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Global Update

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GLOBAL UPDATE is a printable newsletter created twice a year by Initiatives of Change-International. Each edition contains the latest news from around IofC, upcoming events and stories about people ‘addressing world needs, starting with themselves’. If you are signed in, email subscriptions are available via the 'My Account/mailing lists' link in the left hand column. If you are not a site member, then please register here to subscribe.

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Global Update May 2013

The second edition of Global Update in its new format, now produced once a month. It contains news from South Sudan, Australia, Nigeria, Ukraine, Kenya, DR Congo and Switzerland. There are also listed various opportunities to volunteer with IofC in different parts of the world. Read online here

Global Update April 2013

Welcome to the first of our new-style Global Update.There is news of the South Sudan Initiative and also the Workshop for Africa, plus news of the first Creators of Peace circle in South Sudan. News also comes from India, the Netherlands, UK, Indonesia and the Ukraine.
Read online here

Global Update No 33: December 2012

Issue 33 reports on two renowned peacemakers from Nigeria, Imam Ashafa and Pastor James Wuye, responding quickly following a bomb blast in the Nairobi suburb of Eastleigh, leading prayers at the scene of the blast and calling on the community 'not to make the same mistakes that have been made in Nigeria'. There is also news of the annual Metropolitan Richmond Day forum organized by IofC's Hope in the Cities programme, Farmers’ Dialogue International being launched as an international association in Kenya, and news from Syria and India. People Building Trust reports on Initiatives of Change adopting a Framework for Common Action, which aims to sharpen IofC’s focus into more effective, consistent and credible action as a global team.
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Global Update No 32: August 2012

Issue 32 reports on the fifth Caux Forum for Human Security. Kevin Rudd, former Prime Minister of Australia and two leading Aboriginals spoke about the processes of healing springing from Rudd’s public apology presented at the opening of parliament in 2008 to the ‘stolen generations’ of children forcibly removed from their families. There is also news of the 2012 School for Changemakers in Liverpool Hope University, UK, plus news from Uganda, Burundian leaders meeting in Caux, the Rio +20 Earth Summit, the second Istanbul Conference on Somalia and a new Creators of Peace video. In People Building Trust Mike Lowe talks with one of the Lost Boys of South Sudan, David Vincent, who now works for peace.
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Global Update No 31: May 2012

Issue 31 reports on the visit to Chad by Pastor James Wuye, Imam Muhammad Ashafa and Dr Alan Channer, invited by the United Nations as part of a bid by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to build skills in mediation and peace-building amongst a newly-forged network of Chadian mediators. There is also news of a visit by the Africa Coordination Group to Tanzania and Burundi, plus news from Switzerland, Creators of Peace, and an award for one of the Harambee Leadership Training Programme's alumni. In People Building Trust Suresh Matthew meets some of the Egyptians who are working to build trust amid the fires of revolutionary change.
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Global Update No 30: March 2012

Issue 30 reports on the Eastern Africa Youth Conference, which took place in Uganda 8-12 February. The conference closed with a call for the youth to be ambassadors for peace from the Prime Minister of Bunyoro Kitara, one of Uganda's four traditional kingdoms. A forum in London brought together some 100 community and faith leaders and representatives of non-governmental organisations to discuss the theme After the Riots: From Blame to Positive Action. There is also news of a new video about the Caux Scholars Program, plus news from the UK, Switzerland and Brazil. In People Building Trust there is a report on the Making Democracy Real dialogue which took place in India 8–12 January.
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Global Update No 29: January 2012

Issue 29 reports on the sixth annual conference of Caux Initiatives for Business (CIB), Asia Pacific regional group, held in India in November. The Harambee Leadership Training Programme took place in Nigeria, with participants working alongside Pastor Wuye and Imam Ashafa, who feature in the film The Imam and the Pastor. There is also news from South Africa, the United States and Rwanda. In People Building Trust Mike Lowe talks to the new President of Initiatives of Change, Dr Omnia Marzouk, who feels called to heal and to build trust.
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Global Update No 28: November 2011

Issue 28 reports on the 2011 Caux conferences focussing on the human dimension, with over 1,200 people from all over the world taking part. There is also news from Nepal, where IofC’s Creators of Peace initiative recently expanded, Kenya, the UK and also Australia, who recently hosted the 17th in a series of Asia Pacific Youth Conferences. In People Building Trust Mary Ella Keblusek reports on The Trust Factor, a series of panels, dialogues, workshops and other events held in venues throughout Washington DC from 10 to 15 October. The events brought together a diverse group of people from Washington and beyond to explore the need for trust in politics, race, economics and religion.
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Global Update No 27: July 2011

Issue 27 reports on a 24-year old Ladakhi Buddhist monk, Jigmet Basgo, this year’s President of the Ladakhi Students Union in Varanasi, taking the initiative to organize a two-day Initiatives of Change workshop for students in the northern Indian city of Leh. Ahtsham Ali, Muslim advisor for Her Majesty’s Prison Service and President of the Islamic Society of Britain, has said that frustration with injustice is one of the root causes of extremism. There is also news from Rwanda, Canada, Romania and the UK. In People Building Trust Mike Brown talks to Joseph Wainaina, whose home was burned down and relatives killed in Kenya’s ethnic violence. Wainaina wanted revenge. Now he ‘does peace’ criss-crossing the land building trust at the grassroots level.
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Global Update No 26: May 2011

Issue 26 reports on young British Muslims offering a contribution to the review of the Preventing Violent Extremism policy, with the launch of a ‘Learning to be a Peacemaker’ programme in the UK in Parliament on Tuesday 22 March before an audience including Members of both Houses of Parliament. The peacemaking work of Nigerians Imam Muhammad Ashafa and Pastor James Wuye continues to spread ripples around the world. There is other news from Kenya, Sudan, Switzerland and the United States. In People Building Trust Sevérine Chavanne talks to Imad Karam, a Palestinian Muslim who, together with a British Christian, makes films which tell stories of trustbuilding and hope.
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IofC in Brief

Who we are: Initiatives of Change (IofC) is a world-wide movement of people of diverse cultures and backgrounds, who are committed to the transformation of society through changes in human motives and behaviour, starting with their own.

 

Purpose: We work to inspire, equip and connect people to address world needs, starting with themselves, in the areas of trustbuilding, ethical leadership and sustainable living.

 

 

Omnia Marzouk, President, IofC International
'Nothing lasting can be built without a desire by people to live differently and exemplify the changes they want to see in society.'