Initiatives of Change - Contributions to Reconciliation

Current Contributions to International Trust and Reconciliation

Today, Initiatives of Change (IofC) attempts to build a culture of integrity, leading to trust and conflict prevention, through dialogues, trust-building workshops, education, campaigns and training programmes. Through these activities, key individuals in conflict situations develop a greater capacity to act with ethical responsibility. Current examples of trust and reconciliation programs with international implications include:

Africa

Somalia: Conducted numerous trust-building workshops and seminars in Sweden, UK and Switzerland, involving leaders of different clans, both from within Somalia and from the Diaspora. Over the last 13 years significant reconciliations have taken place, involving dozens of key personalities.

Burundi: Conducted three reconciliation workshops in the international centre of Initiatives of Change in Caux, Switzerland, during 2003 and 2004. These involved leaders from all major factions in the conflict.

Sierra Leone: Trust-building seminars for training senior police and military officers. Reintegration programs for former RUF rebels and dialogues between former members of the RUF and CDF, conducted by Hope Sierra Leone, a chapter of IofC.

Ghana: Chieftaincy and land disputes had resulted in periodic violent clashes over the years. In 2003, IofC brought together disputants in the town of Bortianor.

Democratic Republic of Congo: In 2002 and 2003, IofC coordinated interfaith and inter-ethnic activities, and programs, in and around Lubumbashi.

Japan / Korea

Focus on acknowledging and healing wounds arising from history. IofC has inspired senior level exchanges involving parliamentarians, business leaders and others.

Middle East

Israel / Palestine: Conferences, workshops and inter-faith dialogues involving Israelis and Palestinians from different sectors, mainly in Caux, Switzerland.

Lebanon: IofC has worked for many years to build bridges between the different religious communities. Caux conferences under the theme ‘Agenda for Reconciliation’ have often involved groups with a mixture of religious from Lebanon. Some of these conferences have led to significant reconciliations that paved the way for fresh constructive initiatives in Lebanon.

Muslim-Non-Muslim Dialogues in Switzerland ’02 and Morocco ’04. Amman scheduled for ’06 or ’07. Designed to deepen understanding between academics, diplomats, religious leaders, politicians and young people from Muslim, Christian and Jewish communities.

Oceania

Australia: Behind the scenes support role – for over 50 years – for national and state processes towards Reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Including informal strategic work for the Journey for Healing that included National Sorry Day public Rallies for Reconciliation which engaged the participation of hundreds of thousands of Australians.

Papua New Guinea: Engagement over six decades. Recently conducted forty workshops at the village level about turning enemies into friends, living in right relationships within families and communities, and grassroots development programs.

Solomon Islands and Fiji: Intensive trust-building conferences and workshops conducted in ’04 and ’05 designed to resolve tribal conflicts, address underlying corruption, and lay a basis for lasting peace through reconciliation.

Southeast Asia

Cambodia and Vietnam: Conducting multi-sector reconciliation dialogues between Cambodians and Vietnamese.

North America

Canada: Through its Partners in Reconciliation program, IofC conducts dialogues and bridge-building workshops between First Nations, English, French and other ethnic communities, as well as between faiths.

United States: Through its Hope in the Cities program, IofC seeks to create just and inclusive communities through reconciliation among racial, ethnic and religious groups based on personal and institutional transformation. Based in Richmond, Virginia, Hope in the Cities has set out to establish ‘an honest conversation on race, reconciliation and responsibility'. It is working to create racial partnerships for reconciliation in a dozen American cities, and training dialogue facilitators in inter-racial community initiatives. Urban leaders and activists from cities in Britain, Brazil, South Africa, Australia and other countries are also participating in Hope in the Cities programs internationally.