Entering 2011, we all look forward to a year of progress and change. Yet not all countries are so hopeful and, in fact, many face harder times and more turmoil ahead. The International Crisis Group and Foreign Policy produced a list of Next Year’s Wars, summarizing ripe conflicts on the verge of calamity. These countries can also be found on the Global Peace Index and many are home to the work of Search for Common Ground. Be sure to follow the links of those countries associated with our organization’s work and learn more about what we do. The sixteen troubled countries include the following:
Côte d'Ivoire
1. In Côte d’Ivoire two opposing political parties battle for presidency. Search for Common Ground began working in Côte d’Ivoire in 2005, to reduce tensions and facilitate reconciliation through dialogue.
2. Colombia has seen a rise in the organization of new illegal armed groups.
3. In Zimbabwe, corruption runs rampant and elections grow nearer.
Pakistan
4. A weak government infrastructure leaves Iraq vulnerable to exploitation.
5. Violence is rapidly increasing as Venezuela’s President Chávez battles political opposition.
6. The future is uncertain, but in all probability dim, as Sudan awaits election results for the cessation of its southern part.
Lebanon
7. In Mexico, drug cartels continue to dominate the violent four-year war, which has cost 30,000 lives.
8. Latin American drug wars have expanded into Guatemala where drug cartels exploit the vulnerable nation.
9. Disaster, followed by epidemic, followed by political turmoil. Very little progress has been made in Haiti which continues to endure challenges.
Nigeria
10. Tajikistan presents itself as a potential breeding ground for Islamist insurgent groups.
11. Struggling for many years with government instability, facing more recent hardship from severe flooding and the home to terrorist organizations, Pakistan is a particularly fragile state. Search for Common Ground began operating in Pakistan in 2007 with an Urdu News Service covering current topics and conflict resolution. This successful program led to the development of TV and radio show. Recent projects include self-reflective writing workshops.
12. The failing national government in Somalia continues to endure attacks from Islamist insurgents.
Guinea
13. Facing potential turmoil over international tribunal indictments, Lebanon is also on the brink of war with Israel. Working both nationally and locally, Search for Common Ground has implemented education programs in Lebanese schools, a children’s TV series and the One Lebanon Youth Movement.
14. In addition to blatantly corrupt politics and an upcoming election, Nigeria also faces increasing violence over oil resources. Working in Nigeria since 2004, Search for Common Ground has completed a Media Mapping research project and produced a TV drama series, based on the research findings.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
15. Formerly ruled by a military president who massacred peaceful protesters, Guinea is now run by the national military, which has thoroughly exploited their power and gained control of the countries resources. Since 2001, Search for Common Ground has been working in Guinea to build the capacity for peace through radio and informed dialogue.
16. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, coined as the rape capitol of the world, is a perfectly unfortunate example of the consequences of the resource curse. Search for Common Ground has been operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 2001, supporting accountability and good governance through the use of weekly radio programs. Search for Common Ground also works to support voluntary refugee repatriation and reintegration.
Multi-ethnic kindergarten children participating in Mozaik activities.
This past October, after 12 years of successfully reaching over 850 kindergarten children in nine multi-ethnic municipalities, SFCG achieved the full institutionalisation of its Mozaik educational program as all Mozaik groups were integrated in the educational system and Mozaik teachers’ salaries were included in on the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy payroll. The innovative Mozaik educational program introduced a unique model of bilingual and multicultural pre-schooling in public kindergartens, bringing together children from Albanian, Turkish, Serbian, and Macedonian communities in a country where education is highly segregated along ethno-linguistic lines.
Reaching over 2000 beneficiaries, the Mozaik program socializes children from 3 to 6 years old, teaching them to be free from prejudices and stereotypes towards their diverse classmates, while also influencing their kindergarten staff, parents, family members, and local education authorities, thereby bringing a larger change in attitudes within the pre-school education system in Macedonia. As a result of the program, the children attending Mozaik groups have shown high levels of tolerance towards the opinions, needs and acts of other children, regardless of their ethnic background; and most of them expressed a high level of sensitivity towards others in conflict situations, thereby demonstrating understanding and practical implementation of conflict resolution techniques. For more information about Mozaik and our programs in Macedonia and Kosovo, please click here.
The scene in Tucson on Saturday (from thedailybeast.com)
As America mourns the tragedy that took place this weekend, leaving six dead and fourteen injured, some politicians continue to point fingers in the quest to answer the looming question: Why?
Has our political discourse become an endless game of denigrating those who think differently from ourselves?
Many have suggested that the current lack of civil dialogue and atmosphere of vitrolic criticism and intolerance are culprits in this recent act of violence. Regarding this offensive and infectious discourse, Pima County, Arizona Sheriff Clarence Dupnik said in an NPR article, “That may be free speech, but it’s not without consequences.” He added that his own state had become “The Mecca for prejudice and bigotry.”
The day before Gabrielle Giffords’ community outreach event and tragic attack, the Congresswoman wrote to Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson about working together to “promote centrism and moderation … tone our rhetoric and partisanship down.” This has been the call of National Endowment of the Humanities Chairman, Jim Leach who we honored with a Common Ground Award in November for his efforts to infuse public discourse with a renewed sense of civility. Addressing the State Humanities Councils he said:
It is impossible for a thinking citizen not to be concerned about American public manners and the discordant rhetoric of our politics. Words reflect emotion as well as meaning. They clarify—or cloud—thought and energize action, sometimes bringing out the better angels in our nature, sometimes lesser instincts.
In an address to the National Press Club, Leach said:
Citizenship is hard. It takes a willingness to listen, watch, read, and think in ways that allow the imagination to put one person in the shoes of another.
True listening, of the kind Leach espouses is more than hearing. And it is more than listening only to dispute. It is listening to understand, even if we disagree. The most black and white explanation is rarely the one that allows for natural complexities of human motivation. The seemingly fragile mental state of the 22-year old alleged gunman has emerged quickly as has the relationship between rhetoric and violent action. In light of this, it seems appropriate not to point blame but to tone down the rhetoric and try to listen so that we can attempt to understand how and why this happened and also how to better prevent it in the future. Furthermore, it’s worth noting that not all motivations are political.
Why do you think there is a need to look beyond the perpetrator of the crime in assigning blame?
SFCG President and VP Honored by University for Peace
Dr. Amr Abdalla of the University for Peace with SFCG Founder and President, John Marks and Senior Vice President, Susan Collin Marks.
Search for Common Ground is entering the New Year on a high. On Friday, Searchers in the DC office attended a degree awarding ceremony in which Dr. Amr Abdalla, Professor and Vice Rector of the United Nations affiliated University for Peace presented Honorary Doctorate Degrees from UPEACE to John Marks and Susan Collin Marks. The degrees were given in recognition of the impact of their work in peacebuilding and for the work that Search for Common Ground does around the world.
Susan Collin Marks, holding her degree.
“This is the highest honor we could receive,” Susan Collin Marks said upon accepting her degree. “It’s our university and belongs to the world.”
John and Susan accepted their doctorates “with all 500 of our colleagues around the world standing beside us,” saying that all Searchers are now also “Doctors of Peace.”
UPEACE was established in 1980 in Costa Rica under a UN approved charter with the mission of promoting a spirit of understanding, tolerance and peaceful coexistence. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon is the university’s honorary president.
We congratulate John Marks and Susan Collin Marks on their achievement and thank the University of Peace for this high honor.
Similar to the television series that are currently broadcast in Kenya, Liberia, DR Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Palestine and Congo, “Hamro Team” will debut this month in Nepal. The Nepali version of the series was featured in Wave magazine, a magazine popular with both young people in the country and with the diaspora community. “Hamro Team” (Our Team) is about the unique members of a football team and the challenges they face to productively work together despite their differences in a post-conflict environment. Following a period of armed conflict known as the ten-year civil war, a democratic revolution led to the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the two conflicting sides, the Government of Nepal and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists). Nepal still faces challenges ahead as the country works through post-conflict reconstruction.
Hamro Team has an important message but is presented in an entertaining format intertwined with comedy and romance. In this version of the series, the idea of gender equality is embodied in the all-male team’s female coach. When Director Bhusan Dahal is asked why the coach is female, his response is, “Why not?”
“Abinash, one of the three talented scriptwriters says: Hamro Team has more than 15 major characters from different backgrounds and ethnicities. Maintaining the differences and uniqueness of the personalities while uniting them in their specific aim was the toughest part of the writing process. However, I really feel like I’ve grown up as a writer while writing this serial.”
Read the rest of the article at Wave Magazine.
What are other examples of TV series transforming social and cultural attitudes?
A Week in Conflict: January 1st – 7th, 2011
Looking for a quick update of the current news stories from around the world or from a specific region? Check out the link below to view summaries of violence and conflict by region, occurring between January 1st and 7th. This site currently provides information regarding protests in Nigeria, increasing tensions in Côte d’Ivoire, rallies and continuing violence in Pakistan, and Monument defacing in Ukraine among many other stories.
http://apeaceofconflict.com/2011/01/09/this-week-in-conflict-january-1st-7th-2011/
Also, don’t miss this video mapping nuclear experiments that have taken place around the world from 1945 to 1998, which can also be found at the link above in the “World” category.
