Celine kicked off International Women’s Day with a rally in Nigeria alongside women and girls with disabilities. ‘Inspiring Inclusion’ was to inspire a more inclusive world for everyone. Throughout the day, the message was clear. We must listen to and include the voices of women and girls with disabilities when discussing equality for women.
Peace starts with total acceptance and inclusion.
Our campaign took us to Bogota, Colombia, where Luis had the opportunity to host a roundtable discussion. Through his presentation, he highlighted why local peacebuilders are so vital in achieving sustainable peace. Our five manifesto asks resonated strongly with attendees, sparking engaging discussions. Particularly, about how the peacebuilding funding system affects local actors.
Peace starts with listening to local peacebuilders.
Le chatted to the team at the Online Indian Journal of Peace and Conflict Resolution about Peace Starts Here and her work with minority groups. Le discussed her motivations to focus on issues of marginalisation and intersectionality in Cambodia and beyond. She also reflected on our campaign mission and how we are using the manifesto to push for better support of local peacebuilders when it comes to supporting minority groups. Peace starts with learning from local peacebuilders.
Peace starts with learning from one another.
Nish ran several activities alongside Freedom Studio in Nepal. Creativity has the power to transcend boundaries and inspire change. Nish and his colleagues hosted creativity workshops where the art created will be used for the Anupam Campaign led by the Intergenerational Feminist Forum (IGFF). Freedom Studio and IGFF are working together on this campaign, which is led by feminist around the country, enhancing women’s leadership within governmental position in the next election.
Peace starts with inspiring change.
Luis and Nish presented #PeaceStartsHere at the CIVICUS Digital Action Lab in Nairobi, Kenya. They hosted a co-creation workshop with the attendees and together they explored strategies for local activists to unite in fostering peace within their communities.
Peace starts with sharing experiences with others.
Diana and Anna had a dialogue session with Alliance for Peacebuilding members. Jamila and Nish presented the campaign to The Nippon Foundation. Virtually, they met to discuss the campaign. They discussed how do you define a ‘peacebuilder’ and what peacebuilding looks like in countries going through current crises.
Peace starts with broadening your understandings.
All of our co-creators hosted a Listening and Dialogue Session alongside fellow peacebuilders. Peace Starts Here is for everyone, and so we invited other peacebuilders to join us in a session to further develop our manifesto. Peacebuilders from all over the world came together to share their perspectives, insights, and recommendations for advancing our shared goals. Through open and honest dialogue, we gained valuable feedback and forged new connections to strengthen our collective impact.
Peace starts here.
As we reflect on Peace Starts Here’s first few months of campaigning, we are filled with gratitude for the dedicated individuals and organisations who have joined us on this journey.
