FEATURE | 21 Sept 2022
Why inclusivity matters
Perspectives from our staff on International Day of Peace 2022
Including all groups of society is essential to achieving peace. On this year’s Peace Day, we take a closer look at inclusivity in peace processes.
International Day of Peace is celebrated around the world on 21 September. The holiday was established by the United Nations in order to provide a globally shared date for all humanity to commit to and strengthen the ideals of peace above all of our differences.
As a peacebuilding organisation, our goal is to bring people in conflict together to support dialogue and learning processes that inspire new perspectives to address conflicts, and ultimately to resolve them. In that vein, we would like to commemorate this day by highlighting a crucial and often overlooked aspect of peacebuilding processes: inclusivity.
We define inclusivity as “the degree of access to important decision-making areas for all levels and sectors of state and society.” We believe this is essential in order to increase ownership by all and to alleviate exclusion of marginalised groups during peace processes.
Inspired by this year's theme “End Racism. Build Peace.”, we asked experts from different teams within our organisation why it is important that there is a seat for everyone at the table, and how designing inclusive processes helps facilitate long-term sustainable peace.
Take a look at their responses:
Andrew Gilmour, Executive Director
Nura Detweiler, Project Manager, Network for Faith-Based Mediators
Next up is Grace who is involved in our work with female ex-combatants. She explains why #inclusivity is essential for taking into consideration the victim's perspectives based on her #peacebuilding projects in #Uganda. #PeaceDay2022 #PeaceDay pic.twitter.com/1gUu6rafxw
— Berghof Foundation (@BerghofFnd) September 21, 2022
Grace Arach, Executive Director, Foundation for Women Affected by Conflicts (FOWAC), Uganda
Talal Zeid, Junior Project Manager, MENA Unit
Maria, who works on political #inclusivity with our #Lebanon team, shares why it is important to include the perspectives of all parties involved in a conflict in order to bridge the gap between differing world views. pic.twitter.com/ISlqKD2iRd
— Berghof Foundation (@BerghofFnd) September 21, 2022
Maria El Sammak, Junior Project Manager, Lebanon Team
Véronique Dudouet, Senior Advisor, Conflict Transformation Research
Why do you think inclusivity is important, both in peace processes and in everyday life? Let us know by leaving a comment on our Twitter.
Media contact
Florian Lüdtke
Media and Communications Manager
+49 (0) 177 7052758
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