an uplifting journey for my own healing after an awful experience that I had to overcome.”

From November 15 to 18, 2010 Lesotho Minister Mathabiso Lepono, Ministry of Gender and Youth, Sports and Recreation invited Alice Cardel, IofC International Training Director to pilot test a programme: 'Women in Leadership' especially for Lesotho. This took place at Victoria Hotel in Maseru. It is specifically designed for women Members of Parliament and those who are on the 20 District Councils of Lesotho. The aim of the training is to increase women's leadership competencies and capabilities.

Portia Mosia, who has been running Peace Circle workshops together with Jackie Euvrard and others throughout this past year writes: 'I am so grateful for the opportunity to follow my conviction through working with the Peace Circles programme. It has been an uplifting journey for my own healing after an awful experience that I had to overcome.'

Eritrean-born General Mercorios Haile, who rose to become Deputy-Commander of the Ethiopian Air Force in the era when Eritrea was still a province of Ethiopia, died on 16 November on a visit to Addis Ababa.

The Chaplain and Tutor in Theology of St John’s College, Oxford, the Rev Dr Liz Carmichael, introduced Imam Muhammad Ashafa and Pastor James Wuye from Nigeria as ‘an iconic peacemaking and peacebuilding team’ at the opening of a seminar on 11 November. It was organised by the Oxford Network of Peace Studies (OxPeace).

The protagonists of the award-winning documentary film The Imam and the Pastor, Imam Muhammad Ashafa and Pastor James Wuye, and the film’s co-Producer Dr Imad Karam were guests of the Directorate of Religious Affairs of the Government of South Sudan in Juba from 29 October to 2 November 2010. The fourth guest Mrs Amina Dikedi-Ajakaiye, a Nigerian widely travelled in Africa, helped conduct workshops for women on a previous visit to Juba and Khartoum.

The first Creators of Peace Circle has just taken place in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Alex Martins has sent this report.