Peace is not just about armed conflict – peace is a general approach we have to challenges facing us; it is, to me, a synonym of hope, hope that we can work for a better future, hope that we will find peers who nurture the same aspiration to positive change. It is a belief that we can address problems in cooperation with others, that the economy can be inclusive and that society can express a form of harmony. It is on such conditions that we can work together towards a common destiny.
Martin Luther King Jr. said, “One of the great liabilities of history is that all too many people fail to remain awake through great periods of social change. Every society has its protectors of status quo and its fraternities of the indifferent who are notorious for sleeping through revolutions. Today, our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change.”
These words have a both deep and practical meaning to me. The film you just saw is precisely about that. Facing the challenge of change is central to the humanitarian work I conduct through my foundation, the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative (WPDI). We build networks of young women and men from places that have been impacted by chronic forms of conflict and to support these young leaders as they develop educational and economic projects in the benefit of their communities.
We work in such places as South Sudan, a country which is currently at war with itself after decades of a liberation war.
We work also in northern Uganda, a region where the memories of the civil war of the last decade are still vivid.
We work in Mexico with young women and men who have grown up in neighborhoods battered by drug wars. I also work in my own country, the United States, where we reach out to children and young people from vulnerable areas.
For so many of these children, war and violence are all they have ever known, and if we do not take it upon ourselves to teach them something new, then they are just soldiers-in-waiting. And when another war breaks out five or ten years in the future, they will be back on the battlefield.
We must act to prevent this. Not only because these children deserve the chance to live normal, healthy lives, but also because we have an opportunity to create change or even prevent future violence. If we can make these children emotionally whole again and restore a sense of normalcy to their lives, then they will want to put down their arms for good.
I see a deep connection between peace and change. Peace always starts from within – for communities and people alike. The same with change: true change starts from within.
This is the path I follow with WDPI: to empower young women and men as social innovators. In their own communities
They have ideas on how to combat poverty and hunger or how to promote quality education and gender equality. They have ideas and we help them make an impact with these ideas.
We see them as partners who help us on the ground to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development goals.
In Uganda, one of our youths was a former child soldier. When we first started working with him, he couldn’t even stay in a room alone. Now he’s established a chain of electrical repair shops and trains other young people how to take on this profession.
Another one of our youths founded a hair salon where she trains hundreds of girls in this profession while she continues to grow her business.
In Mexico, one of our youth groups set up a workshop to teach other youth and children simple ways in which they could help take care of the environment, even from their own home or school. They introduced children and other youths to such issues as reusable energy and recycling. They even designed games that have attracted the attention of a private corporation who now supports their work. This initiative by WPDI young leaders is a good example of combining learning and empowerment in the sense that it is action-oriented.
As citizens, we need to have knowledge on peace, on the human rights as well as on the environment, but we also need to know that we can do something.