The work of peacemaking, while personally rewarding in many ways, is also tremendously demanding to the emotional and practical wellbeing to those who do it. That's why many people choose not to get involved in this work, and for those who do, the dropout rate is high. Designed for the committed peace activist as well as "ordinary" (non-activist) people, this workshop examines the challenges in becoming or continuing on as a peacemaker and focuses on the various aspects of personal and practical support needed to overcome those challenges. Specific topics covered include:
The funding paradigm refers to prevailing attitudes, policies, and structures that determine how money is generally allocated for peace and development programs. With few exceptions, most private and government funding goes to programs that are top-down, short-term (two years or less) and focused on nation-level building of macro political and economic institutions and infrastructure. In contrast, it has always been difficult to get adequate and sustainable funding for bottom-up grassroots peacebuilding at the community level. This workshop examines various aspects of the funding paradigm and focuses on options for generating major financial and political support for grassroots peacebuilding. Specific topics covered include:
CRC joined more than 8,000 fellow peace seekers and nearly 1,000 peace seeking organizations at the Hague Appeal for Peace Conference in the Netherlands. The CRC team consisted of Gary Shapiro and former interns Odilia Gartner and Jody Karr. CRC presented several workshops and organizing sessions, and participated in a panel discussion on "Building Local Capacities for Peace." The conference was held on the 100th anniversary of the Hague Peace Conference of 1899 that was "the first conference of its kind aimed at ending war completely.
CRC led workshops in Peacemaking and Practical Living and Changing the Funding Paradigm. In addition, the CRC team also held an organizing and orientation session on citizen peacebuilding in Kosovo to encourage people to get involved, whether in CRCıs own Community Facilitators Project, or other Kosovo initiatives. CRCıs efforts were well received, according to Shapiro. "The response was very positive. We had several hundred people and they appreciated how we were directly engaged and committed even in the midst of the war raging at this time."
For the past decade or more, CRC has been an active participant in the National Conference on Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution (NCPCR), a biennial gathering exploring innovative approaches to building peace on the local and global levels. This year, with several trouble spots around the world, the conference took on even greater importance.
Coming right after Gary Shapiro's recent trip to Europe and the Balkans, CRC organized and led several presentations discussing the theory and reality of peacebuilding efforts where intense social conflict has occurred. One presentation addressed the issue of how non-governmental peacebuilding groups can work with non-traditional partners, such as the United Nations and the military, to collectively achieve mutual goals. Other sessions expanded upon topics previously presented at the Hague Conference, including Changing The Funding Paradigm and Peacemaking and Practical Living.
An abridged version of CRC's Neighborhood Facilitators program was also presented. "Basically, we crammed 10 days of training into one day." Shapiro said. Additionally, CRC organized and facilitated nightly meetings about Kosovo. We gave people a chance not only to express their feelings, but also to begin to come together and coalesce around specific initiatives, ranging from peace walks to humanitarian aid to training to advocacy in Congress."
From time to time, CRC organizes public discussions and get-togethers in its own community of Montpelier and Central Vermont. These meetings serve the dual purpose of public education and stimulating public interest in specific peacebuilding topics, as well as publicizing and inviting support for CRC programs. As our work progresses, we'll keep you posted of events and community outreach through mailings to those within our local area and notices on our web page. If you would like to include CRC in an upcoming event, we would love to hear from you.
In November 1998, CRC held a one-day get-together in Montpelier, Vermont to review and elicit comment on our previous work in Bosnia, to discuss several local and international initiatives on the CRC drawing board, facilitate partnerships with related programs of other organizations, and explore ways to encourage greater participation in peacebuilding activities from ordinary citizens, regardless of their skills and background.
In May 1999, CRC organized a public event, also in Montpelier, Vermont to discuss grassroots peacebuilding in Kosovo. The war was at its peak at that time, with massive NATO bombing and ethnic cleansing. Public debate, by and large, was very polarized, Most public attention was focused on supporting or stopping the war through advocacy and political action on the national policy level. CRC, on the other hand, invited people -whatever their political views - to think about the postwar needs and goals of the people of Kosovo and how the Kosovars themselves could rebuild their communities and create a long-term sustainable peace, from the bottom up. The session also explored ways to support and participate in CRC's Community Facilitators Project, which was in the early planning stages at that time.