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Background The Creators of Peace (CoP) initiative was launched in 1991 at the Initiatives of Change conference centre in Caux, Switzerland by the Hon. Anna Abdallah Msekwa of Tanzania, a respected politician and leader of her country’s women’s organizations. In her inaugural speech, she urged everyone to “create peace wherever we are, in our hearts, our homes, our workplace and our community. We all pretend that someone else is the stumbling block…Could that someone be myself?”
CoP is now a global network of people working on different continents through conferences - Caux, Switzerland ’91 and ’94, India 2001 and Uganda 2005 – and through workshops, personal encounters, community building activities and Peace Circles. A delegation attended the UN Women’s Conference in Beijing (1995).
Aims
To engage women in their role as creators of peace at every level of society
To promote the transforming dynamic of a change of heart, starting with oneself, as a primary tool of peace creation
To pre-empt violence and despair by addressing the roots of conflict, in and around us
To encourage and connect existing practitioners of peace building
To raise awareness of the moral and spiritual prerequisite for effective social action
To build just, caring and inclusive communities for all.
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