Posts Categorized: Featured

Celebrating and Nurturing Women’s Leadership in Peacebuilding – Malindi Reflection

Thank you for your leadership.

These words, spoken by a Kenyan woman peacebuilder, both gladdened and surprised me – gladdened because it’s always nice to have someone affirm a positive contribution they feel I’ve made; surprised because my focus had been on serving, not leading.

She spoke at the conclusion of a five-day retreat whose theme was Celebrating and Nurturing Women as Peacebuilders. Co-convened by Catalyst for Peace and Green String Network, ….Keep reading this post >

From Peace to (People-Centered) Development – tracing the journey

Catalyst for Peace’s work with Fambul Tok in Sierra Leone has shifted from its initial focus on post-war community reconciliation. As we have written about elsewhere, building on the lessons of that work, we are focused now on creating spaces for communities to lead in their own development, supported by an inclusive governance infrastructure. Simply stated, the work has moved from peacebuilding to development (and inclusive governance) – while still ….Keep reading this post >

Growing Inclusive Governance Nationally: A learning and planning retreat in N. Ireland

In the last week of March, Catalyst for Peace and our partner Fambul Tok moved further towards partnership with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development in Sierra Leone to help grow inclusive governance throughout Sierra Leone. Together with Ulster University, CFP, FT and the Ministry convened a gathering in N. Ireland to imagine and think through how to design and operationalize a national policy that would support a truly ….Keep reading this post >

Wake Up Sierra Leone Interview – The People’s Planning Process

In November, Catalyst for Peace and Fambul Tok hosted an Inter-District Learning and Sharing Conference – Growing Inclusive Governance in Moyamba, Sierra Leone. The conference consolidated learnings from the People’s Planning Process (PPP). The PPP started as a post-Ebola recovery and planning initiative. It soon became the foundation of District-wide efforts to put communities at the center of peace and development with support from local and national government and organizations. The conference created a ….Keep reading this post >

We are ALL “outsiders” …and all “insiders”

We don’t see sustainable peace being led from the bottom-up, or from the top-down–but rather, from the inside-out.

Making visible the concentric circles of roles in the peacebuilding system, and the international aid system more generally, allows us to see the multiple points of action and impact, and the complete set of relationships, necessary for sustainable peace. Each level is important, and interconnected.

In our approach, we examine relationships between each level ….Keep reading this post >