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Bertha von Suttner: A Royal Peacebuilder

By
Peace News Staff
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Despite being born a countess, Bertha von Suttner was shunned by Austrian aristocracy, but it didn’t stop her changing the world.

Born in 1843 in Prague, Bertha’s noble family struggled financially and she worked as a tutor. She married in secret because of her in-laws disapproval and wrote news articles and novels.

She took a progressive, pro-disarmament stance, arguing that technology could reduce war, and she emerged as a leader in the peace movement.

She became famous (and a women’s liberation icon) as the editor of a pacifist journal, and she was friends with Alfred Nobel. It is said that she influenced his creation of the Nobel Peace Prize and in 1905 she was the first woman to solely win the Peace Prize.

She hoped: “That the future will always be one degree better than what is past…”

Playing for Peace: South Sudan

By
Gale Julius Dada
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Despite a horrific civil war dividing the people of South Sudan, nearly 400 athletes just participated in a week-long peacebuilding event.

Young South Sudanese athletes from around the country participated in a national sports competition from January 27 to February 4 to promote peace. Athletes under the age of 20 competed in the government-run event, playing football, volleyball, and competing in field events.

“Sport can bring peace because in football there’s no one – there’s no tribe there, people cannot be separate,” said athlete Emmanuel Tobi. “In football, people can be together.”

Athlete Sarah Adeng agreed. “As we are there, in the compound, we just see ourselves as brothers and sisters,” Ms Adeng said. “We don’t see ourselves as coming from different regions – I just see myself, we are just in one country – a peaceful country.”

South Sudan’s Minister of Education Deng Deng Hoc Yai stressed the need for unity in his speech at the competition.

“We have seen how happy we can be together – and this is a great thing,” Mr Hoc Yai said. “We can always be happy if we choose to be happy, so unity is very important.”

“One day peace can come to South Sudan,” said athlete Melo Ateny, “but peace is going – the way that peace is going to come – we must be together as South Sudanese, we must put our aims together, stick together, talk together, eat together as South Sudanese. We can forget we are [from different tribes] then peace can come.”

Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General David Shearer also addressed the crowd, emphasizing what the athletes participating represent for the war-torn country. the event. “[It’s] an opportunity for people form right across the country – youth, and future leaders – to play and engage and remind ourselves that we are here for a greater purpose, and that is to seek harmony, peace, and prosperity in South Sudan.”

Breaking the Ice: Reducing Conflict for Ukrainian Children

By
Safiya Songhai
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Anchor: Safiya Songhai

Nearly 1.6 million people are internally displaced after years of war in the Ukraine, and just over half of them are families with children. Ukrainian hockey ambassador Olga Dolinina was shocked by conflict in her homeland, so she decided to use her sport to help displaced children.

Ms Dolinina uses hockey to help kids connect with their new homes, deal with post-traumatic stress, and learn life skills.

“So through this project, this sports activity, children were getting together, and learning how to communicate peacefully with each other, and building resilience,” Ms Dolinina said.

Miss Dolinina and her team organized a festival called Break the Ice this year in Kramatorsk, which brought together 100 conflict-affected children, and their parents, from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

“First, the children get acquainted with each other,” said internally displace participant Vyacheslav, who attended the event with his wife Kristyna, and their children. “They expand their social circle. They learn to be members of society, they develop.”

“Such projects are necessary, as they help people overcome the consequences of this war.”

“Yes, they make new acquaintances,” agreed local participants Svetlana and Olga. “They are friends with internally displaced persons.”

“Not only children have met, but also adults,” said local participant Katerina. “So we believe it is a family experience. It unites all families, and the whole country, probably.”

The NHL donated table hockey equipment, and with other donations, Ms Dolinina was able to buy equipment for both a girls and boys ice hockey team in Kiev.

Ms Dolinina came up with the idea while in the USA on a sports mentoring program.

“Olga had come, knowing that she wanted to work with kids, she wanted to run this project for kids, and while she’s on the program she tells us: ‘I need to do something for my country, we are in the headlines for all the wrong reasons’,” said Brian Canever, from the Center for Sport, Peace, and Society at University of Tennessee.

“So, that’s when she came up with this idea, working with Susan Cohig,” Mr Canever said.

“It’s definitely had an impact in thousands of kids lives, in the Ukraine, who are the victims and the survivors of warfare and who she is helping develop an internal peace.”

“I hope that by looking at how people rest here, how they communicate with each other, the conflicting parties will understand that no war is worth it,” said Vyacheslav.

“I think that the conflict is temporary,” said Katerina, “because in our hearts, as in the name of this project, there is a lot of ice. As soon as the ice melts, at once everyone will unite.”

Cover photo courtesy of the U.S. Dept of State in cooperation with the Center for Sport, Peace, & Society.

People Choosing Peace: Ibrahim (Central African Republic)

By
Peace News Staff
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Over the last year, the Central African Republic has seen a dramatic increase in levels of violence. An estimated two thirds of the country is controlled by armed groups and the province of Hotte Kotto is one of the worst affected. It is home to Ibrahim Abraham, and alongside our local partners, he is working to reunite communities.

I grew up in the province of Haute Kotto. It was once a peaceful and prosperous place. The resources were plentiful, people could grow their own food – we provided for the nation.

This region is home to four ethnic groups – both Muslims and Christians – who once lived peacefully together. When Muslims were fasting, they would invite Christians to celebrate with them. Christians would give their children Muslim names. We loved each other, supported each other.

But now everything has changed.

The conflict broke out in 2009, when I was 34 years old. Because Haute Kotto had an abundance of natural resources, agriculture, and diamonds, the rebel groups in our country decided to base themselves there. They could feed their conflict with diamonds and minerals.

People also came from neighboring countries, from Chad and South Sudan. They came with weapons and guns and started subjugating our people.

Because those people from Chad and South Sudan spoke Arabic, they began to associate themselves with the Arabic speakers in our community. That was the starting point for the division and discrimination in our society – because the local population starting looking at those who associated with foreigners, as foreigners themselves.

At the time the conflict broke out, I was at University in Bangui. The Muslim and Christian friends I had grown up with also came to University with me. We studied together for six years, but when conflict broke out in Haute Kotte, many of them returned home and joined the rebel groups. Once they had joined the groups, it was impossible for them to leave.

I was determined to tackle the issues of division in my community. I began working with community leaders and religious leaders, and together we began to talk to the armed groups in the region.

It is really important to talk with armed groups, because through this dialogue they become aware of the negative impact they are having. Through our dialogue, the leader of one of the armed groups decided to lay down his weapons and return to civil life.

Now, I work as the focal point for Femme Hommes Action Plus (FHAP) in the province of Haute Kotto, I am a peacebuilder, that is what I do, and our organisation trains others to work for peace too.

The is still a lot of work to be done in Hotte Kotto, it really is an abandoned place. There is no mayor, no leaders and no security. But we are working to support the population affected by conflict and violence, and to support young people to stay away from violence.

Photo: Jjumba Martin/Conciliation Resources

Source: Conciliation Resources

People Choosing Peace: John (Liberia/Cote d’Ivoire)

By
John Demi
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John Demi has been chief of his township in Nimba County, Liberia, for over 20 years. His town borders Cote d’Ivoire, and as a town elder, John helps to mediate community and cross-border disputes.

My role is to bring peace in the community. When issues come up between people, they go to the elders to try to resolve them. So we are in the vanguard of making peace in the community.

Both Liberia and Cote d’Ivoire have had their own share of war. When peace came to our country, we went to our local people to persuade them not to infiltrate the borders. This was not an event, it was a process. Today, we have cross-border cooperation. We have cross-border meetings to thrash out some of the issues, and it is how peace prevails in our border areas.

As an elder, I have passed through a lot of things. Some of the mistakes we made in the past are similar mistakes the children are making today. We are trying to talk to the younger generation and make them understand that peace is something that everyone should carry.

Photo: Ingrid Guyon/Conciliation Resources

Source: Conciliation Resources

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