While we often hear of Syrian refugees migrating to Western countries, mainstream media rarely covers the story of those refugees in developing countries, such as Uganda from South Sudan. Peace News reporter Ochan Hannington spoke to South Sudanese refugees who have fled, and brings us their stories.
What do Women Bring to Peace-Building?
With the recent election of a female leader in the UK and potential new female leaders in the US and head of the United Nations, we wanted to know: What do women bring to peace-building?
Immigration: What Do We Get Wrong?
Britain’s vote to leave the EU inflamed the global debate about immigration and refugees. The aftermath of Brexit saw an outburst of anti-immigration sentiment, with reports of hate crime in the UK increasing 57%.
This fear, and often hatred, of immigrants is not unique to the UK. In Australia violence has broken out between anti-immigration and anti-racism protesters and in the US, Austria, and a number of other countries, anti-immigration rhetoric has propelled political leaders and parties.
However, research shows that many of the reasons cited by opponents to immigration are often misguided. Leading UK researcher Bobby Duffy discovered that when it comes to immigration – we often get our facts wrong.
His studies show that immigration numbers are half of what people believe they actually are, and that our public perception of immigrants as mainly refugees and asylum seekers is incorrect – it’s actually a small percentage of immigrants.
“It’s quite common that people think immigration is double the scale that it actually is,” Mr Duffy said. “That’s not just a British phenomenon, you see the same thing in most developed Western countries, and lots of other countries too as people overestimate the proportions of the population that they make up.”
Other mis-perceptions include the kind of immigrants that make up the population – it’s not all refugees and asylum seekers.
“People think that is the most common, and the largest proportion of immigration, when actually it’s the smallest, compared to people who immigrate for work or study or for family.”
Yet another misunderstanding is what immigrants bring to an economy. Anti-immigration supports often cite job competition, but it’s not the full picture. “At some level, immigrants will increase job competition in the economy and in other parts of the economy they will be creating jobs,” Mr Duffy said. “The reality, from an economic perspective, is that immigration probably is a net benefit, almost certainly a net benefit to the economy at an aggregate level.”
And fears that immigrants bring more crime? It turns out that’s untrue too. Dr Walter Ewing from the American Immigration Council says immigrants are actually less likely to be criminals than native-born citizens. He says criminal accusations of immigrants are sadly, not a new thing for America.
“Unfortunately, this is a hundred year old tendency to demonize and scape-goat immigrants for the nation’s problems,” Dr Ewing said. “People were saying this about Italian immigrants when they first arrived, and then you find the exact same rhetoric being used about Mexican immigrants today.”
“I actually went and looked at some of the speeches from the 1890’s in Congress about the Italians coming in – the fear was that they were criminals, that they would never learn English, that they would steal our jobs…You could just substitute in Mexican or Salvadorian and it’s the exact same rhetoric.”
But changing people’s views of immigration is not just about clearing up the facts, researchers warn it’s a much more emotional, and local, response to that.
“It’s much easier to demonize someone you’ve never talked to, or about whose lives you don’t know. So I think it’s just as important to spread the human side of the immigrant experience, as well as the facts and figures.”
Hope may also lie with a younger generation.
“Looking to the future, it’s a very different view among millennials, on average,” Mr Duffy said. “We have half the levels of concern about immigration among millennials in Britain, twice the level of trust in the European Union, twice the likelihood to vote to remain in the European Union, it’s just a much more open, and international, outlook among that generation.”
“It seems from the data that we have a cohort coming through that will be, on balance, more open – less worried about diversity, less worried about the threats of diversity, than the current balance of the population.”
Storytelling: Peace-building or Problematic?
In 2012, the world learned about Joseph Kony and the brutal Lord’s Resistance Army, or LRA, through the Kony 2012 campaign. But many years before this Betty Bigombe showed incredible bravery when she ventured into the jungle to negotiate with the group.
It was 1992, and she was a government minister in Uganda, negotiating with warlords known for their violent guerrilla tactics and child abductions. Realizing the value of meeting face-to-face, Ms Bigombe was able to open up a dialogue with the rebels and she went on to become a lead negotiator in Uganda’s ongoing peace process.
“I made up my mind, I was going to do everything possible, to reach out to the war lords, and talk to them,” Ms Bigombe told the United States Institute of Peace.
“To talk them into a peaceful solution,” she said. “I was determined, because I felt that if meeting with the rebels could bring peace – could save lives – it was worthwhile making the commitment.”
Many hold up Ms Bigombe’s success getting the rebels to the negotiating table as an example of the power of words in war, and Tara Sonenshine from George Washington University believes that Ms Bigombe’s storytelling skills were an important mechanism to engage with the rebels.
“Ultimately she was able to knock down walls and ultimately reach consensus with very violent people,” Ms Sonenshine said.
Ms Sonenshine argues that stories are an integral part of any approach to peace-building. “I think that without a story, you don’t have any grasp of the human dimension of war and peace,” she said.
Individuals sharing their experiences of war can be a useful way for communities to begin the healing process post-conflict. If people get an opportunity to tell their story to those who were their enemies in war, it can also be a key way to bring about reconciliation.
By discussing what happened, trying to view events from the other side’s perspective, and ideally creating a common narrative, the chances of past grievances fuelling future violence can be reduced.
“It’s a way for community grief, community cleansing, for community expulsion of hatred, and for confrontation and moving forward in building a post-conflict society,” Ms Sonenshine said.
But storytelling as a peace-building tool has drawn criticism, mainly over concerns for whose story is being told and remembered, and whose is absent. Ms Sonenshine says this is an important aspect to be wary of, but that is doesn’t negate the benefit.
“The only down-side, I think, is when stories themselves are not inclusive of all dimensions of a community,” she said. “So I think we have to be open to telling not just two sides of the story, but the many sides of a story. And the down-side is that in missing a piece we may miss the whole, but that’s not a reason not to tell the story, it’s more encouragement to tell all the stories.”
Interview with Betty Bigombe conducted by USIP
Cover photo: Christian Katsuva Kamate/ICRC
10 Young Leaders Building Peace
So often we see angry young people in conflict, here are 10 who are peace-building:
Emma Watson, UK
Actress Emma Watson became a UN Ambassador for Goodwill at the age of 24. When her speech for the HeforShe campaign went viral her passion for women’s rights resonated with advocates around the world.
Victor Ochan, Uganda
Victor grew up surrounded by conflict in the Lira district in northern Uganda, but he chose to be a peace activist. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and is a UN Global Goals Ambassador. His organization, the African Youth Initiative Network (Ayinet), helps thousands of victims of the Ugandan civil war get treatment and overcome the traumas of the war.
Nino Nanitashvili, Georgia
Nino has dedicated her career to peacebuilding and development through evolving technologies. She founded the first technology-oriented professional community in Georgia and directs a project that brings Georgian and Abkhazian youth together through online games.
Chris Eigeland, Australia
Chris is the Australian youth representative to the UN, founder of The Schoolbag initiative, and director of Global Voices – a not-for-profit providing pathways for young Australians to contribute to international diplomacy.
Omang Agarwal, India
Omang is the Asia Representative for the Commonwealth Youth Peace Ambassadors Network. He founded Youth for Peace International and is a big believer in peace through education.
Khalida Brohi, Pakistan
Khalida is the founder of Sughar Women (now Sughar Empowerment Foundation), a nonprofit empowering women in 23 villages across Pakistan. Through a six-month course with Sughar, women gain business skills and graduates get small loans to start businesses and help connecting to markets.
Ahmad Shakib Mohsanyar, Afghanistan
Ahmad wants to counter the narrative that youth need to leave Afghanistan to improve their lives. He founded a social media campaign titled “Afghanistan Needs You”, which strives to make Afghanistan a better place for young people.
Esra’a Al Shafei, Bahrain
Esra’a is an advocate for freedom of speech and civil rights. She founded Mideast Youth, an online forum that amplifies the voices of dissent in the Middle East and North Africa, to promote social justice.
Basel Almadhoun, Palestinian Territories
Basel believes debates can change people’s ways of thinking, so he organises debates in Gaza. He received wide-spread media attention for his work organizing TEDx talks in Gaza to bring dialogue to a wider audience.
Malala Yousafzai and Shiza Shahid, Pakistan
You have no doubt heard of Malala, the young woman shot by the Taliban who went on to found The Malala Fund, but you also need to know about the fund’s co-founder and CEO Shiza. She has been beside Malala through it all, and is a driving force behind the fund’s good works. All around the world, youth like these are working for peace right now to build a better future. Don’t give up on them.
