Petty traders look on from the Trading for Peace Festival circle's edge.
By Ashley Murphy
The town of Kayanza, Burundi is carved along a beautiful hilly terrain. It is quiet and unassuming, inhabited by only 26,000 people. Yet it lies near the perimeter of Burundi, and therefore is a fragile place. The borders in the Great Lakes region are often plagued with tension and conflicts between petty traders and border officials due to illegal border trading, lack of trust between the two groups, and stigmatization of female traders.
A large crowd of spectators gather to avidly watch the festival proceedings.
To address these issues, on March 22 this small rural town was transformed into the temporary headquarters for SFCG, which organized a one-day festival celebrating the opportunities and relationships fostered by regional trade. The festival is part of a larger project called “Supporting Trading for Peace,” which aims at strengthening trust between small-scale traders and border officials from Burundi and Rwanda, as well as improving knowledge and understanding of trade-related issues that cause conflict. Different activities are held to build bridges between these two groups by giving them a space to interact positively with one another.
The Difficulty of Standing Your Ground
2008 popular vote by county, shading by percentage of vote. (Mark Newman, University of Michigan)
By Audra Gustin
This reflection is in response to PBS’ Gwen Ifill’s article on “Backbone, Consistency and Standing Your Ground” here.
A word frequently used when describing today’s political climate in the US is ‘polarized.’ Red-blue maps spread as centerfolds, displaying deep divides in the American political geography.
After all, once we reach the ballot box come November, there are only two decisive choices: Democrat or Republican. One can vote for one or the other, not both, or else not at all. What a politician says during his campaign matters, because we have to make that choice. We have to decide, yes or no. We have to decide who to believe.
Standing one’s ground sounds great. It signals courage and backbone. Politicians have been trading in this currency forever. They call it leadership, and voters usually agree…
We do like consistency. I was reminded of that this week when I sat down on Capitol Hill to interview retiring Sens. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M. As we chatted before the interview began, it hit me how long it had been since I had been able to get senators of opposing parties to sit down next to each other for a joint interview. At best, we are only able to get Republicans and Democrats to sit down “back to back,” rather than engage each other directly.
We usually believe the one who promises they can make decisive change. But how does change come about? What makes us decide that someone can back up their promises? read more…
Jean-Marie Nahimana celebrates SFCG’s 30th Anniversary
Jean-Marie Nahimana (Baby John) and his guitar.
Jean-Marie Nahimana (better known as Baby John) worked for SFCG in Burundi from 1995 to 2002. Baby John produced and hosted radio programs for SFCG’s Studio Ijambo and created arts-based initiatives to promote reconciliation between Hutu and Tutsi in Burundi. Now based in France, Baby John is President of an association called Solidarity for Peace and Social Justice (SOPAJUSO).
Here in his own words (translated from French): read more…
Supporting Trade for Peace at the Burundi-Rwanda Border
Women traders take part in role plays to learn about their responsibilities.
Informal trade is a huge source of livelihood across Africa and around the world. Yet these traders, who frequently earn less than $10 a day, are vulnerable to harassment and conflict in the course of their activities. Stereotypes and rumours provoke mistrust between communities across borders and prevent traders from working together for their protection and common interests. Other issues also arise such as illegal trading, smuggling, and corruption. SFCG has been working to address these problems in the Great Lakes region of Africa, namely between Burundi, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, with support from USAID and a regional institution called Trademark East Africa. To further this effort, in January 2012, SFCG organized a three-day training at the Burundi-Rwanda border to work with petty traders and officials at one of the border point.
Can There be an Inclusive Peace Process in Somalia?
David Cortright, Director of Policy Studies at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame and Chair of the Board of the Fourth Freedom Forum, addresses the room during SFCG's March Conflict Prevention and Reconciliation Forum on the Future of Building Peace in Somalia
By Chris White
Last week we hosted the latest Conflict Prevention & Resolution Forum at the Johns Hopkins Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. The forum, “Somalia: Creating Space for Fresh Approaches to Peacebuilding,” brought together scholar-practitioners to discuss alternatives to the current militarized approach to conflict in Somalia. Michele Cesari joined us from the Life & Peace Institute in Nairobi, where he is Resident Representative and leads both the Somalia Programme as well as the Peacebuilding with Regional Partners Programme. Shamsia W. Ramadhan, also from the Life & Peace Institute, is their Programmes and Communications Advisor and the editor of the Horn of Africa Bulletin. David Cortright is the Director of Policy Studies at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame and Chair of the Board of the Fourth Freedom Forum. The fourth panelist, Laura Weis, is a Ph.D. candidate in history and peace studies at the Kroc Institute.
David opened the forum by discussing John Paul Lederach’s recent article about developing a theory of change approach to terrorism. read more…
Women in Indonesia Building Peace Side-by-Side
Electronita Duan (known as Eton), winner of the 2011 N-Peace Award in Indonesia and women from the women's school in Bogor, during her International Women's Day visit.
By Simon Gladman and Leli Nurohmah
Indonesian women are still struggling to have their voices heard as part of mediation efforts in trouble spots and conflict resolution efforts in post-conflict areas across the archipelagic nation.
According to Electronita Duan (known as Eton), last year’s winner of the N-Peace Award in Indonesia, women have much to offer the peacebuilding process.
“Even today, local and national governments have difficulty saying ‘Come sisters, let us build the peace side-by-side’,” she said in the new N-Peace documentary of her story, which can be viewed here.
“They are still lacking in involving women. This is despite the fact that women suffered greatly during the conflict. And it was women who overcame the economic difficulties following the conflict.”
Facilitated by Search for Common Ground, Eton has been spreading her stories of peacebuilding efforts from her home in the Moluku islands to hundreds of mature-aged women throughout Indonesia at five Asia Muslim Action Network’s (AMAN) Women’s Schools for Peace. read more…
