The document describes the work of the Peace Appeal Foundation, which was founded in the late 1990s to support peacebuilding and peace education globally. It outlines the Foundation's values, which were inspired by Nobel Peace Laureates and include justice, nonviolence, dignity, and reconciliation. It then discusses the Foundation's areas of support, highlighting "Common Spaces" - innovative Track 1.5 initiatives that serve as safe spaces for dialogue in countries experiencing conflict, like Sri Lanka, Nepal, Lebanon, and Burma. These Common Spaces play an important role in supporting formal negotiations and political change through confidential multi-stakeholder discussions.

1. Peace Appeal Foundation
P.O. Box 4503
Charlottesville, VA 22905
United States
www.peaceappeal.org
Peace Appeal
Foundation

2. Table of Contents
Introduction ……………………………………………………………….. . 1
Values …………………………………………………………………………. . 3
Areas of Support ……………………………………………….………… . 6
Common Spaces …………………………………………….………… 6
National Dialogues …………………………………….…….…..… 12
Reconciliation ………………….….………………………………… 15
Peace Changemakers ………….………………………….………. 17
Shared Knowledge and Peace & Dialogue Platform .… 18
Children’s Voices ………………………………………..……..…… 22
Timeline ………………………………………………………..…………... 24
Partners ………………………………………………………..…….……. 25
Introduction The seeds of the Peace Appeal Foundation can be traced to a group of
Nobel Peace Laureates, artists, activists and peacemakers who in 1997
engaged all living Nobel Peace Laureates in issuing an appeal to the
Heads of State of all the member countries of the United Nations known
as the Appeal of the Nobel Peace Laureates for Peace and Nonviolence for
the Children of the World. The Appeal was one of the formative
initiatives leading to the declaration by the United Nation's General
Assembly of the International Year for the Culture of Peace in 2000, and
then the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for
the Children of the World from 2001-2010. One of the early efforts of the
Year and the Decade was the drafting of the Manifesto 2000 for a Culture
of Peace and Non-Violence in which several Nobel Laureates attempted
to translate the resolutions of the United Nations into everyday language
to make them relevant to people everywhere. The Manifesto attracted
over 50 million signatures according to UNESCO.
To support the implementation of the Appeal, the UN Declarations, and
the Manifesto, the Appeal of the Nobel Peace Laureates Foundation was
launched in France, South Africa, Sweden and the United States.
The main focus and approach of Appeal of the Nobel Peace Laureates
Foundation is to support innovative peace building and peace education
programs globally. The support of the Appeal to regional and national
processes has evolved substantially over the past 17 years, and in 2005
the name was changed to the Peace Appeal Foundation. To date, the
Peace Appeal has supported peace, dialogue and negotiations processes
in the Balkans, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Lebanon, Burma, Syria, Palestine &
Israel, Colombia, and in Cyprus.
The initial founding and mandating members of the Peace Appeal
Foundation were:
Nelson Mandela
F.W de Klerk
Mairead Maguire
Adolfo Esquivel
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3. Michael Nobel
Hannes Siebert
Fr. John Dear
James Michael Wine
Colin Vivian Jones
Mission
The mission of the Peace Appeal Foundation is to assist national
stakeholders in the design and implementation of peace and national
change processes. The aim of this work is to achieve agreed, fair and
just outcomes, ending violent political conflict.
Approach
The Peace Appeal Foundation works by invitation. In collaboration with
local and international partners, we work with and support
stakeholders in their development of peace and national change
processes that are long-term and multifaceted. These processes involve
a multiplicity of interdependent individual and institutional actors,
initiatives and ideas, a veritable "ecosystem of peace building."
Values In our work we have drawn inspiration from the lives of our founding
members and the many pioneering partners and peacemakers that work
tirelessly for peace in their countries. The following values, beliefs and
practices are evident in the work of our partners and initiatives we
support – a list that will always be a work in progress – but one which
reflects the shared sense of purpose which is the touchstone of our
collective effort:
Justice, Honesty and Fairness
“Truth is not mere abstraction, but
something to be done; and is only
apprehended when this is realized. It is
this concrete work… that will lead to the
process of liberation of our people."
– Adolfo Esquivel
Equality Among All People
“The idea that any people can be inferior to another, to the point where
those who consider themselves superior define and treat the rest as
subhuman, denies the humanity even of those who elevate themselves
to the status of gods.”
- Nelson Mandela
Economic and Social Justice and the Elimination of Poverty
"Peace does not fare well where poverty and deprivation reign.
Repression, injustice and exploitation are inimical with peace. Peace is
gravely threatened by inter-group fear and envy and by the unleashing
of unrealistic expectations." - FW DeKlerk
Equal and Dignified Participation in All Forms for Representative
Governance
“To enable consensus politics to develop we need to empower people
where they live. This means devolving financial resources and power
down to the community level. One of the greatest blocks to movement is
fear. This fear can only be removed when people feel their voices are
being heard by government and when they have a say in their own lives
and communities.” - Mairead Maguire
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4. Active Non-violence
“Non-violence demands creativity.”
-Mairead Maguire
Tolerance, Forgiveness and Restorative Justice
"The central concern is the healing of breaches, the redressing of
imbalances, the restoration of broken relationship, a seeking to
rehabilitate both the victim and the perpetrator, who should be given
opportunity to be reintegrated into the community he has injured by his
offense."
- Desmond Tutu
Knowledge-based and Inclusive
Dialogue of All Concerned Actors and
Those Affected by Conflict
“If you want peace, you don't talk to your
friends. You talk to your enemies.”
-Desmond Tutu
“Transformative dialogue requires moral
imagination, an intentional openness to the possibility of reaching out
beyond the self to other. Sustainable peacebuilding/making should be
about strengthening the immune system not pumping anti-bodies
that creates dependencies.”
–Hannes Siebert
Human Dignity
“Every peace process requires, as an essential ingredient, the
restoration of dignity and fundamental rights. If our 'freedom' and
'privilege' put others in bondage, then what we have is an illusion and
irresponsible.” - Hannes Siebert
Acknowledging Our Interdependence (Ubuntu)
“Ubuntu - the profound sense that we are human only through the
humanity of others; if we are to accomplish anything in this life it will in
equal measure be due to the work and achievements of others.”
– Nelson Mandela
Protection of Children
“…It is the innocent - and particularly the
children – who are the main victims of
conflicts…we owe it to the children of the
world to stop the conflicts and to create
new horizons for them. They deserve
peace…” – FW DeKlerk
Freedom of Belief, Expression, Association and Access to
Information and Knowledge
“For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way
that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”
-Nelson Mandela
“We must be ready to learn from one another, not claiming that we
alone possess all truth and that somehow we have a corner on God.”
― Desmond Tutu
Reciprocal Security
“We will never be safe if that safety is "secured" by the price others pay
sacrificing their freedom and dignity.”
– Hannes Siebert
Love, Hope, Faith and Freedom from
Fear
“I learned that courage was not the
absence of fear, but the triumph over it.
The brave man is not he who does not feel
afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”
– Nelson Mandela
“We frail humans are at one time capable of the greatest good and, at the
same time, capable of the greatest evil. Change will only come about
when each of us takes up the daily struggle ourselves to be more
forgiving, compassionate, loving, and above all joyful in the knowledge
that, by some miracle of grace, we can change as those around us can
change too.” -- Mairead Maguire
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5. Areas of Support
Common Spaces
Emerging Innovations in Dialogue and Peace building
"Common Spaces" and Safety Nets
Over the past 15 years we’ve witnessed the emergence of several unique
Track 1.5 initiatives (or Common Spaces) following long periods of civil
wars, governance system failures, political instability, or during
intractable conflicts. They served as “safe spaces” for confidential
dialogues or as support mechanisms and safety nets for formal and
constitutional change processes.
These spaces serve multiple purposes, from hosting confidential
dialogues among leaders in deeply divided societies to supporting
formal negotiations in peace and constitutional reform processes. With
the emergence of these sustained dialogue initiatives following long
periods of civil war or during intractable conflicts, we are witnessing the
creation of groundbreaking joint mechanisms that simultaneously help
catalyze, accompany and support fundamental political and social
change processes in divided societies.
The Peace Appeal Foundation has been privileged to be a partner with,
and technical adviser to, many of these initiatives since their inception,
including Sri Lanka's One Text Initiative, Lebanon's Common Space
Initiative, the Nepal Transition to Peace Institute, the Cyprus Dialogue
Forum and a remarkable seven Common Spaces developing in Burma.
Though each of these spaces is unique, they share multiple attributes. All
are a response to the failures of existing governing bodies and
constitutional frameworks, as well as to the competing interests of and
the breakdown of communication between major stakeholder groups in
their countries.
These spaces host and support various types of joint work aimed at
building common understandings about many of the most divisive,
polarizing issues in their societies. Through knowledge-based dialogues
(as opposed to positional negotiating) these "safe spaces" are designed
to surface new ideas and to develop, through consensus, plans for a path
forward.
The One Text Initiative in Sri Lanka was
founded in 2003 as a confidential multi-
party negotiations process following
the breakdown of the official
negotiations. It has facilitated more
than 120 joint understandings over the
past 13 years and survived seven
governments and a brutal civil war.
Today, it is the only established space for permanent multi-stakeholder
dialogue processes – managed and fully owned by the stakeholders
themselves.
In Nepal, for more than 10 years, the NTTP Forum and its national
facilitators served an essential role when various formal national
negotiations failed, playing a key facilitation role in the country’s
ceasefire negotiations, and the drafting of its historic Comprehensive
Peace Accord. Today, it provides the space where stakeholders,
including top level ministers and civil society representatives, meet to
work jointly on addressing ongoing governing challenges, new emerging
conflicts, and issues related to the implementation of its new
constitution.
The Common Space Initiative in Beirut was created in 2009 to provide
technical support to the formal National Dialogue among Lebanese
political leaders and evolved to support Track 1.5 policy dialogues
among a much broader group of actors. It served as a safety net and
managed to convene all political stakeholders around root cause issues
when the formal talks broke down. The Common Space hosted the
negotiations of the framework and fundamental elements of what
became the Baabda Declaration – Lebanon's policy of dissociation from
the regional conflicts. Today, it supports policy dialogues around
Lebanon's structural issues, local peace building initiatives in Syria, as
well as regional reflections and policy dialogues among stakeholders in
the Arab world.
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6. In Burma, seven Common Spaces have evolved in its various ethnic
states since 2013. They serve as informal dialogue spaces to engage
multiple levels of society in the peace
process, provide support to regional
dialogues and negotiations, and to
support the upcoming formal National
Dialogue, which will include thousands
of participants throughout the country.
These several evolving common spaces,
together with national facilitators, have
played a central role in supporting the drafting of the Nationwide
Ceasefire Agreement, the Deed of Commitment and the common
elements of the Framework for Political Dialogue.
In Cyprus, the relatively new Cyprus Dialogue Forum, located in the
buffer zone, has brought together for the first time 94 organizations,
labor unions and political parties from both the Turkish and Greek
Cypriot communities. It complements the official negotiation of the
island's two presidents by engaging a broader spectrum of the society in
the dialogue, both raising public awareness about the negotiations
process as well as support for the hoped for (and much anticipated)
agreement. The forum has already facilitated numerous common
understandings on issues critical to the success of the negotiations and
peace process.
Each of these dialogues spaces in each of these countries has a
remarkable story to tell. They have generated policy proposals, national
agreements, and fostered constructive relationships leading to
breakthroughs in their countries’ long running conflicts. They have also
struggled against immense odds, from suffering tragic political violence
(including the death and imprisonment of their members in some cases)
to contending with inadequate and occasionally inept international
support.
In the 13 years since the emergence of the first of these common spaces
in Sri Lanka, the idea has taken root in numerous other locales. These
common space structures and associated processes are never the same
in any two instances. Their development is determined by the dynamics
of the conflict, the extent to which relationships between groups within
their societies are broken, the capabilities and failures of existing
constitutional mechanisms, and the innovation of their stakeholders.
These processes represent the best of what national peace building
efforts should entail – locally created, national institutions and
processes that are supported, not directed, by international donors.
Common Space Initiative, Lebanon
The Peace Appeal Foundation serves as a partner of the Common Space
Initiative for Shared Knowledge and Consensus Building (CSI) in Beirut,
Lebanon. The CSI is an independent and inclusive Lebanese initiative. It
facilitates structured dialogues among policy makers, intellectuals,
experts, civil society, stakeholders, and individuals to create an
environment that is conducive to national evolution through enhancing
public policy debates, build expertise and common knowledge resources
on key issues, and collaborate among the concerned national parties.
http://www.commonspaceinitiative.org/
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7. Cyprus Dialogue Forum, Cyprus
The Cyprus Dialogue Forum was created by 98 political parties, unions,
business and civil society organizations from the Greek Cypriot (GC) and
Turkish Cypriot (TC) communities as a response to a need for an
inclusive and permanent space for structured dialogue and knowledge-
sharing in which issues and challenges of common concern can be
addressed. In partnership with the House of Cooperation (GC) and
Humanitarian Relief Mission (TC), the Peace Appeal Foundation and
PRIO (Norway) is providing technical and resource support.
http://www.cydialogue.org/
Nepal Transition to Peace Institute, Nepal
At the request of the major stakeholders, the Peace Appeal Foundation
along with several international donors and agencies, assisted a diverse
group of Nepalese political and civil society leadership in the formation
of the Nepal Transition to Peace Institute (NTTP-I) in 2005. The NTTP-I
helped establish peace structures, supported the development of key
agreements, and assisted in the building of the capacity needed to move
the peace process forward. NTTP-I continues to serve as a robust
support mechanism to ongoing efforts of political reform and the
broader peace process.
http://www.nttpinstitute.org/
One-Text Initiative, Sri Lanka
The Peace Appeal Foundation's work in Sri Lanka focused on assisting
Sri Lankan stakeholders' design and implementation of a confidential
multi-stakeholder dialogue called the One Text Initiative, established in
the wake of the collapse of official Track One negotiations in 2003. As
our involvement in peace efforts in Sri Lanka shifted in 2006, we
undertook several humanitarian initiatives to assist individuals and
communities suffering from the effects of the civil war, particularly
orphaned children, as well as support of inter-religious dialogue and
international diplomatic efforts designed to promote political
reconciliation. To support war-orphans, we created “Children’s Voices”.
https://www.onetext.org/
Pyidaungsu Institute for Peace & Dialogue, Burma / Myanmar
The Institute was founded in 2013 by ethnic and civil society
organizations to work for a just, equitable, democratic and pluralistic
Pyidaungsu (union) in Burma/Myanmar. PI supports and coordinates
the knowledge sharing network of the 7 Burmese “common spaces” that
has evolved over the past three years.
http://www.pyidaungsuinstitute.org
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8. Areas of Support
National Dialogues
People’s uprisings in Asia, Africa, the Americas, parts of Europe, former
Soviet republics, and Middle East over the past three decades have seen
mass people’s movements claiming back their history from autocratic
and oppressive powers and diligently working on change and progress
of their societies from within. As a result of these movements, we have
also witnessed the evolution of inclusive and participatory processes
and mechanisms for change.
Though national dialogues have been used in one form or other for
several centuries, we have seen a profusion of public consultations
and/or political dialogues that go by this name. National dialogues and
constitutional change processes are today taking place or evolving in
Nepal, Burma/Myanmar, Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Lebanon, Morocco,
Jordan, and gradually emerging in Libya, Basque and Syria.
“Lebanon National Dialogue: 2008 – 2014”
Over the past 15 years, the Peace Appeal has provided technical and
facilitation support to formal National Dialogue processes that emerged
after civil wars, people’s uprisings, revolutions, and constitutional
deadlocks.
Our support included support to partners, the UN and national
stakeholders in Nepal, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Tunisia and
Burma/Myanmar.
As change and “self-mediation” processes, National Dialogues have been
highly undervalued, mainly because they are insulated from the outside
(and less susceptible to international intervention), and also because
they usually take an extraordinary amount of time and effort. National
Dialogues are also less directed towards the conclusion of agreements
(only) than is international mediation. Rather, they aim at establishing
an environment for long-term stability, improved relations between
state, community and non-state actors, and open communication
between all of a society’s major actors on issues that divide them or are
of common national interest. The strength of National Dialogues is that
they establish a consistent structure deeply rooted in that society that
becomes the mechanism to address and agree on fundamental
structural change, a new constitutional framework, and a new national
pact.
From our experience accompanying several of these significant dialogue
processes it is evident that these mandated dialogue structures not only
provided new constitutional frameworks, addressing the root causes of
the conflict or constitutional failures; they also served a much broader
function. They served as spaces and instruments for reconciliation,
developing joint visions between former enemies, and slowly evolving
an understanding of the needs, perceptions and perspectives of the
“other”. To the leaders in these transformation processes, carrying the
burden to deliver peace and justice to the people, such peace and
dialogue structures were temporary but essential symbols and
instruments of hope, critical alternatives to armed conflict.
The most effective dialogue and peace structures are the ones carefully
designed by national stakeholders themselves to collectively address
their conflict and broken constitutional instruments. These authentic
structures and common spaces become the “immune system” that
strengthens societies from within.
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9. This info-graphic captures some of the dialogue and mediation
mechanisms in the anatomy of an overall change process. It is a diagram
to facilitate discussion on developing open frameworks for shared
understanding of complex and evolving processes. It is not simply a
linear continuum, but rather a complex, multi-layered and -dimensional
process in which the different stages, presented below, can recur or take
place simultaneously. The change process includes the non-linear
processes prior and following the national dialogue. Various forms of
mediation shown as third-party mediation, self-mediation structures,
inside mediation and local/national peace structures, augment the
change process at critical points. The process is also continuously
reinforced by multitrack dialogue in various sectors and processes
displayed below functioning as safety net mechanisms and support
dialogues to break the political deadlocks.
Areas of Support
Reconciliation
Restoring a nation's humanity
In conflict resolution and peacebuilding circles, reconciliation is a notion
commonly associated with transitional justice; with mechanisms like
Truth and Reconciliation Commissions that are implemented after a civil
war has ended, or after mass atrocities have been committed, and a
nation is attempting to mend social relations within a new, post-conflict
political framework. While it is something of a truism to say that parties
are building relationships as they negotiate, most of us working in the
conflict resolution and peacebuilding fields ultimately imagine
something deeper when we talk of reconciliation.
Although it superficially may appear to some that we have resolved a
conflict and that a peace process is coming to its logical conclusion once
a peace agreement is signed, new leadership is elected, and a new
constitution is adopted, the conflict will manifest itself in new, more
dramatic ways if we turn our backs on the “wounds of the past” and do
not address the root causes of the conflict. Reconciliation ideally occurs
on three, complementary and mutually reinforcing levels:
- relationships marked by at least a measure of trust and respect are
established or restored through constructive dialogue and other positive
interactions;
- structures (social, political, legal and economic) that safeguard basic
rights and promote inclusion and opportunity are created; and
- the psycho-social identities of former adversaries are repaired, in part
through experiences that empower victims and acknowledge their
suffering and that help perpetrators reenter the community of moral
persons.
Individual and social psychological healing is a long-term process that,
for some, likely will not be achieved – the hurt and the pain have gone
too deep.
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10. How does one come to terms with the knowledge that a loved one’s
body was burnt while the perpetrators were having a barbecue, or
buried in a mass grave somewhere, or disposed of in some other
way? What do we say to those who were girls then, and who are now
grown women, who endured multiples rapes and other
abuses? Societies transitioning away from violent conflict eventually
need to hear those stories; they need to understand the brutality of what
we humans are capable of doing to each other. They need to face the
horror of that. Above all, however, they need to be able to tell the
stories of our power to forgive, to rise above the call of many to seek
revenge. They need to tell the stories so that no one dare forget, and
they need to tell the stories that are colored by the grace of forgiveness,
so that another generation or people do not have to suffer the same
violence and indignities.
The Peace Appeal Foundation staff has contributed to the development
of reconciliation principles and processes in South Africa, Nepal,
Lebanon, and Burma, among other places. The goals of establishing
constructive relationships at all levels across a society, developing just
social, political, legal and economic structures, and healing wounds and
repairing damaged individual and group identities guide our work from
context to context. We also serve as co-curators of the resource guide
on reconciliation made available to peacemakers globally through the
Peace and Dialogue Platform.
"True reconciliation exposes the awfulness, the abuse, the hurt, the truth.
It could even sometimes make things worse. It is a risky undertaking but in
the end it is worthwhile, because in the end only an honest confrontation
with reality can bring real healing. Superficial reconciliation can bring
only superficial healing."
– Desmond Tutu, Chairman of South Africa’s TRC
“If the pain has often been unbearable and the revelations shocking to all
of us, it is because they indeed bring us the beginnings of a common
understanding of what happened and a steady restoration of the nation's
humanity.”
- Nelson Mandela, accepting the South African TRC Report
Areas of Support
Peace Changemakers
For the last 15 years, the Peace Appeal has been privileged to work with
extraordinary elders and young peacemakers, whose skills, insights,
empathy and dedication have greatly enhanced the peace processes in
their countries. These women and men continue to serve as key
changemakers in their societies. Several are still working diligently in
their countries’ peace efforts, while others have gone on to work within
the United Nations system, or with respected international non-
governmental organizations supporting peacebuilding across several
continents. In recognition of their contributions, we established the
Peace Changemakers’ Fellowship that provide financial, technical, and
program development support to peacemakers that have developed
groundbreaking and innovative peace initiatives in their countries or
regions. The fellowship continues the Peace Appeal’s tradition of
supporting national facilitators and young peacemakers and build a
growing circle of remarkable change agents working in peace and
conflict resolution globally.
The 2015 Fellowship was awarded to
Singmila Shimrah to support her work with
the Naga ethnic groups participation in the
Myanmar/Burma peace process. The Nagas,
an ethnic community affiliated with several
dozen tribes, live in a largely mountainous
region straddling both Northeast India and
Myanmar/Burma.) Singmila is a remarkable
Naga woman who returned in 2014 to the
region of her birth after pursuing graduate
studies in conflict resolution in the United
States. Singmila work in Myanmar’s Naga areas to assist local
communities and their leaders as they prepare for full participation in
the regional and national ceasefire negotiations and political dialogue.
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11. Areas of Support
Shared Knowledge and
Peace & Dialogue
Platform
The Peace & Dialogue Platform is a collaborative online space and
shared knowledge resource for peace and dialogue processes and
structures. It offers a dynamic platform for joint knowledge creation,
and a structured space to share experiences and capture unfolding
processes.
Aims
• Capture process, technical and thematic knowledge that
emerges out of particular national and regional contexts;
• Provide an inclusive platform that captures diverse narratives
in and from national and regional conflicts;
• Create dynamic and open frameworks to analyze, design and
manage peace and dialogue processes;
• Link national experiences, process knowledge and technical
expertise to bridge the gap between practice and theory
• Deconstruct the power structure of knowledge creation
focusing on the essential source of knowledge emanation from
the processes and stakeholders themselves.
Approach
The platform was created as a resource to those who design, manage or
participate in peace and dialogue processes and structures in their
respective countries. Each country and regional partner on the platform
manages their own “spaces” and has final editorial control to maximize
the use in their specific context and meet their process needs.
Features
Country Profiles
Key documents, interviews, insights
and more, managed by partners who
design, facilitate or participate in peace
and dialogue processes and structures
in their country.
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12. Resource Guides
Insight into national experiences,
thematic and process knowledge. Explore
thematic and process guides that link
national experiences, process knowledge
and technical expertise to bridge the gap
between practice and theory.
Interactive Tools
National Dialogues & Negotiation
Index and Compare Tool
Components / key elements of national
dialogues designed by stakeholders
worldwide.
Dialogue Design Tool
(under construction)
This open framework tool supports stakeholders in the development of
their own dialogue design. The tool suggests questions on elements /
components of national dialogues and generates stakeholders’
responses in a visualized framework.
One Text Negotiation Tool
(Under construction)
This tool facilitates the development of a “One Text Document” through
the comparison of stakeholders’ common ground, their differences and
through the generation of options.
Timeline
Visualized historic and contemporary
national change processes including
events and agreements, key stakeholders
and peace structures.
Facebook
Follow and share latest developments on
change processes worldwide on current
issues from diverse perspectives.
Blog
Discuss and reflect on visualized key data
on peace and dialogue processes
worldwide and on global trends.
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13. Areas of Support
Children’s Voices
• Capturing the voices of children trapped in war, as refugees,
war orphans, forced labor, and child soldiers.
• Protection of children and providing them with safety, shelter
and education during war, conflict, post-conflict, and extreme
conditions of poverty and oppression;
In times of national conflicts, children suffer the most. Children’s Voices
recognizes that while it is necessary to bring the current conflicts to an
end, it is also important to try and ensure that such conflict does not
happen again. To do so, we need to help children to heal, forgive or at
least understand those that caused them harm. Those children that lost
parents, family and support structures because of poverty, abuse and
war, need our urgent support. Orphanages around the world house
thousands of children who do not have parents to guide them and who
do not have proper access to education and opportunities of betterment.
While some of the orphanages are adequately provisioned, others are
sadly lacking in basic necessities. Before a child can learn, a child has to
be fed and clothed. Children’s Voices’ and Peace Appeal South Asia
recognizes this basic need of children in south Asia. Through our ‘Appeal
of the Child’ program we support needy and unsupported children’s
homes with monthly, clothing, toys, books and basic amenities.
The Children’s Voices program supports homes that shelter children
who: lost their parents in war; are victims of human trafficking; been
abused by family members; been forced in child labor; have no family to
take care of them; or are from families that cannot take care of them.
This program is not only about providing material assistance. Children’s
Voices provides a personal support. The staff visits the homes to spend
time with the children, sharing a meal with them, or simply talking,
spending time and playing with them. Children’s Voices hopes to foster
attitudes of understanding, care, empathy and love with the children we
work …which would benefit the war-torn societies we work in.
A group of Nobel Peace Laureates and individuals who in 1997 engaged
all living Nobel Peace Laureates in issuing an appeal to the Heads of
State of all the member countries of the United Nations known as the
Appeal of the Nobel Peace Laureates for Peace and Nonviolence for
the Children of the World. The Appeal was one of the formative
initiatives leading to the declaration by the United Nation's General
Assembly of the International Year for the Culture of Peace in 2000, and
then the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence
for the Children of the World from 2001-2010.
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14. Timeline
1997 — All living Nobel Peace Laureates sign and issue an appeal to the
Heads of State of all the member countries of the United Nations known as
Appeal of the Nobel Peace Laureates for Peace and Nonviolence for the the
Children of the World;
2000 — Declaration by the United Nation’s General Assembly of
the International Year for the Culture of Peace in 2000, and then
International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the the
Children of the World from 2001-2010;
2001 — Support the implementation of the Stability Pact Agreement and
Balkans“diversity program” following the end of the War;
2002 — Support the establishment of the Government of Sri Lanka’s Peace
Secretariat — following the signing of ceasefire agreement with the LTTE;
Sri Lanka2003 — Support the establishment of the confidential Track 1.5
dialogue process, One-Text Initiative — following the breakdown of talks;
2004 — Support the establishment of the Secretariat for Muslims in Sri
Lanka; establish Peace Appeal South Asia to support of war orphans and
confidential dialogues;
Nepal 2005 — Support the negotiations of the Ceasefire Agreement; and the
establishment of Nepal Transitions to Peace Initiative;
2006 — Support the negotiations and drafting of the Nepal Comprehensive
Peace Agreement; and the establishment of the Ministry of Peace and
Reconciliation;
2007 — Support the drafting of the Nepal Truth and Reconciliation Bill;
facilitate the Confidential Negotiations between the Nepal Army and
Maoists’ Army; and support to the All-party Talks;
Lebanon2008 — Support the National Dialogue;
2010 — Support the establishment of Lebanon Common Space Initiative;
Lebanese-Palestinian2011 — Support the establishment of Dialogue
MENAForum; support the development of the Regional Dialogues;
Burmese2012 — Support the Ethnic Armed Groups in the drafting of their
Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement and Political Dialogue Framework;
Yemen2013 — Support the Stakeholders in the development of the Yemen
Dialogue Conference;
Syria 2014 — Support the establishment of the Initiative; support the
Peace and Dialogue Platformdevelopment of the ; support the development
of the annual National Dialogue Conference;
Cyprus2015 — Support the establishment of the Dialogue Forum; support
the finalization of the Burmese Political Dialogue Framework;
Burmese 2016 — Support the Union Conference
Partners
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One-Text Initiative Nepal Transition to Peace Institute