Ashoka

Commentary What does climate change have to do with conflict?

Rebecca Sargent looks at how climate change and extreme weather effects peace and security. Climate change creates huge risks for increased conflict, and countering this requires a fundamental shift in the way institutions are organized and the way inter-linkages between organizations are addressed. Read more >>>

Commentary What is Social Entrepreneurship in Peacebuilding?

At Ashoka we’ve been exploring how we can best contribute to the peacebuilding field, we’ve spoken with a broad spectrum of Ashoka Fellows, other innovators and practitioners, academic institutions, and donors. One of the key questions that arise from these conversations is: What does innovation in peacebuilding look like? Or, how can social entrepreneurship help reduce violence? Read more >>>

Commentary 7 tips for fundraising in peace and conflict resolution

One of the biggest challenges in the field of peacebuilding and conflict resolution is finding financial support from donors. Every year, billions of dollars are invested in organizations and institutions that support conflict, whether directly or indirectly. But getting funders to think about peace, not war, is hard since the results are often delayed and connecting projects to their long-term effects can be difficult. There has never been a greater need for investments in development, conflict prevention, and post-conflict reconstruction—all areas that contribute to the promotion and maintenance of peace. Read more >>>

Interview Sisi Ni Amani, ‘peacemapping’ in Kenya

Many of us are familiar with the concept of crisismapping through the work of organizations like Ushahidi. Two students have recently started asking the question: Why only map crisis? Why not also map peace? It seems only natural then that Sisi Ni Amani, a peace-mapping initiative has, like Ushahidi, also come out of Kenya. Read more >>>

From the field Lebanon: cultural heritage as a tool for peace

One result of Lebanon’s civil war was an undermining of sectarian diversity among the country. Violence forced people to be confined to their villages, with few opportunities for interaction with other communities of varying religious sects. As borders and checkpoints were dismantled, psychological barriers remained and people stayed confined to their small towns. As a result, generations have grown up self-identifying solely with their town, village or tribe and countless young have never set foot among Lebanese communities with different backgrounds from their own. Read more >>>

From the field Uganda: swapping guns for running shoes

The Marakwet and the Pokot communities of Kenya, and their cousins the Karamoja of Uganda, are pastoralist communities who inhabit the dry rangelands of the Northern Rift Valley where pastoralism is the major source of livelihood. The presence of government in this region is limited and the availability of state functions such as security and social services is barely existent. Over the years cases of cattle rustling and intercommunity conflicts have led to the loss of thousands of lives and the destruction of property of unknown value. Read more >>>

From the field DR Congo: Making Crafts from War

Hope can make all the difference in a person’s life. One small light of hope can lead people to peace, even in the massive shadow of war. SHONA, which means “sew” in Swahili, started with a simple idea; to give dignity and hope to a handful of handicapped persons living in Goma, in the DR Congo who are normally expected to beg for their subsistence. Read more >>>

From the field Rebuilding the lives of war-affected women

When she was 13 years old, Ashoka Fellow Milly Auma was captured by the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda, and was forced to serve as a the wife of a rebel commander. Eight years later, when she was finally able to escape back to her village with her two children, Milly was met by former friends and neighbors with hostility and fear. The realities she had brought home with her, in the form of both her children and her scars, epitomized everything the residents of her village had been trying to escape. Read more >>>

Commentary Peacebuilding in an interconnected world

While other fields of study, such as biology, computer science, physics and engineering, have used systems theory as a conceptual lens for decades, this type of holistic framework is now increasingly being used by NGOs, academia and policymakers to analyze conflict around the world. Historically, a separatist worldview has dominated U.S. foreign policy (take for instance the “us-versus-them” thinking advocated by past U.S. administrations). In contrast, a worldview based upon systems theory accepts the premise that we are living in a truly interconnected system. (This type of thinking is supported in part by the current administration’s efforts towards multilateral diplomacy. Read more >>>