2017 report promoting peace and sustainable development ... · january: special guest at the world...
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Peacebuilding Initiatives
By Forest Whitaker
UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation
Promoting Peace and Sustainable
Development through Action and Advocacy
2017 Report
“Building peace in the minds of men and women”
UNESCO
Peacebuilding Initiatives
By Forest Whitaker
UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation
Promoting Peace and Sustainable
Development through Action and Advocacy
2017 Report
Table of Contents Foreword
My Mission: To Get Young People to Become Partners in the Promotion of
Lasting Peace and Sustainable Development in their Communities
I. Participation of Forest Whitaker in Key High Level Events in 2017 in His Capacity
as UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation…………………………4
January: Special Guest at the World Economic Forum at Davos 2017
February: Forest Whitaker, supported by SDG Advocates Muhammad Yunus and Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser’s organisations, works with young peacemakers
April: Driving Social Innovation at the Gamechanger Festival 2017 in Vienna
May: Championing African Youth at the World Economic Forum at Durban 2017
May: Joining forces at the Hague with SDG Advocates to call for renewed international efforts to protect education in conflict
June: Forest Whitaker moderates a panel with the Dalai Lama at the invitation of Starkey Hearing Technologies
September: UN Week: SDG Advocates meet with the Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General in New York
September: UN Week: Forest Whitaker and UNESCO Director-General exchange on key challenges and opportunities for
peace and development at the 2017 Concordia’s Annual Summit in New York
September: UN Week: Tribute to the Heroes of the Global Campaign Against Extremism and Intolerance
September: UN Week: Forest Whitaker reads one of Martin Luther King’s historic speeches where it was first delivered, at Riverside Church fifty years ago
September: Forest Whitaker’s work as an artist and social activist in the spotlight at the El Gouna Film
Festival in Egypt
November: Advocating for SDGs at Philanthropy Awards organized by Bank of the West / BNP Paribas
II. Missions as CEO of the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative and UNESCO
Special Envoy…………………………………………..……….…………19
UGANDA
February: Strengthening programs in Uganda
April: Launch of a new deployment of the Youth Peacemaker Network in Acholi sub-region
December: In Northern Uganda, Forest Whitaker and his partners take stock of progress made by WPDI on the ground and welcome a new cohort of future community leaders
SOUTH SUDAN
February: Strengthening programs in South Sudan
April: Expanding the scope of WPDI in South Sudan through a new cohort of youth leaders
April: Forward-looking words of inspiration to the students of Juba University
December: Forest Whitaker inaugurates a new Community Learning Center in South Sudan, signaling a major step in the expansion of WPDI in the country December: Forest Whitaker welcomes a new cohort of young peacemakers in the Western Equatoria of South Sudan
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III. Articles and Blogs from Forest Whitaker Published in his Capacity as UNESCO Special Envoy………………………………………………….…………33
January: From the blog of the World Economic Forum at Davos: “This is what real leadership means to me”
March: On CNN.com: “It’s not too late to save South Sudan”
May: From the blog of the World Economic Forum on Africa at Durban: “How young people can break the cycle of violence”
May: Joint Letter to the Editor of the London Times on the Protection of Education in Conflict
June: From the UN SDG Knowledge Platform: “Investing in ICT access and quality education to promote lasting peace”
September: On Africa.com : Let’s Help the Youth of South Sudan Write Their Own History
November: With UNESCO The role of a lifetime: fostering peace and creativity
IV. Video Messages Recorded for UNESCO and the UN………………………47
February: Forest Whitaker delivers video message on children in armed conflict
September: UN Week: Video message of Forest Whitaker for the International Conference on Sustainable Development
September: Forest Whitaker dedicates a video message on International Peace Day to the peoples and the youth of
South Sudan
V. Awards Received in 2017 for his Work as UNESCO Special Envoy and CEO of the
Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative………………………………….49
January: 2017 Crystal Award at the 47th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum
April: 4GAMECHANGER Of The Year Award at the Vienna 4GAMECHANGER Festival
VI. Youth Trained by WPDI in the Spotlight……………………………..….51
WPDI Peacemaker participates in 10th UNESCO Youth Forum to brainstorm on new avenues to peace and
sustainable development
UNESCO Courier: The story of Magdalena—South Sudan
VII. WPDI’s Partnerships……………………………..………………….53
VIII. Translating Our Ideals Into Concrete Action…………………………..55
A. Activities on the ground in South Sudan Testimonies from South Sudan B. Activities on the ground in Uganda Testimonies from Uganda C. Activities on the ground in Mexico Testimony from Mexico D. Activities on the ground in United States
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Foreword
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My mission: to get young people to become partners in the promotion of lasting
peace and sustainable development in their communities
When communities have been touched by darkness, when they have been shattered by violence or poverty, their energy must be rekindled from within. For these communities, recovery is always possible, but never inevitable.
I founded the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative (WPDI) to strengthen my work on the ground as UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation with the mission of promoting peace at the global level and facilitating peacebuilding and reconciliation in parts of the world impacted by conflict. Through WPDI, I seek to bring women and men together and to empower them to become peace leaders and agents of positive transformations in their countries and communities. I believe that young people, so often entrapped in destructive cycles of violence, have in fact the passion and creativity to lead their communities down a different path, one of peace and sustainable development. If we can connect these young women and men to each other and channel their collective energy to be a force for good, their sparks will come together to create a fire that will drive out even the most impenetrable darkness.
My teams and I are proud to work jointly with UNESCO in Mexico, Uganda, South Sudan, and the United States. In these countries, we develop on-the-ground program to:
• Empower a new generation of peacebuilders with trainings in conflict resolution, computers and technology, entrepreneurship, and life skills.
• Harness the potential of the Internet and mobile technology to connect individuals and communities.
• Establish Community Learning Centers to bring Internet connectivity and continuing education to fragile communities in Uganda and South Sudan.
• Build social networks to empower young people as peace leaders who can disseminate values of tolerance and reconciliation.
• Mobilize international and local partners who can provide expertise in conflict resolution.
• Support young women and men in the design and development of income-generating projects through the provision of grants, continuous trainings and networking opportunities.
I. Participation of Forest Whitaker in key high level events in 2017 in his capacity as
UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation and UN Advocate for the SDGs
Among his roles as UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation, one of the key missions of Forest Whitaker is to champion the values of UNESCO and to heighten its visibility in important international events.
January: Special Guest at the World Economic Forum at Davos 2017
Forest Whitaker actively contributed to the 2017 session of the Davos World Economic Forum, notably at its opening, when he received the Crystal Awards for the leadership in peacebuilding and conflict-resolution he has demonstrated throughout the years. Forest Whitaker participated in a series of events and interviews some of them livestream. The Forum as a whole presented him with a unique opportunity to showcase the work of his Foundation as well as to promote innovative approaches to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
Established in 1971 as a not-for-profit foundation by Klaus Schwab, the World Economic Forum engages the foremost political, business and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. The 47th Annual Meeting convened from 17 to 20 January 2017, under the theme “Responsive and Responsible Leadership”, on which Forest Whitaker published a tribune on the website of the Forum.
On Monday 16 January, he received the prestigious Annual Crystal Awards, which honours artists whose important contributions are improving the state of the world and who best represent the “spirit of Davos”. The award was given to him for the leadership in peacebuilding and conflict-resolution he has demonstrated throughout the years, notably by empowering youth as leaders and entrepreneurs in communities touched by violence and poverty. The two other awardees were violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and singer/songwriter Shakira.
After the award ceremony, Mr Whitaker participated with Shakira in the media reception in their capacity as SDGs Advocate. Mr Whitaker presented to more than 100 journalists his concrete actions on the ground towards peace and security.
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Mr. Whitaker also shared his experiences as artist and humanitarian and his vision for peace in a number of events, press interviews and sessions.
Mr. Whitaker was interviewed live on his artistic and humanitarian careers by Tany Bryer of CNBC Europe. (http://www.cnbc.com/live-tv/?trknav=navigation:livetv:watch-cnbc-tv:100563680).
He also participated in the interactive panel session “The New Lead Characters”. At this session, other artists including choreographer Jin Xing (China), producer Karan Johar (India) and Filmmaker Haifaa Al Mansour (Saudi Arabia) spelled their views on the diversity and complexity of our world. The session is available onwatch on the Forum’s Youtube Channel.
Forest Whitaker engaged as well in a one-on-one conversation with BBC World News presenter Zeinab Badawi. Through a provocative interview, Mr Whitaker was able to elaborate on fostering peace and reconciliation in disadvantaged and fragile communities around the globe.
Mr Whitaker also participated as a keynote speaker in the session on the Future of Humanitarian Response. Here are the key highlights from the humanitarian discussions:
Shifting the narrative on public-private collaboration: there exist great opportunities to grow collaboration that goes beyond corporate social responsibility (CSR) and philanthropy to delivering value both to people in need and to the private sector.
Leveraging technology and data responsibly: there has been a large increase in “digital humanitarianism” in recent years. The constraint is not the technology, but a number of legal and policy issues.
Understanding the connected refugee: delivering connectivity to all is essential for informed and effective responses. Better connectivity has the potential to put crisis-affected people at the heart of humanitarian response.
Applying innovative financing approaches: further exploration of new models – from Islamic Finance to impact investment and social impact bonds – that secure long-term financing is required.
Mr Whitaker did some additional interviews with Reuters, the Wall Street Journal, CNBC “Squawk Box”, etc.
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February: Forest Whitaker, supported by SDG Advocates Muhammad Yunus and Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser’s organisations, works with young peacemakers
On 06 – 10 February 2017, Forest Whitaker hosted, through his foundation, the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative (WPDI), a week-long workshop for young peacemakers from Uganda and South Sudan, partnering with foundations and organisations founded by fellow Advocates Muhammad Yunus and Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser.
Young peacemakers trained and supported by WPDI gathered in February in Uganda to participate in workshops to reinforce their capacities as mediators and entrepreneurs. The workshop benefited from the expertise and contribution of Yunus Social Business, an initiative of Muhammad Yunus, Education Above All (EAA), founded by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, and UNESCO. The participants learned a unique mix of conflict resolution, personal development, Information and Communication and business/project management skills, as well as learning about the SDGs.
“The young people we are gathering at this training have been active peace leaders for some time now through our Youth Peacemaker Network program. They have already accomplished a lot for their communities,” said SDG Advocate Forest Whitaker. “This week is not just about teaching them things they do not know. It is also a time for us to listen to them, to learn from their stories. As they grow in confidence and experience, I feel that I receive more and more from them.”
During the week, the workshop featured lectures and interactive sessions run by WPDI on conflict resolution and business skills, as well as a session on life skills led by Forest Whitaker. In addition a representative of Yunus Social Business taught participants the principles of social business and provided concrete examples of how they can improve livelihoods for youth. EAA through its Protect Education in Insecurity and Conflict (PEIC) initiative, held workshops on international law and the protection of education, and together WPDI and UNESCO taught the SDG framework to help the young leaders identify how they can contribute to the global goals through their community projects and reach out to stakeholders for their support.
The young peacemakers left the training with greater mediation and entrepreneurial skills, further empowered to transform their communities from the inside.
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April: Driving Social Innovation at the Gamechanger Festival 2017 in Vienna
Forest Whitaker participated in the Gamechanger Festival 2017 to exchange on the issue of
refugees and the work of WPDI to empower young refugees in Uganda with his partner, Híkmet
Ersek, CEO of Western Union, and Sebastian Kurz, Austria’s Foreign Affairs Minister.
The Festival was an opportunity to showcase the work Forest Whitaker initiated with the Western
Union Foundation to empower young women and men residing in a settlement for refugees in
Kiryandongo Uganda. WPDI and Western Union Foundation decided to join forces in the benefit
of refugees in Uganda because the country is currently host to more than 800.000 people who
have fled from South Sudan since 2013 – and 400.000 since July 2016, when the civil war was
taken to new record levels of violence. Since WPDI already runs projects for internally displaced
people in South Sudan and has youth programs in northern Uganda, it was a logical move to
initiate work benefiting South
Sudanese youth in Uganda, a
country, which also has open
policies towards refugees and
favors innovative solutions in this
domain.
As a stage designed to showcase
innovation, notably through
information and communication
technology, the Gamechanger
festival provided a unique
opportunity to exchange on such groundbreaking projects as the Youth Peacemaker Network,
which equips young people with peacebuilding, ICT and entrepreneurship skills as well as mobile
technology so they can actively promote peace and reconciliation in their communities. A key
aspect of the project is indeed that young people are in the driving seat and develop their own
educational and business projects to benefit other youth of their community. They are the
partners, not just the beneficiaries of the program.
Forest Whitaker notably hold a conversion on the issue of refugees with Híkmet Ersek, CEO of
Western Union, Sebastian Kurz, Austria’s Foreign Minister, and innovators from the Austrian
business scene. In his keynote address, he said: “If no one cares for the physical and psychological
well-being of young refugees, then we allow in them the seeds of resentment and violence to be
sown, and we will only reap more conflict and war in the next generation. When women and
children are disenfranchised and abused, when men and boys are idling in neglect, peace is in
danger. […] We must help them wherever they are. It can be Syria, where some 11 million people
have fled their homes since the outbreak of the civil war in 2011. It can be Colombia, where the
decades of civil war have internally displaced nearly 7 million people. It can be South Sudan,
where nearly 3 million people have been forced out of their homes since 2013 by civil war,
including more than 1.8 million internally
displaced and 1.1 million seeking refuge in
neighboring countries.”
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“When women and children are disenfranchised and
abused, when men and boys are idling in neglect,
peace is in danger.”
Forest Whitaker in Vienna, Austria
May: Championing African Youth at the World Economic Forum at Durban 2017
Forest Whitaker delivered his strong message on the eminent role young people should have in all decisions of concern to them and their communities at the 27th edition of the World Economic Forum on Africa (WEF Africa) where he participated on 4-5 May 2017. The WEF Africa is the regional edition of the World Economic Forum held every year in Davos, Switzerland.
Organized this year in Durban in partnership with the Government of the Republic of South Africa, the WEF Africa 2017 gathered outstanding figures from business, government and civil society to agree on priorities that will help Africa achieve inclusive growth. Indeed, events in Africa and across the world have demonstrated a need for leaders to be responsive to the demands of the people who have entrusted them to lead, and to also provide a vision and a way forward.
Forest Whitaker took part to a number of sessions in his capacities as head of WPDI, UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation and UN Advocate for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). At a panel discussion on fragile States and vulnerable communities he sat along experts and leading figures of the continent, including President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe; Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of Oxfam International; Donald Kaberuka, Special Envoy of the African Union Peace Fund; Christopher Mikkelsen, Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Refugees United (REFUNITE); Victor Ochen, Executive Director of African Youth Initiative Network-Uganda and Gisele Yitamben, Founder and President of Association pour le Soutien et l'Appui à la Femme Entrepreneur (ASAFE). Forest Whitaker elaborated on the root causes of fragility in South Sudan, pointing to gaps in governance and a lack of will to let young people have their say on the future of their country. He stressed that chronic conflict and violence are symptoms of a lack of resilience and described the work of WPDI as an effort to restore the capacity of vulnerable communities to rebound and engage into on a path of positive change, which can come from within only, hence the mobilization of local youth as peacemakers and entrepreneurs.
In an interview session on South Sudan, Forest Whitaker shared his views on the state and fate of the country. He insisted that South Sudanese are very resilient and have a strong spirit. There is a frustration because of the state of the country. They are aware of the problems on a personal basis – many people, including among his trainees, have lost relatives and friends or know people who were forced to flee their homes. Forest Whitaker nevertheless said that young people in South Sudan made him optimistic pointing to examples of what his trainees were accomplishing in their communities, including trainings of officials on conflict resolutions or campaigning against gender-based violence. He recounted testimonies from young South Sudanese enrolled in his Conflict Resolution Education program in a school located in the refugee camp of Kiryandongo, Uganda. They had expressed gratitude and appreciation at the training provided by WPDI, which 8
“Youth leadership is the future of the continent.”
Forest Whitaker to African Leaders at WEF
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had raised their awareness on the importance of overcoming their desire of violent revenge for what they and their families had been through during the conflict in South Sudan. Pointing to such man-made catastrophic crises as famine, he recognized that the international community could definitely do more for peace and stability in South Sudan but in the end, the solutions had to come from within the country. Noting that 72% of the country is under 30 years old, he stated that “when you talk about dealing with country, you have to deal with the youth”.
At a roundtable on “How can new technologies expand access to education?”, Forest Whitaker noted that “the future of the world will depend on its capacity to articulate education and technology”. The world economy in general is, in his view, more and more dependent on knowledge and technology since countries grow in relation to the education level of their population and also to their exchanges with other countries, which depend on technological progress. This implies that technology must be used to enhance access to and the quality of education, and that education systems have to teach technology, as a preparation to our world. He stressed that the programs of WPDI directly fit this profile since the young trainees under his programs receive trainings in ICTs as well as mobile equipment to learn better and to deliver more efficiently on their projects. However, he warned that the issue of ICT in education in not simply a technological one. He noted that teachers have to be trained in ICTs – “Technology and pedagogy have to work hand in hand”. His conclusion was that “We should always have in mind that the role of education is to prepare citizens.”
The session “Forest Whitaker on South Sudan” can be found at the following address: https://www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-on-africa-2017/sessions/forest-whitaker-on-saving-lives-in-south-sudan#
More information and videos are
available on the web page of the
WEF Africa 2017: https://
www.weforum.org/events/world
-economic-forum-on-africa-2017.
“The future of the world will depend on its capacity
to articulate education and technology.”
Forest Whitaker
May: Joining forces at the Hague with fellow SDG Advocates to call for renewed international efforts to protect education in conflict
In his contribution to the Distinguished Speaker Series on Law, Education and the SDGs held on 19th May in The Hague, Forest Whitaker and fellow SDG Advocates affirmed that the protection of education in conflict and post-conflict situations is key for the implementation of the SDGs.
The Hague Institute for Global Justice is an independent, non-profit organization that aims to shape discourse and bridge gaps between research, policy and practice on global issues at the intersection of peace, security and justice.
The seminar aimed to raise awareness of leaders from all sectors on the imperative to protect education in conflict and post-conflict situations, bearing in mind that one quarter of all school-aged children live in countries devastated by conflict. South Sudan, where WPDI is very active, is home to the highest proportion of out of school children in the world. As of 2016, the civil war had forced 413,000 children out of school, and led to the destruction of more than 800 schools.
Efforts by the international community to address attacks on schools, students and teachers remain insufficient. One main conclusion of the meeting is that the protection of education could well be a cornerstone in the achievement of the SDGs.
The opening ceremony featured a keynote address by HH Sheikha Moza, and was attended by HM Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, who takes a strong interest in this policy area, as well as Dick Benschop, chair of the Supervisory Board at The Hague Institute and President of Shell Netherlands. In her address, HH Sheikha Moza affirmed that long-term peace and the wider sustainable development agenda remains unachievable unless a stronger global governance system is established based on a common goal – to protect education in conflict. In her view, the international community has therefore the responsibility to mobilize and unite to ensure accountability for crimes against education and children and to create opportunities to prevent conflict and establish peace and security.
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In his contributions to the discussions, Forest Whitaker remarked that, taking into account the number of children out of school in conflict-affected and post-conflict countries, protecting education was both a long-term investment and a vital emergency. The stakes are high for these countries because they risk having a lost generation: failing to recognize education as an emergency in time of conflict would give rise to a generation of soldiers in waiting. It was also important to take into account the quality of education, namely its relevance. It was, for instance, crucial to have peace education and trauma healing fully integrated to education in conflict for children and youth to rebound and grow harmoniously. However, he noted, it is somehow difficult to promote education in conflict and post-conflict situations precisely because humanitarian intervention and development action are mostly disconnected on the international agendas. He recalled that Secretary-General António Guterres had called to bridge this gap.
He added that protecting and promoting education in conflict and post-conflict can have a dual preventive aspect by keeping children and youth out of conflict in the present and by preparing them for a better future. Elaborating on his work in South Sudan, he concluded that young people must be considered as key actors and partners of prevention and reconciliation.
The seminar also included contributions from Fatou Bensouda, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Kevin Watkins, CEO of Save the Children UK and Laila Bokhari, State Ministry, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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“Young people have a role to play in promotion & protection of education. Everyone gains when no student is
left behind. ”
Forest Whitaker’s at the Hague
Institute for Global Justice
For fellow SDG Advocates Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, founder of EAA, Graça Machel, founder of the Foundation for Community Development (FDC), and Forest Whita-ker, the meeting was a unique opportunity to join forces and deliver the message that the SDGs call for unprecedented efforts across all domains. Their message was captured in a
joint letter to the Editor of The Times published on the same day as the seminar.
June: Forest Whitaker moderates a panel with the Dalai Lama at the invitation of Starkey Hearing Technologies
On June 23, Forest Whitaker was in Minnesota to moderate exchanges at a panel with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and philanthropist Bill Austin, the CEO of the Starkey Hearing Technologies, and the host of the event. While active in different domains, these three figures have been guided by a common sense of humanity that has shaped the friendship they have developed over the past years.
Two years after his participation in the 80th birthday ceremony of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Forest Whitaker was delighted to officiate again in his company. The Dalai Lama has always been a source of inspiration for Forest Whitaker, including in his humanitarian work where the notion of inner peace is a central part of the training process he has designed to empower young women and men from vulnerable communities as peacemakers and community leaders.
The theme of the discussion, “A Call for Compassion and Conscious Kindness” was an opportunity for the participants to share their views on how to achieve peace in a world of complexity with the invited guests, many of whom business and community leaders.
In his introductory remarks, Forest Whitaker praised the Dalai Lama and Bill and Tani Austin: “All of us are graced today to be here in the presence of his holiness the Dalai Lama who Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa describes as a beacon of light for our world and this is so important in a time when so many people are feeling that the darkness, pain and fear are starting to control our universe. Let’s remember, when you’re in a darkened room it only takes one match to ignite, and bring light. When many of these matches come together creates a flame. And Bill and Tani Austin have been working tirelessly to bring light and hope so the world may hear.”
In the ensuing exchange, the panel, facilitated by Forest Whitaker, addressed the issues of leadership, education, and compassion.
There was agreement that good leadership should be recognized as a capacity to develop trust among people through compassion. In the words of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, "To be a leader, you need trust. And in order to develop trust, you need compassion, vision & foresight". A true leader must have a long term vision and awareness of the full picture. Leadership means that one can look at issues from several angles knowing that people are the core of everything. They concluded on a concept of servant leadership whereby leadership is measured by how one serves the others.
In the minds of the panelists, education is key to build healthy minds, bodies, communities and families. Education systems should cover the education of the mind. People collectively need to know more about the mind and emotions so as to practice kindness and better handle emotions. Constructive emotions should be considered as academic subject, just like physical and mental health.
The panelists discussed also on how to nurture compassion.
CEO of Starkey Hearing Technologies and founder of Starkey Hearing Foundation, Bill Austin declared: "Everything we say matters. Everything we do matters. Your small act of caring can make a difference in the world."
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In the present world, though, making such differences requires, they concurred, to change materialistic attitudes towards culture and life. Material things only provide physical comfort. Experience of a mental level is crucial. We should be more attentive to the world: consciousness is key.
September: UN Week: SDG Advocates meet with the Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General in New York
Forest Whitaker and his fellow SDG Advocates met with the Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General at the United Nations Headquarters on Sunday, September 17.
Led by President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana, and Prime Minister Erna Solberg of Norway via video conference in Oslo, the Advocates, the Secretary-General, the Deputy Secretary-General and Under-Secretary-General Liu, discussed how they can increase knowledge of the SDGs around the world. All participants in the meeting agreed that improving knowledge of the SDGs, and implementing them on the ground, are crucial and urgent tasks.
“We are already two years into Agenda 2030, and have only 13 years left to achieve the ambitious Goals,” said the Secretary-General.
In his remarks, Forest Whitaker insisted that the SDGs can be transformative only if they are endorsed and implemented at the grass-root level “by the people and for the people”. Noting that there was a strong movement at the international level, among governments, international organizations and global NGOs, he nevertheless stressed the need to reach communities closer to the ground to make the SDGs truly universal and transformative.
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The Advocates reiterated their commitment to promoting the SDGs, highlighting the interconnectedness and universality of the Goals, and agreed that the SDGs are a roadmap to the future we want.
September: UN Week: Forest Whitaker and UNESCO Director-General exchange on key challenges and opportunities for peace and development at the 2017 Concordia’s Annual Summit in New York
On September 17th, Forest Whitaker shared his views with the Director-General of UNESCO, on how to shape a future of hope at the 2017 Concordia's Annual Summit in New York in a session dedicated to the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the world leaders in 2015 for 2030.
Held in the context of UN Week, Concordia’s Annual Summit is a 2-day convening of over 2,000 leaders, influencers and decision makers working to drive transformative action by building partnerships for social impact.
Together, heads of state, U.S. administration officials, CEOs, and non-profit leaders explore innovative avenues to address the most pressing issues impacting the world at large.
The session on "Building Peace: security and Development for the SDGs", featured Forest Whitaker and UNESCO Chief and was moderated by Michelle Caruso-Cabrera CNBC’s chief international correspondent.
Forest Whitaker's intervention drew on his experiences as CEO of WPDI as well as UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation and UN SDG Advocate.
© UNESCO/Joel Sheakoski
On the central issue of education, a key cross-cutting area, he and the Director General of UNESCO agreed that significant progress had been made in terms of access to education in general and in literacy in particular but that renewed efforts were needed to meet the SDGs on time. Forest Whitaker signaled in particular a remaining gap in youth literacy, which affects around one in five countries. In these countries, mainly located in Northern Africa and Western Asia, Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, young women aged 15 to 24 lag behind young men in terms of basic reading and writing skills. He saw that as a main challenge both for the present and the future. As CEO of a youth-empowering peacebuilding organization, he voiced his satisfaction at the growing interest of local and national governments in South Sudan and Uganda in the teaching of peace education and conflict resolution.
Forest Whitaker stressed, however, that governments could not meet the targets of the SDGs without mobilizing civil society at large and consult with their citizens, adopting an attitude of learning and openness. In the same vein, he also insisted on the role of the private sector as crucial for people to engage in income-generating activities that will empower them and afford them economic freedom. Ms. Bokova emphasized that "partnership is the new leadership," noting that national ownership of the SDGs is key, together with citizen responsibility to craft new paths to development and peace.
On the issue of ICTs raised in the debate, Forest Whitaker exposed a key aspect of the philosophy behind the work of WPDI, namely that peace is best practiced by individuals integrated into thriving communities, and that communities thrive when their members exchange among themselves and communicate with those outside. ICTs clearly have a role to play in the development of societies, he implied, concluding, nevertheless, that technology can help us become better people if education teaches that communication must be a means for genuine dialogue.
September: UN Week: Tribute to the Heroes of the Global Campaign Against Extremism and Intolerance
Forest Whitaker participated in the launch of the Global Hope Coalition at a special ceremony bringing together 550 government and business leaders, cultural icons, philanthropists, and human rights activists with the avowed aim of “taking the fight against extremism and intolerance to the next level.” At the event, ten men and women from around the world who are taking great risks to oppose extremists, wherever they spread lies, bigotry, and hatred, were honored as Everyday Heroes.
Forest Whitaker introduced two of these Everyday Heroes to the audience: Dr. Denis Mukwege, Congolese gynecologist, for founding the Panzi Hospital in Bukavu where he specializes in the treatment of women who have been gang-raped by rebel forces; and Sammy Rangel, a former gang member, for co-founding the Chicago-based NGO Life After Hate to counter the seeds of hate and inspire and give far-right extremists opportunities to change their lives and find compassion and forgiveness.
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September: UN Week: Forest Whitaker reads one of Martin Luther King’s historic speeches where it was first delivered, at Riverside Church fifty years ago
Forest Whitaker was invited to read, on 17 September, one of Martin Luther King’s most powerful speeches, “Beyond Vietnam”, at the very same pulpit of the same church on Riverside Drive in New York. The reading marked the 50th anniversary of King’s delivery of the speech on 4 April 1967 at Riverside Church. In this address, he stressed the common link forming between the civil rights and peace movements, proposing that the United States stop all bombing of Vietnam and engage in peace talks. Dr. King maintained his opposition to the Vietnam war and his support to peace movements until he was assassinated on April 4, 1968, one year to the day after delivering the “Beyond Vietnam” speech.
Forest Whitaker was joined by other leading figures such as Reverend Al Sharpton, Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts, the Howard University Gospel Choir, Sir the Baptist, and more.
The celebration of the 50th Anniversary of this momentous episode of American and world history was jointly organized by the Riverside Church and Global Citizen as part of the launch of Global Citizen Week. These series of events ran from September 17th through the 23rd to convene and activate a global network of individuals, companies, NGOs, performers, and government agencies who are committed to joining this movement and taking action.
The Riverside Church ceremony and the events of Global Citizen Week were timed to coincide with the UN General Assembly, in which Forest Whitaker also participated in his capacities as UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation and UN Advocate for the Sustainable Development Goals.
September: Forest Whitaker’s work as an artist and social activist in the spotlight at
the El Gouna Film Festival in Egypt
Forest Whitaker participated as guest of honor in the first El Gouna Film Festival organized by the Red Sea in Egypt by businessman and philanthropist Naguib Sawiris, with whom WPDI is entering a partnership to support our activities in South Sudan.
The festival ambitions to become an unmissable annual rendezvous for film professionals and film lovers from Egypt, the Arabic countries, and the world at large. It was established to underscore the role film plays in promoting cultural interaction, fostering an awareness of different cinematic voices by encouraging dialogue and by building bridges of creative energy.
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Furthering their dual ambition to promote artistic and humanitarian goals, the organizers of the Festival chose to invite Forest Whitaker in his holistic capacities as an artist, a producer and a social activist.
On Thursday 28th, he presented his views as an artist and as a humanist at a masterclass organized in the context of the “CineGouna platform,” which offers artists and professionals of the Middle East and Northern Africa region an opportunity to learn from international figures and experts.
A day before, Forest Whitaker and Naguib Sawiris officially announced that they are joining forces to promote lasting peace and sustainable development in South Sudan. They stressed that this partnership would strengthen the youth leadership program developed by WPDI to empower the young women and men whom we train and subsequently mentor as mediators and entrepreneurs.
The press conference was attended by more than 100 journalists, providing a window to showcase our work to the audiences of the region.
On Friday 29th, the closing day of the festival, Forest Whitaker received an award for his lifetime achievements. In his acceptance speech, he evoked the multifaceted aspects of his artistic and humanitarian careers and dedicated the award to the young peacemakers with whom he works in Africa and the Americas.
November: Advocating for the SDGs at the Philanthropy Awards organized by Bank of the West / BNP Paribas
Forest Whitaker was the guest speaker at the 2017 Philanthropy Awards ceremony, held on November 14 at the Huntington Library and Gardens in Pasadena, Calif. His remarks, which were presented after a video that introduced his Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative (WPDI), aimed to convince the audience, mainly composed of high-profile representatives of the private sector, that the SDGs are a framework for action designed to help actors from different backgrounds work together.
In this perspective, he declared: “For an organization like mine, which works on very intricate and complex situations, the SDGs offer a unique platform because they allow us to connect more easily with partners in different sectors. In education, we have a program in the US with the Los Angeles Unified School District at Carnegie Middle School in Carson, teaching Conflict Resolution Education in their core curriculum. We also have partnerships with alternative fuel organizations supplying solar panels to equip our learning centers in communities that are not on the grid, a focus of SDG-13: Climate Action. The SDGs also allow establishing a common language for people headquartered in New York and UN mission offices with other industries, for example farming communities striving to improve their livelihoods in a remote location a continent away. In other words, the SDGs help build a web of solidarity across the world. This is key to making the world better because philanthropists, private sector executives and grant-makers can be more effective in their impact and more relevant in their targeting by aligning and coordinating their actions within the framework of the SDGs.”
The Bank of the West Philanthropy Awards are a component of the Bank’s corporate social responsibility approach, which supports sustainable development through education and job training, affordable housing, microenterprise and small business development, environmental conservation, and the arts.
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“The SDGs help build a web of
solidarity across the world.”
Forest Whitaker’s at the 2017
Philanthropy Awards
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II. Missions as CEO of the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative and UNESCO
Special Envoy
Uganda
February: Strengthening programs in Uganda
During a mission he undertook in Uganda to monitor his programs on the ground, Forest Whitaker led two visits respectively to the future location of WPDI services in the camp and to the WPDI Country Office located in Gulu.
The newly launched program of WPDI in the Kiryandongo refugee settlement will build on the expertise WPDI has acquired through its leadership program, the Youth Peacemaker Program (YPN), which Forest Whitaker implements in Mexico, South Sudan and Uganda, and through programs for displaced people in the UN camp of Juba, South Sudan.
This program will benefit from the support of new partners, such as the Western Union Foundation, as well as established partners of WPDI, such as UNESCO and Ericsson. To assess the needs and aspiration of the young camp residents, Forest Whitaker participated in a town hall style meeting with a group of youth who voiced their concerns and hopes. The most pressing issues revolved around access to quality education and vocational skills, gender equity, access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Forest Whitaker pledged to do his best to help them respond to their challenges on their own term. He received the support of the UN officials participating with him in the meeting, including Ms. Rosa Malongo, UN Resident Coordinator for Uganda, and Ms. Nada Al-Nashif, Assistant-Director General for Social and Human Sciences of UNESCO (ADG/SHS), who also participated to the technical meeting held later between WPDI and the camp commander representing the government of Uganda. To conclude the visit, Forest Whitaker visited the piece of land granted to WPDI to establish his office within the settlement, which will include a Community Learning Center (CLC) to provide youth residents with access to vocational courses, computers, Internet connections and library services.
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Wishing to assess the situation of WPDI's operation on the ground, Forest Whitaker visited the country office of WPDI for Uganda, located in Gulu, and which double as a Community Learning Center. He was joined by two delegations of our partners, respectively UNESCO, represented by ADG/SHS, and representatives of Education Above All Foundation, through their Protect Education In Conflict (EAA-PEIC) program. Also part of the visit were the Chairman of the Gulu District. After the planting ceremony for a tree of hope, Forest Whitaker met with students during an ICT class and expressed his excitement at seeing what had been accomplished since he had inaugurated the CLC three years ago, "This place had a great meaning in my heart because my whole program started here in Uganda."
Nada Al-Nashif reaffirmed the commitment of UNESCO to WPDI's program which she characterized as groundbreaking. "This is very much the future" she said. Former students shared their experience with WPDI and how transformative it had been for them and their families, including through the jobs they could get thanks to their training. The Gulu District Chairman remarked that the WPDI office was more than a building and computers: "you are shaping the future of these young people and their communities."
April: Launch of a new deployment of the Youth Peacemaker Network in Acholi sub-
region
Forest Whitaker welcomed a new
cohort of 30 new peacemakers during
a ceremony in Gulu on May 1, 2017 to
kick off the latest deployment of his
foundation’s main youth empowering
program in the Acholi sub-region,
along with dignitaries and program
partners.
The launch of WPDI’s flagship
program, the Youth Peacemaker
Network (YPN), in the Acholi sub-
region in the north of Uganda is
designed to empower young women
and men from vulnerable areas affected by conflict and violence as peacemakers and
community leaders.
The program aims to channel innovative resources into communities, beginning with young
women and men whom WPDI helps to express their full potential for engineering peace and
development to benefit their communities. YPN provides training in transformative
peacebuilding, mediation and life skills, ICTs and entrepreneurship as well as mobile
technology and material support for projects designed and maintained by youth. Other
resources include Community Learning Centers (CLCs) where all community members can
access computers as well as trainings in ICTs, entrepreneurship, arts and crafts, conflict
resolution and literacy. It is through such resources that WPDI will work to sow the seed of
long-term success in the communities of Acholi.
The launch ceremony of the YPN-
Acholi, held in Gulu, at the
Community Learning Center of
WPDI, was an opportunity to
introduce the public to the new
cohort of 30 young peacemakers
who began initial training under
the aegis of WPDI, with the
objective of completing a year-
long mediator and entrepreneur
certification. The new cohort of
30 youth peacemakers, 15
female and 15 male, was
recruited in pairs from each of
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the 15 counties of the Acholi sub-region.
More than 100 people attended the ceremony, including authorities from all districts of the
Acholi sub-region as well as representatives of WPDI partners including UNESCO, Ericsson,
Western Union Foundation, MTN Foundation and the United Nations.
In his address, Mr. Whitaker stated that interconnecting youths and getting them to work
together is key to help disseminate values, attitudes and behaviors of peace and non-violence.
He urged the new trainees to strive to become “voices for peace and change in their
communities.”
The YPN in Acholi is a program that WPDI will implement for the next three years notably in
view of supporting the successful development of youth-led educational and social activities,
including income-generating businesses and peace work of the ToTs at the community level.
The objective is for the YPN to be fully appropriated by the participants and their communities
and to outlive the period of the project.
Following the launch ceremony, the 30 youth peacemakers participated in a five-day intensive
training in peacebuilding, life skills, conflict resolution, entrepreneurship and ICT. Program
Partner Education Above All led a session on the Safe School Declaration and advocacy to
defend the right to education during war, conflict and insecurity.
Youth peacemakers also had the opportunity to interact with President of Global Payments of
Western Union, Jean-Claude Farah, and exchange with him on leadership.
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December: In Northern Uganda, Forest Whitaker and his partners take stock of
progress made by WPDI on the ground and welcome a new cohort of future
community leaders
After two intense weeks supporting his programs in South Sudan and Uganda, our CEO/
Founder Forest Whitaker concluded his mission in Uganda on a day of lively ceremonies and
celebrations crowning two of the most important programs currently developed in the area.
Visiting his programs within the refugee settlement of Kiryandongo and presiding the
graduation ceremony in Gulu of 79 new WPDI peacemakers from Acholi and Kiryandongo, he
vowed to continue helping Ugandan and South Sudanese refugee youth in their pursuit of
peace and sustainable development with the assistance of his partners. Among the partners
represented at this day of celebration were Ericsson, Western Union and the Western Union
Foundation, MTN, and UNESCO.
In the morning, Forest Whitaker led a visit of the programs developed by WPDI in partnership
with the Western Union Foundation within the Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement over the past
year. He took his partners to take stock of WPDI programs within the settlement, notably the
Community Learning Center, which was built through Western Union Foundation funding
and where around 400 monthly users take trainings or access computers and library services.
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The delegation thus had the
opportunity to directly exchange with
beneficiaries and staff and learn more
on the programs they have committed
themselves to. They also went to the
Panyadoli Secondary School, an in-
settlement school where we have
initiated a conflict-resolution education
program.
The afternoon focused on the
graduation ceremony of the young
women and men WPDI has enrolled respectively for the Youth Peacemaker Network (YPN) in
the Acholi subregion, mainly financed by the Swedish Postcode Foundation, and the YPN in
Kiryandongo, mainly supported by the Western Union Foundation. Located at the Hope North
Campus, where Mr. Whitaker started working with young women and men from conflict-
impacted communities, the graduation marked a hinging moment in the life of our programs in
Uganda, since the Acholi cohort represented the first expansion of the YPN beyond its first
implementation in Gulu and that the Kiryandongo cohort embodied our first attempt at
developing a full-fledged program in a camp for refugees.
Taking the two cohorts together, we trained 79 young women and men in conflict resolution,
ICTs and entrepreneurship to prepare them as mediators and business leaders tasked to
promote peace and sustainable development in their communities. After nine months of
intensive training and exigent written test, 52 of the enrolled youth passed the program and
graduated this day. The remaining 27 trainees will be taken through a short phase of revisions
and tutoring to take the tests again in the course of the first quarter of 2018.
Conferring a significant importance to this moment in the careers and the lives of the
peacemakers as well as the destinies of their communities, the WPDI leadership as well as the
representatives of our partners insisted on welcoming the graduates with words of praises and
promises of further commitment to support them in their future responsibilities.
As main contributor for the program
in the Kiryandongo Refugee
Settlement, the Western Union
Foundation was represented at its
highest level. Highlighting the
commitment of her organization to
refugees and displaced persons,
Jacqueline Molnar, Chair of the
Western Union Foundation Board,
remarked that ““Without a doubt, the
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WPDI graduating class of Trainers of Trainees is the most remarkable group of young people I
have ever had the privilege to meet. They are truly the future of peace and prosperity in the
region. The Western Union Foundation is proud and honored to support WPDI and we cannot
wait to see the results of its unprecedented Youth Peacemaker Network.”
Commending our approach to peace and sustainable development, Hikmet Ersek, CEO of
Western Union, said “WPDI’s Youth Peacemaker program provides Trainers of Trainees with
powerful tools to succeed in transforming their own lives as well as the lives of the
communities they live in. Looking in the shiny eyes of these young leaders graduating the
program I know they will be courageous change makers who will work towards the vision of
peace.”
Wim Vanhelleputte, CEO of MTN Uganda, declared that “Education today is no longer just pen
and pencil but ICT and internet connectivity. MTN Uganda is pleased to partner with Forest
Whitaker and his Initiative to provide this vital service. We ascribe to his vision entirely and
pledge our support."
The representative of a long-term ICT partner of WPDI, Elaine Weidman, Senior Vice-President
and Chief Sustainability Officer of Ericsson, who provides mobile technology to our
peacemakers and computers for our CLCs, praised the successes accomplished under our
partnership with them and said that “Since the start of Ericsson’s partnership with WPDI, we
have been a part of a coalition to spark positive change for youth in the epicenter of conflict.
The strength of the partnership is based on the vision of Forest Whitaker, WPDI’s CEO, and his
unwavering commitment to empowering students and building communities for peace. I am
awed by the achievements made by every one of the students participating in the program,
proud of the part technology has played in helping them build life-skills and inspired to be part
of their journey.”
As he moved to hand their certificates to the new
graduates, Forest Whitaker affirmed that “I listened to
you speak about your dreams, heard your cry, watched
you articulate a vision about the future you want. The
beauty is that it is possible. Many of you will be written
about in books, chapters dedicated to you. You are an
amazing group. I am so proud of you."
Some trainees also took the floor during the ceremony.
The expression of their gratitude and willingness to
commit to peace and prosperity in their communities felt
to all the staff of WPDI and our partners like a reward for
the efforts of the past and a promise of transformative
change in the future.
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South Sudan
February: Strengthening programs in South Sudan
Forest Whitaker was in Juba from 12 to 14 February to take stock of his peacebuilding programs in South Sudan and work with his local team on the expansion plan for the launch of the YPN in former Western Equatoria State scheduled for 2017. In this most fragile country, our flagship program, the Youth Peacemaker Network (YPN) aims at helping conflict-affected communities on their path back to lasting peace and resilience by mobilizing the energies of young women and men.
The visit was also an opportunity to meet with partners on the ground, such as USAID South Sudan, VISTAS, UN Women, South Sudan Football Association and UNESCO. Among other key stakeholders, Mr. Whitaker held a meeting with Mr. David Shearer, the newly appointed Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for South Sudan and Head of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
One of the most exciting moment of Mr. Whitaker’s mission in South Sudan was his visit at the Protection of Civilians (PoC) site for displaced persons in Juba, where WPDI sensitizes young residents to peace through conflict resolution education trainings, community dialogues as well as sports- and cinema-based programs. Mr. Whitaker’s presence was all the more opportune that it occurred on “Peace Engagement Day”, a day organized by WPDI and partners at the POC with a series of mini-championships where youth teams created under the aegis of WPDI play against each other in short, fast-paced games. Peace engagement days integrate sports, community dialogues and life-skills education with a view to promoting values, attitudes and behaviors of peace, dialogue and reconciliation.
This event has become a monthly rendezvous at the PoC to reach out to significant numbers of the close 38,900 community members, as WPDI and its partners can directly sensitize them in their areas of competence, including on such issues as human rights and sexual and reproductive health. The success of the event further reinforced Mr. Whitaker in his determination to redouble efforts to promote peace in South Sudan.
26
April: Expanding the scope of WPDI in South Sudan through a new cohort of youth leaders
On April 28th, Forest Whitaker convened a launch ceremony in Yambio to officially mark the creation of a new cohort of 20 future youth peacemakers from Western Equatoria. Three years after WPDI started working on the Youth Peacemaker Network (YPN) in South Sudan, in the State of Eastern Equatoria, Forest Whitaker decided to extend his flagship program to the State of Western Equatoria (YPN-WES).
The launch ceremony was attended by the Governor of the Gbudue State as well as other dignitaries, including from the other states covered by the YPN-WES, namely Amadi, Tambura and Maridi. Representatives of his partners also joined the ceremony, including UNESCO, UN Women, the IT Society for South Sudan and Zain. Four of the youth leaders from Eastern Equatoria, Hidita, Magdalena, Michael, and Ukongo also attended the ceremony to share their experiences with the new group and provide them with guidance as they are embarking on a long series of workshops.
The first Community Learning Center of the YPN-WES was also inaugurated in Yambio on April 29th.
27
April: Forward-looking words of inspiration to the students of Juba University
Forest Whitaker delivered keynote remarks at the University of Juba on 27 April 2017. With its
10,000 students and 400 faculty, the University is a leading institution in the country. In tune
with the motto of the University, “Inventing the Future…Transforming Society”, Forest
Whitaker’s speech mainly focused on the responsibility the students bear as the next
generation of South Sudanese leaders. Their country is the youngest to have been established
but it is also a country that is going through the critical and painful trials of a civil war
compounding and compounded by a grave humanitarian situation. Forest Whitaker told the
students that they were tasked to find in themselves courage and the imagination to make
lasting peace and sustainable development tangible realities for their fellow citizens. He said
that, “more so than for most of your peers in other countries, your future is largely a blank
page that your generation is going to write upon.”
Forest Whitaker closed his address urging students to live with honesty and integrity and listen
to each other, work together so peace will be a reality for all in South Sudan.
The session concluded on a series of questions on his activities in South Sudan by the Deputy
Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Professor Pauline Elaine Riak. Elaborating on his
experience with the country, its people and its youth in particular, Forest Whitaker expressed
his concerns at to the present situation but also his hopes as to the future of South Sudan.
Forest Whitaker’s address to the University of Juba is part of a visit of South Sudan that he has
undertaken to assess his youth-benefiting programs in Juba and in the State of Eastern
Equatoria and to launch a new one in the State of Western Equatoria.
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"Your future is a blank page that your generation is going to write
upon."
Forest Whitaker to students
At Juba University in South Sudan
December: Forest Whitaker inaugurates a new Community Learning Center in South
Sudan, signaling a major step in the expansion of WPDI in the country
On Wednesday December 6, Forest Whitaker inaugurated a new Community Learning Center
(CLC) in Juba, the capital city of South Sudan, in the presence of representatives from the
Ministries of Education of South Sudan and the State of Jubek as well as UNESCO, main
supporters of the initiative.
Thanks to the generous support of long-time partners Ericsson and Zain, every center is
equipped with computers and Internet access available for public use. The WPDI staff will
offer daily trainings in conflict resolution, ICTs, business skills and literacy. Users, expected to
be 100 each month, will acquire skills contributing to the promotion of peace and sustainable
development in the Juba area and beyond. In particular, literacy courses and vocational
trainings will increase job opportunities and improve the livelihoods of whole families.
Commenting on the long-term impact of the center, Mr. Whitaker declared: “We must never
give up on the hope that our efforts can deliver a sustainable and peaceful future. The
thousands of children, youth and adults who will use this center will, by their very presence,
embody that hope. I have learned from my many visits to South Sudan that such hope is
already in their hearts and minds. They will not give up. What they ask of us it to have trust in
their capacity to build a future of their own. The purpose of the CLCs is to equip them, to give
them tools for their empowerment.”
The Juba center is the eleventh of its kind in South Sudan and the first for WPDI to open in
Central Equatoria State. With this inauguration, the network of Community Learning Centers
now covers the main parts of the Equatorias, the southernmost region of South Sudan. It is a
major step in the development of WPDI programs in South Sudan, a vulnerable and fragile
country due to decades of armed conflict over the past 50 years.
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December: Forest Whitaker welcomes a new cohort of young peacemakers in the
Western Equatoria of South Sudan, contributing to promoting peace and sustainable
development in the country
On December 8, 2017, at a ceremony held in Juba, Forest Whitaker welcomed a new cohort of
20 young South Sudanese leaders who just graduated from 9 months of training with his
foundation, the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative.
Presiding the ceremony, Mr. Whitaker was joined by representatives of his partners, the ICT
Society South Sudan, Zain South Sudan, represented by Mr. Andre Claassen, and UNESCO,
represented by Mr. Sardar Umar Alam.
Signaling the importance of this moment to him, Mr. Whitaker spoke of the young leaders
participating in his programs in the most laudatory manner: “I see colleagues and partners
who are about to concretize the mandate of WPDI in their communities. In them, I see a future
of positive transformation. This vision of a peaceful future transcends all the obstacles that we
can see in the present.”
The 20 young women and men from the State of Western Equatoria graduating on this day are
the latest recruits in South Sudan for our flagship program, the Youth Peacemakers Network
(YPN). The graduation ceremony signaled the end of their last training workshop in a series of
five that we have designed to empower them as actors of the YPN in their communities.
After their graduation, they will be active on the ground as part of a network that WPDI
implements in the Eastern Equatoria region of South Sudan and in Uganda and Mexico as well.
The main objective of the YPN is to mobilize dedicated young women and men as promoters of
resilience, peace and sustainable development in vulnerable communities that have been
severely impacted by armed violence and conflict.
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To empower young women and men from
often vulnerable and remote areas into
leaders with the capacity to mediate
conflicts and manage businesses, WPDI
has put in place a unique mix of trainings
including conflict resolution, ICTs, business
skills and life skills.
In an effort to constantly improve our
curriculum, Forest Whitaker had decided
at this session to introduce a whole new
component, the Leadership sessions.
Prolonging his reflection of life skills, he came to believe that, as aspiring leaders, his trainees
could benefit from the experiences of high-level representatives of our partners. These
international figures who are often renowned for their success in the face of adversity must
have, our thought went, many things to teach aspiring leaders who are bound to face
unforeseen challenges in the implementation of their projects.
The partners who had otherwise decided to accompany Mr. Whitaker in this field mission,
volunteered with enthusiasm, expressing a genuine desire to contribute in person to his work.
At his mentoring session on leadership, Mr. Whitaker urged the aspiring peacemakers to “Be a
leader to yourself” and to “never betray who you are and what u want to become.” Addressing
himself to future entrepreneurs, Egyptian business tycoon Naguib Sawiris insisted at his
session that “nothing can happen without hard work, discipline and honesty,” adding: “Have
faith in yourself and never shy away from opportunities - they may never come back.” In his
session, Mr. Andre Claassen, the Chief Operation Officer of Zain South Sudan, told the aspiring
leaders to build their own identity and to always remember that “you have precious things
that should not be lost.” Seeking to inspire them further, he also said: “Never say no to a
challenge, you have to exploit what you have, be positive. The much you have been given, has
given you the ability to succeed. Bring the change. The power is within u and the change starts
with you.”
These words were on the minds of
all attending peacemakers as they
received their diplomas sanctioning
their hard work and dedication.
Wishing to convey his satisfaction at
the work of his teams and his
humility at the thought of the
challenges these newly minted
leaders will face, Forest Whitaker
concluded his address to them with
those words: “What WPDI has done
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so far with your training is to prepare the soil for your growth. You are the seed that will turn
you communities into blossoming trees. This is a long-term commitment. Of course we will not
be far in the early years, doing some trimming and some watering. But, at some point, I am
confident that the tree of peace and sustainability that we planted earlier this year will grow
on its own roots, trunk and branches.”
December: In Northern Uganda, Forest Whitaker and his partners take stock of
progress made by WPDI on the ground and welcome a new cohort of future
community leaders
After two intense weeks supporting his programs in South Sudan and Uganda, our CEO/
Founder Forest Whitaker concluded his mission in Uganda on a day of lively ceremonies and
celebrations crowning two of the most important programs currently developed in the area.
Visiting his programs within the refugee settlement of Kiryandongo and presiding the
graduation ceremony in Gulu of 79 new WPDI peacemakers from Acholi and Kiryandongo, he
vowed to continue helping Ugandan and South Sudanese refugee youth in their pursuit of
peace and sustainable development with the assistance of his partners. Among the partners
represented at this day of celebration were Ericsson, Western Union and the Western Union
Foundation, MTN, and UNESCO.
In the morning, Forest Whitaker led a visit of the programs developed by WPDI in partnership
with the Western Union Foundation within the Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement over the past
year. He took his partners to take stock of WPDI programs within the settlement, notably the
Community Learning Center, which was built through Western Union Foundation funding
and where around 400 monthly users take trainings or access computers and library services.
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III. Articles and Blogs from Forest Whitaker Published in his Capacity as UNESCO
Special Envoy
January: From the blog of the World Economic Forum at Davos: “This is what real
leadership means to me”
“Responsive and Responsible Leadership” was the theme driving
the design of the programme, initiatives and projects of the World
Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2017. As special guest of the
Forum, Forest Whitaker was invited to contribute his views on this
theme on their blog.
Throughout my life, I have been guided by the stories of great
leaders – the likes of Gandhi, Martin Luther King or Nelson
Mandela. The very lives of these larger-than-life figures are
messages that keep inspiring millions of us.
There is an irony though. The lives of these people seem to us like
epic tales of major struggles. But, when you pay attention to what
they actually did and said, the message is actually that leadership
is not about epic decisions – it is about choices we make in our daily lives. It is only in
retrospect that they seem epic.
A story came to me that I want to share. It is one of the many stories Michael Ajeo Paul could
tell you. Michael is an educator and entrepreneur from the city of Torit, in South Sudan. Last
summer, in the midst of the ongoing civil war that is tearing the country apart, he happened to
learn that soldiers were occupying a school in his neighborhood. Michael approached the
commander of the troops: “I explained to him that barring access to schools destroyed the
future of the whole community,” he says. “A community in which some of the soldiers had
parents, brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews. They eventually agreed to depart. This was a
great victory.”
Values and Vision
Michael’s story is about true leadership – namely an attitude and behaviour of both
responsiveness and responsibility. Michael is a true leader because he was responsive in taking
an initiative that seemed bold at the time and he was responsible in consulting with other
people involved before taking a targeted action. This is what we want to admire in leaders: a
capacity for efficacy inspired by and expressing values and a vision.
Michael is one of the young leaders trained and supported through my foundation, the
Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative (WPDI). It was founded to empower young women
and men to become agents of positive change in their countries and communities. I believe
that young people, so often entrapped in destructive cycles of violence, have the passion and
creativity to lead their communities down a different path, one of peace and sustainable
development. If we channel their collective energy into a force for good, their sparks will
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create a fire that can drive out even the most impenetrable darkness.
Nurturing leadership requires delicacy and patience. We must be both enablers and incubators
of talent. We train promising young people in a holistic mixture of skills that range from
conflict resolution to project management. In places where internet connectivity is poor, we
provide phones and tablets. In remote areas, we build community centres where people can
access computers, library services and courses in literacy, computer skills and business. We
work in camps for displaced people and refugees, encouraging young people to renounce
violence and engage in peacebuilding activities, mobilizing sports and cinema to raise their
awareness of the need for tolerance and dialogue.
With the years, and as these activities consolidate, I can see how the young women and men
we mentor develop attitudes of leadership, their views on their lives and their communities
becoming richer and sharper. They perceive that they have a stake, and a role, in making
things better.
But we cannot ask them to be leaders only in times of conflict and crisis. They should be able
to excel at the daily work of keeping peace alive through everyday actions.
This is why I want WPDI to be an incubator for their community projects. We provide tangible
and intangible resources; they provide the ideas and energy. These projects can be strictly
educational – our teams in Mexico teach conflict resolution to young people in schools and in
prisons – but many are combined with a business component. Michael, for instance, is
developing an agribusiness for which he will train and enroll young people from local
communities.
Indeed, when we talk to young people from conflict-prone communities in South Sudan and
Uganda, they tell us the problem is isolation and a lack of access to services. They tell us that
youthful potential is lost to violent behaviour; that this is because there are no jobs, no socially
rewarding activities. Most of them want to start up a useful business, one that addresses
specific needs (we ask them to run market
studies) and one that mobilizes other young
people into taking up vocational activities
from which they can earn an income.
Michael and all his peers from Mexico, South
Sudan and Uganda have taught me a lot
about leadership. Through their examples, I
have grown aware that many more young
people than we know have seeds of
leadership in them. Many more than we know can surprise us.
What it takes to reveal such potential is, mostly, for us to place trust in young people and their
capacity to shape their future and ours: championing leadership when you see it is the
responsive and responsible thing to do.
Forest Whitaker, a UN SDG Advocate, is at the Annual Meeting in Davos to receive the 2017
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Crystal Award for his leadership in peacebuilding and conflict resolution.
Post originally published on the World Economic Forum website.
March: On CNN.com: “It’s not too late to save South Sudan”
This article was published as a joint initiative with Oxfam.
21 March 2017
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/03/21/opinions/save-south-sudan-opinion-whitaker/index.html
I am just back from South Sudan, one of the world's most fragile nations. For years, I have
been moved by the kind people who maintain hope that they will live to see peace. My heart
has ached for them, as they have endured pain and violence that make such hope feel out of
reach.
Recently, the United Nations declared famine in parts of South Sudan. This was a long time in
the making -- the civil war that began in 2013 continues to cause chaos, cutting people off from
their land, livelihoods and even the aid they are forced to rely on. To date, famine has put
100,000 people at risk of death, and 7.5 million more need immediate humanitarian
assistance.
Every day the conflict continues, South Sudanese people face tremendous risks and
unthinkable decisions. With a quarter of the country's population uprooted by violence, stories
of rape and torture echo throughout the country. A generation has been robbed of its future
by forced recruitment to fight, being mistaken and targeted as opposition fighters and early
marriage -- when parents have no other means to pay for necessities like food.
Schools lay destroyed or occupied by armed groups, leaving children unable to fulfill their
potential; families are forced to scavenge in swamps to survive.
The international community has ignored countless warnings that South Sudan is on the brink
of a genocide. This is a manmade disaster, which means we could have prevented it -- and if
we work together now, we can still stop this crisis and save lives.
People are dying and need urgent action before the situation gets worse. Humanitarian
organizations must be able to provide immediate life-saving aid and support for people to start
anew. And the impending rainy season will make reaching vulnerable people even more
difficult, as rivers flood and roads become impassable.
Organizations like Oxfam are responding alongside local partners and need our support so they
can broaden their response to assist people now before the rains begin. In short, this is a race
against time. Without these critical efforts, millions more could be facing famine.
This early test is the time for decisive moral leadership from President Donald Trump and his
administration. My hope is that they, along with world leaders, help ensure millions of poor
and vulnerable people can survive and ultimately thrive. This is not a political issue, but a
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human one.
While the leaders of South Sudan have the primary responsibility to protect their own people,
the global community has an ethical obligation to step up when lives are on the line. Leaders
and donors should fully fund the humanitarian response now.
Forest Whitaker conducting a training for youth leaders in conflict resolution in South Sudan.
The UN has requested $1.6 billion to provide life-saving support to 5.8 million people. That
amounts to just $275 to reach each person in need. We must provide food, clean water and
other urgent necessities -- and we must also end the conflict, so millions can safely return to
homes, schools and work, feeling that their hope was warranted.
Our leaders must hear us speaking on behalf of our brothers and sisters in South Sudan. If the
moral duty to save lives and work toward peace is not compelling enough to drive decision-
makers, we must remind them that we care and will hold them accountable. It rests in the
hands of the common person, as well as those with the power to shape humanity's course
toward a world where every child, woman and man's most basic needs are met.
While it's easy for South Sudan to feel distant, the situation is all too real for the South
Sudanese mothers choosing which child gets to eat tomorrow. This is a time when we must
look outward together and declare that humanity has no borders -- no one deserves to suffer
like this, especially in a world of such abundance.
I have met people in South Sudan who are just like you and me, and even in these dark
circumstances, they are brimming with hope. In some cases, it's all they have. We must hear
them.
For my part, I work to cultivate young people, who are the seeds for a better future in South
Sudan, through my foundation, the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative. We provide
promising and talented young women and men with skills and resources that they put to use
in their communities as mediators and entrepreneurs.
Their dedication to peace is impressive and I cannot doubt that, with time, the small miracles
they accomplish in their communities will have ripple effects. But they know they cannot
succeed all alone.
If we unify our voices and respond to this urgent call, the hope of the people of South Sudan
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can grow into the beautiful and rich future that they deserve.
May: From the blog of the World Economic Forum on Africa at Durban: “How young
people can break the cycle of violence”
In view of his participation in the 2017 edition of the World Economic Forum on Africa, Forest
Whitaker shared his thoughts on the situation of youth in Africa, notable in fragile countries,
and highlighted the importance of their immense potential for the future of the continent. The
theme of the 2017 edition was “Achieving Inclusive Growth through Responsive and
Responsible Leadership”.
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 both a deep and practical meaning to me. Facing the challenge of change is
central to the humanitarian work I conduct through my foundation, the Whitaker Peace &
Development Initiative (WPDI). My main objective is to build networks of young women and
men from places that suffer from chronic forms of conflict and to support these young leaders
as they engage in peacebuilding activities and develop educational and economic projects to
the benefit of their communities.
We work in such places as South Sudan, a country that is currently at war with itself after
decades of a protracted liberation war. We also work in northern Uganda, a region where
memories of the civil war of the past 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.
At first, these countries may seem to be very different, but, in the places where we develop
programmes, they share deeper similarities. These are communities stuck in cycles of violence.
They know no real peace, only fragile truces, which will be broken at some point, because the
silence of arms does not mean that any form of reconciliation has happened.
When easily broken truces regularly alternate with episodes of violence from armed conflicts,
we can speak neither of true peace or of real change, transformative change that makes a
tangible difference in the lives of communities.
I see a deep connection between peace and change: peace always starts from within, for
communities and people alike. The same is true of change: real change starts from within.
This is the approach I follow with WDPI through its flagship programme, the Youth Peacemaker
Network (YPN): to empower young women and men who can engineer change from within
their communities.
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We want the young women and men with whom we work to become peacemakers and
change-makers in their communities. Many of them have seen conflict with their own eyes;
some have suffered violence in their bodies. Our first work with them is often to heal or soothe
trauma, notably for those who happen to be former child soldiers. Their personal
rehabilitation is a condition for collective reconciliation to happen in their countries. Some of
the young people we support live in refugee camps and face one of the most pressing
challenges of our times.
Indeed, the UN estimates that today more than 65 million people are displaced by armed
conflict or persecution. They need assistance from all the nations. There are urgent needs in
terms of food and shelter, but there are other needs too. These are needs that may seem less
vital at face value, but are in fact no less vital to address. It is very difficult to picture the
helplessness of these people who have lost everything – their homes, their jobs, family
members and friends – or to imagine the despair of parents whose children are left all day to
idle on dirt. We have to think, for example, that 75% of secondary school aged refugees are
out of school. When children and youth are deprived of their right to education, their
community is deprived of a sustainable future. It is all the more true with refugees.
It is imperative to take care of these youths and help heal their wounds. If no one cares for the
physical and psychological well-being of these young refugees, then we allow the seeds of
resentment and violence to be sown in them and we will only reap more conflict and war in
the next generation.
As UN Secretary-General Guterres recently said:
“We must rebalance our approach to peace and security. For decades, this has been
dominated by responding to conflict. For the future, we need to do far more to prevent war
and sustain peace […] Prevention is not merely a priority.”
Prevention is the priority. I see this as particularly true when it comes to refugees. Failing to
provide refugee children and youth with a quality education, including vocational training,
psychosocial support and peace education, creates a risk of growing a lost generation who will
have known only disenfranchisement and resentment
We must help them wherever they are. It could be Syria, where some 11 million people have
fled their homes since the outbreak of civil war in March 2011. It could be Colombia, where
decades of civil war have internally displaced nearly 7 million people. It could be South Sudan,
where nearly 3 million people have been forced out of their homes since 2013 by civil war,
including more than 1.8 million internally displaced and 1.1 million seeking refuge in
neighbouring countries.
It is in Uganda that I was first confronted directly with the situation of people displaced by
conflict and violence. I was shooting the Last King of Scotland. I had the opportunity to speak
directly with many of them, learning about their past and how they envisioned life in the
present and the future.
Then I started working with my foundation WPDI in South Sudan and, in 2014, I visited the UN
38
camps for the Protection of Civilians in Bentiu and Juba. They had been established in response
to the massive displacements of populations caused by civil conflict.
It was a moving and humbling experience. I had other exchanges with young women and men:
they felt abandoned; they were idle. This was all the more worrisome, because the traumas
caused by the conflict and the forced displacement obviously had a strong grip on their minds
and hearts. They suffered. They were exhausted, physically and mentally. They resented it. My
fear was that they would grow up nurturing thoughts of vengeance that would in turn nurture
cycles of conflict. Simply preaching the values of peace and dialogue would not work on such
hardened lives: they needed to be actively engaged.
I started two programmes in the Juba camp: Peace Through Sports and Cinema for Peace. In
each case, we create a setting where fun and entertaining activities, which contribute to
trauma healing, are combined with training and group discussions to help participants reflect
on peace, tolerance and dialogue.
Thousands of young people now participate in these activities. The Peace Through Sports
programme has a wide appeal and its tournaments have become quite an event in the life of
the camp. We have even managed to get the South Sudan Football Association to train and
certify our referees and four of them have been enrolled in FIFA trainings.
To me, a key success of these programmes is the change I’ve noticed in so many of the young
people who live in the camp of Juba. They have changed inside; their outlook on life and life
after the camp is less bleak. This gives me hope that, when they eventually find their way back
home, their life will be different, more peaceful.
Based on this, we have decided to launch, a new programme in the Kiryandongo Settlement,
located in the north of Uganda. Uganda is currently host to 800,000 South Sudanese who have
fled their country since 2013, and 400,000 since July 2016, when the civil war was taken to
new levels of violence. One reason why we chose Uganda is because they have an open door
policy for refugees and are ready to innovate to improve their situations.
This motivated us to work there to find new ways to engage the young refugees. Many of
them are still reliving the conflict and the flight. You would sit face-to-face with them as they
are telling you of all the things they miss and feel this tension in them that needs a release and
a purpose.
We want to try and give them a sense of purpose. Our idea is to develop, with the support of
our partner the Western Union Foundation, a new branch of my foundation’s flagship
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programme, the Youth Peace Network (YPN), in the Kiryandongo Settlement, located in the
north of Uganda.
The essence of the YPN is to empower young women and men as peacemakers, change-
makers and community leaders. The idea is to build a network that is going to be animated at
first by a group of highly talented and motivated youth, who are trained by us. They will then
replicate this training with other young people and carry out educational and small business
projects with them. Overall, we aim to reach 10,000 refugees in the settlement as well as local
Ugandans, who will make up one third of our youth force.
These different training initiatives are very important to prepare these young talents for their
roles. We have designed a certified curriculum based on a unique mix of courses in conflict
resolution and mediation, life skills and meditation, business development and ICT. The ICT
training does not happen in a void. To ensure that young people and their communities have
access to ICT, we run a community learning centre where they can find computers and
educational and reading rooms.
These community centres are an essential part of the programme: they are community hubs
where children and young people in general can take courses in literacy, ICT and business
skills, and benefit from library services.
The project in the Kiryandongo Settlement is very important to me and my teams, because it is
the first time we will develop this programme specifically for young refugees. Just like the
youth we train and mentor in other places and countries, we want them to feel supported to
make a difference in the lives of their fellow community residents. We want to help them to
make the present better and to prepare a future of peace and sustainable development. Our
goal is for them to become voices for peace and change in their communities.
May: Joint Letter to the Editor of the London Times on the Protection of Education in
Conflict
19 May 2017
Taking opportunity of their participation on19 May 2017 in Distinguished Speaker Series on
Law, Education and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) organized at the Hague
Institute for Global Justice by the Education Above All Foundation (EAA, fellow SDG Advocates,
Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser (Education Above All), Ms. Graca Machel (Machel
Foundation), and Mr Forest Whitaker (Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative), sent a joint
letter to the editor of the London Times.
Sir, War is preventing 25 million young people worldwide from going to school. This
unprecedented level of conflict has now reached crisis point. We must take action to protect
education and hold those who attack children, teachers and schools to account. At present,
powerful countries are not accountable, and too often narrow political interested override the
needs of the most vulnerable. Today an event at The Hague Institute for Global Justice will
40
bring together leaders committed to building a stronger system of global governance to
protect schools in conflict. Moreover, the forthcoming G20 meetings provide an opportunity
for world leaders to demonstrate they are both accountable and responsible in the pursuit of
peace. They offer a chance for a renewed global commitment to education as a means of
delivering sustainable development. This opportunity must not be missed.
Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser (Education Above All), Mrs Graca Machel (Machel
Foundation), and Mr Forest Whitaker (Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative)
Available at : http://educationaboveall.org/#!/news/global-leaders-join-her-highness-sheikha-
moza-to-warn-of-threat-to-the-vision-of-the-sdgs-2030
June: From the UN SDG Knowledge Platform:
“Investing in ICT access and quality education to
promote lasting peace”
20 June 2017
On the occasion of the 2017 edition of the High-Level
Political Forum (HLPF) on sustainable development,
Forest Whitaker was invited to participate in the United
Nations blog to share his thoughts on Sustainable
Development Goal (SDG) 9: “Build resilient infrastructure,
promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and
foster innovation”. The HLPF is the main United Nations
platform on sustainable development and it has a central role in the follow-up and review of
the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development the SDGs at the global level. The theme for 2017
was "Eradicating poverty and promoting prosperity in a changing world".
Knowledge and information have become transformative dimensions of our existence and are
key drivers behind the implementation of all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). From
government to small villages, knowledge and information guides what people do and how they
do it. The 2030 Agenda recognizes the need to develop knowledge societies where everyone
has opportunities to learn and engage with others, which starkly highlights the need for access
to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). This is my reading of SDG 9, which
calls on states to “build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable
industrialization and foster innovation.”
Yet, in many places, people and communities cannot access computers or the Internet. In the
developed world, for example, over 80% of individuals use the Internet; in the developing
world, less than 35% do. The remaining 65% are often poor and remote communities or
disenfranchised groups. They may be fragile communities struggling every day to recover from
years of conflict. All these communities need access and I believe it is especially true of conflict
-affected or post-conflict communities.
The vision I implement through my Foundation, the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative
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(WPDI) is that connectivity can help vulnerable communities on their path to peace and
resilience. Peace is best practiced by individuals integrated into thriving communities, and
communities thrive when their members exchange among themselves and communicate with
those outside. This implies that, today, in this age of social media, peace and connectivity
condition each other. Connectivity means that people and communities have the skills, the
capacity and the will to interact and engage in respect-driven dialogues, that they can access
the resources to do so, and that they have the technology to help bridge physical and cultural
distances.
A key aspect of the programs I run through WPDI is the establishment of Community Learning
Centers (CLCs) in vulnerable communities in South Sudan and Uganda. At the CLCs, young
people and community members can access computers and connect to the Internet, as well as
take courses in ICTs, literacy, business, conflict resolution and library services. Since 2015,
WPDI has established nine CLCs in South Sudan and two in Uganda, with an average of 150
monthly users per center. I expect those numbers to grow as we open more centers and as
community people hear from their peers about the CLCs and what they can bring to them. To
me, success is when a center becomes a community hub, a place on peoples’ map and from
where they know they can conquer the world.
This is the reason why ICTs are central to my projects, beyond the CLCs themselves, which are
only an aspect of our primary goal of empowering young people to foster lasting peace and
sustainable development in vulnerable communities. We train groups of young people from
conflict- and violence-affected communities in conflict resolution, entrepreneurship and ICTs
so they can become peace makers and mediators and develop educational and economic
projects; we also equip them with technology so they can reach out to each other, form
friendships and connections, and brainstorm their responses to crises in real time. The CLCs
are part of this architecture where technology and learning are fully imbricated.
I see it as obvious that SDG 9—or indeed the whole 2030 Agenda—cannot be attained without
massive ICT investments in local populations, especially in remote and vulnerable
communities. It is also clear to me that we cannot achieve anything sustainable if we
disconnect technology from learning, and this relates particularly to SDG 4 on quality
education for all. Multiple issues are at stake here. Firstly, people must learn how to use
technology and information in ways appropriate to their needs and aspirations. The relevance
of ICTs is not just in access or even in basic command skills: ICTs are truly relevant if they help
us innovate in our daily lives. Technological innovation is successful when it supports social
innovation.
The other aspect of education I see as important is the need to promote civic uses of ICTs. If
we misuse the Internet and social media, they can become echo chambers for fake news,
hoaxes and hate speech. In other words, our efforts cannot focus solely on access and
technological issues. Quality education is of course about performance, but it is also about the
capacity of students to understand their world and to respect other people and cultures.
Technology can help us become better people if education teaches that communication must
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be a means for genuine dialogue. We should always bear in mind that the role of education is
to prepare citizens.
Available at: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/hlpf/blog2017/week15
September: On Africa.com : Let’s Help the Youth of South Sudan Write Their Own
History
The online media outlet Africa.com invited Forest Whitaker as guest curator for their inaugural
Special Edition newsletter where they shine a spotlight on countries in Africa – sharing their
history and heritage, vision and opportunities, successes and in some cases, their ongoing
struggles. They started with South Sudan – the youngest country in Africa – who marks its 6th
anniversary this year.
In December 2013, less than two years into independence, South Sudan entered the self-
destructive spiral of an ongoing civil war that has killed more than 50,000, displaced 2,000,000
and exposed 7.5 million people to heightened humanitarian risks, including famine and
cholera. Yet, this is not the whole picture. Something is missing: the will of communities to
have peace. I often go to South Sudan. I regularly meet and exchange with many people. I feel
close to them.
I grew up in South-Central LA where tribal warfare is called gang violence. Where I grew up it
was the Crips against the Bloods not unlike a civil war. It was brother against brother and it
was fighting for power, for control and for survival. In any case, their turf wars devastated
whole neighborhoods. I struggled most of my life trying to understand why it happens and
how to stop it.
One thing I have come to believe is that, be it a person, a community or a country, we cannot
put the future on hold indefinitely and spend our lives in a state of forever emergency. The
South Sudanese are, of all people, familiar with emergency. For 43 years in the last 62,
southern Sudan or South Sudan has actually been in a state of civil war, that is, literally, in a
state of emergency. This means that all living South Sudanese have directly experienced
conflict and emergency. Conflict in South Sudan is like a chronic disease that we cannot treat if
our mindset is simply to address emergency after emergency, intervention after intervention.
In order to make peace a tangible reality, we non-South Sudanese willing to help cannot be
just be in the business of going into conflict zones and trying to get people to put down their
guns. This is obviously an important first step – and we want the guns to fall silent in South
Sudan; but unless we replace the guns with schools, with jobs, with some way for people to
learn and to engage with each other in a productive way, then the next generation is just going
to pick the guns back up once we leave.
We must think in the long term and we must not assume that South Sudan’s problems can be
solved without South Sudanese themselves. Hence the importance of youth in my view: as
citizens of the youngest country of the world, they have a whole page of history to write by
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and for themselves.
As is the case everywhere in Africa, youth is the demographic majority in the population –
people under 24 make 65% of the estimated 12.5 million South Sudanese population. As in
many other African countries also, though, most young South Sudanese remain a social and
economic minority – meaning that they are not really presented with opportunities that will
get them to make a difference and earn their due – be it respect or income.
Such lack of prospect is worsened in South Sudan, where young people pay unbearable costs
to conflict and violence. A first cost is that they often end up as victims and perpetrators or
accomplices of violence. There is also the unseen cost that causes hundreds of thousands of
children and youth to miss on learning and working; and this leads to more poverty and
conflict.
South Sudanese youth are aware of this injustice. I have personally exchanged with many of
them and they keep repeating that their country is being ignored by the world and that they
are abandoned as young people. I want to prove otherwise.
My first thought is that we must perhaps stop saying that youth is the future. We often hear
that and in many countries – in Africa and elsewhere – it sometimes feels as if we are just
asking them to wait for their time until the adults are done, which ironically always happen to
take an awful long time. No. If we truly want real change to happen, young people must be
part and partners of the solutions as of today. How Do We Engineer That?
With my foundation, the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative (WPDI), we gather young
women and men from vulnerable communities and give them a holistic set of trainings in
conflict resolution, life skills, entrepreneurship, and Information and Communication
Technology. Once trained, these young leaders go back to their communities where they keep
a kind of watch, mediate conflicts if they arise and develop community projects and small
businesses with local youth they train themselves.
We now have a first group of 174 active in the area of the former State of Eastern Equatoria
and we started another one in April in the area of the former State of Western Equatoria and
plan to expand to other parts of the country in the years to come. Our aim is to build a new
kind of resource for the country. We train these young women and men as both peacemakers
and entrepreneurs so they can foster peace in times of conflict and nurture prosperity in times
of peace.
We are seeing some results. Local officials and even State governors enroll our youth to
conduct mediation processes or to train police and security personnel in non-violent conflict
resolution. Some take courageous initiatives: when violence peaked again in the summer of
2016, one of our trainees one of our peacemakers engaged negotiations with soldiers to ask
them to depart from the school they had transformed into barracks.. His argument to them
was that they had to care for the future of their country and let children learn.
Another positive result is that our young leaders of Eastern Equatoria have succeeded in
launching community businesses in their home counties. WPDI supports but does not create
the businesses for them. They do that themselves. We ask them to go in their communities to 44
assess needs and come up with viable business plans. They provide services to their
communities – mostly in agriculture or in construction material – and incomes for vulnerable
local youth.
These are only small steps but they demonstrate that South Sudan is not just about dispiriting
news. It is a country of hope and solutions too.
What my work has taught me is that solutions out of insecurity and fragility cannot come from
outside, nor can they come from above. Solutions will come from the people of South Sudan
and most of them are young. So we must assist. But, in the end, our help will be useful only if it
helps them help themselves.
Available at https://www.africa.com/youth-of-south-sudan/
November: With UNESCO: The role of a lifetime: fostering peace and creativity
Interview published by UNESCO in the sixth report on the activities of the International Fund for
Cultural Diversity (IFCD), the operational tool of the 2005 Convention for the Protection and
Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
For the past three decades, Mr. Whitaker has been building a solid and talented career in the
film industry, working as an actor, producer and director in both feature films and TV series.
Below, he shares his thoughts on topics like the creative economy, sustainability and the IFCD.
In what ways do you think investing in creativity can transform societies?
Expressing one’s creativity is organic to freedom of expression. It should be seen as a human
right. I think that the world would be a better place if creativity had more of a presence in
schools and in education at large. Such investment in creativity would be an investment in a
sustainable future, one where people would have more opportunities to imagine and realize
novelties while appreciating the rich diversity of cultures and individuals.
Tell us about the importance of having appropriate laws, regulations and policies that foster
the emergence of dynamic cultural and creative sectors?
The Human Rights Declaration allows people freedom of speech. All of our laws and
regulations need to stem and come from that. There should be an atmosphere where
individuals can rise up speaking individual self and individual communities. In this perspective,
the rights of artists and the rights of citizens are exactly the same. The main policy challenge is
to create an enabling environment where the exertion of rights is not just respected or
tolerated but promoted.
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What would be your definition of the “creative economy”?
It is an economy where imagination is the raw material and skills the main infrastructure.
How can the film industry help promote gender equality?
A key first aspect is to dispel stereotypes and prejudices, by having women portrayed in
prestigious roles. This issue of role models is fundamental. But that is not enough: what
matters is whether they drive the action, if they make things move around them rather than
simply deal with the consequences of actions initiated by male figures. Because the main
lesson behind art should be that you can be a maker of things and creator of worlds, that you
can change the course of things and even – if needs be – break the mold of established roles.
How do you think capacity-building programs like the ones run by the WPDI and the IFCD can
help build an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa?
The programs of WPDI aim to foster youth empowerment as an asset for their communities
and countries. They aim to foster lasting peace and sustainable development by drawing on
youth as our partners on the field. In that sense, the common trait between our work and
programs supported by the International Fund for Cultural Diversity on capacity building in the
creative industries is that they provide young people with tools to express themselves. The
objective of an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa must be fully owned by African
youth from the design to the implementation, and the creative industries play an important
role in such a transformation.
How can culture contribute to the achievement of the SDGs?
Starting with the obvious, I would first highlight that culture is an economic sector, which
deserves investments as such. There are returns in terms of jobs and growth. But I think that
the role of culture goes beyond that. With culture comes a conception of development that is
sustainable in the sense that it is centered on individuals’ capacity for entrepreneurship or
freedom to express their aspirations and their projects. When people feel they can participate
as actors and consumers in the cultural life of their community – be it local, national or global –
they are empowered. Innovation is often discussed in the context of the SDGs in connection
with science and industry, but I think that culture and social innovation should be part of this
reflection.
To conclude, would you like to address a special message to our readers?
The International Fund for Cultural Diversity is an important mechanism, which I hope will gain
momentum and visibility in the years to come. The Fund finances key projects in places where
assistance is needed as is the case for developing countries. More generally, the very existence
of the Fund sends a message on the importance of cultural diversity as a fundamental aspect
in the life of our communities. This is important to stress, as the world is engaged in the
implementation of the SDGs, bearing in mind that development cannot be sustainable if it
does not address the aspiration of individuals and cultures to express their creativity, which is
but another name for their liberty.
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IV. Video Messages Recorded for UNESCO and the UN
February: Forest Whitaker delivers video message on children in armed conflict
On February 8, Forest Whitaker delivered a video message to Member States and other
stakeholders attending the General Assembly’s Commemoration of the twentieth anniversary
of the mandate on children and armed conflict.
“Because they fully recognise the rights of children as well as the connection between security
and sustainable development … the SDGs are an opportunity to address the deep roots of
conflict,” said Mr. Whitaker in his video message.
Mr. Whitaker described youth in conflict-affected areas as “partners to implement the
sustainable developments goals in remote communities.” In particular, Mr. Whitaker noted
that providing entrepreneurship, conflict resolution, ICT, and vocational training to conflict-
affected youth as his foundation, the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative, does, can
help youth “heal inside, so that they can heal their communities.”
Video: http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/watch/forest-whitaker-artist-unesco-special-
envoy-sdg-advocate-commemoration-of-the-twentieh-anniversary-of-the-mandate-on-
children-and-armed-conflict/5315802176001
September: UN Week: Video message of Forest Whitaker for the International
Conference on Sustainable Development
Fellow UN SDG Advocate Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Center for International Development
of Columbia University, invited Forest Whitaker to deliver a video message for the opening of
the fifth International Conference on Sustainable Development.
Forest Whitaker stressed the importance of combining peacebuilding and sustainable
development. “The Millennium Development Goals have taught us that no country or province
directly impacted by armed conflict could meet the development goals. No true development
can happen when lives and countries are shattered; when people must abandon their homes
and their jobs; when people live in fear and have no hope or perspective. I see it as a sea
change that world leaders explicitly affirmed in the 2030 Agenda that peace is actually a
cornerstone of sustainable development.”
The video is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bevE7uaEgmg
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September: Forest Whitaker dedicates a video message on International Peace Day to
the peoples and the youth of South Sudan
Forest Whitaker recorded a video message for the people of South Sudan on the occasion of
International Day of Peace, an observance of the United Nations celebrated every 21st of
September.
In his message, Forest Whitaker contrasted the eruptions of senseless violence that repeatedly
rip the fabric of South Sudanese communities with their unsurpassable capacity for hope in a
peaceful tomorrow.
Elaborating on the theme of this year’s commemoration is “Together for Peace: Respect,
Safety and Dignity for All,” Forest Whitaker invites the youth of South Sudan to lay the ground
for a positive movement that will make peace and prosperity a reality for everyone in South
Sudan.
The video is available at: https://youtu.be/BKFMH_Nckzc
September: Video message for the Second International Conference on Youth
Volunteering and Dialogue
On 25 September 2017, Forest Whitaker delivered a video message to salute the Second
International Conference on Youth Volunteering and Dialogue. The conference took place at
UNESCO Headquarters and gathered over 100 international participants.
The young volunteers came from all regions, predominantly from the Arab countries but also
Africa, Europe and North America, Latin America and the Caribbean and Asia and the Pacific.
Forest Whitaker’s message is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmJgUl0MN58
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V. Awards Received in 2017 for his Work as UNESCO Special Envoy and CEO of the
Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative
January: 2017 Crystal Award at the 47th Annual Meeting of the World Economic
Forum
On 16 January 2017, Forest Whitaker was awarded with the 2017 Crystal Awards at the
opening of the 47th Annual Meeting.
Forest Whitaker was celebrated as one of the winners of the 23rd Annual Crystal Awards for
the leadership he has demonstrated throughout the years in peacebuilding and conflict-
resolution, notably by empowering youth as leaders and entrepreneurs in communities
touched by violence and poverty.
He was honored during the opening session of the Davos Annual Meeting 2017 with two other
awardees: violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and musician Shakira.
In his Acceptance speech, Forest Whitaker declared: “The ordinary heroes I work with are
young people in parts of the world impacted by violence and conflict. I have made it my
mission to help them to develop their potential as peace leaders, community developers, and
conflict mediators. In every young woman and man we work with, we try to nurture the simple
truth that they have the power to transform their world. They are both our present and our
future, and we teach them that, throughout history, change happens when ordinary women
and men come together and decide to become the change they want to see in their
communities.”
Established in 1971 as a not-for-profit foundation by Klaus Schwab, the Davos World Economic
Forum engages the foremost political, business and other leaders of society to shape global,
regional and industry agendas. Its Annual Meeting brings together some 2,500 top business
leaders, international political leaders, selected intellectuals, and journalists for up to four days
to discuss the most pressing issues facing the world.
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"In every young woman and man we work with, we try to nurture the simple truth that they have the power to transform their
world.”
Forest Whitaker at Davos WEF 2017
April: 4GAMECHANGER Of The Year Award at the Vienna 4GAMECHANGER Festival
In April 2017 in Vienna, Forest Whitaker received from the hands of the President of Austria, Mr. Alexander Van der Bellen, the 4GAMECHANGER Of The Year Award in the presence of Híkmet Ersek, CEO of Western Union, Sebastian Kurz, Austria’s Foreign Minister, and innovators from the Austrian business scene. The award came in recognition of the groundbreaking work that Forest Whitaker conducts through his foundation, the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative.
The 4GAMECHANGER festival aims to be the stage for webstars, the hub for future digital projects, the breeding ground for start-ups, the get-together for game changers and the show to beat all shows.
As a stage designed to showcase innovation, notably through information and communication technology, it was logical for the 4GAMECHANGER Festival 2017 to acknowledge and publicize the novelty of such projects as the Youth Peacemaker Network (YPN) that WPDI has been developing in places as diverse as South Sudan, Uganda and Mexico.
The 4GAMECHANGER Award celebrated Forest Whitaker’s invention of a model that fosters social innovation in venerable places affected by violence and conflict, including in settlements for people and communities displaced by conflict. These are places where positive change is most needed. In his keynote address prior to the ceremony, Forest Whitaker had stressed the need to foster such change, quoting, in particular, Martin Luther King Jr: "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".
It is precisely to help vulnerable communities face the challenge of change that WPDI empowers young women and men as agents of social innovation. The foundation equips young people with peacebuilding, ICT and entrepreneurship skills as well as mobile technology so they can actively promote transformative peace and reconciliation in their communities. They are the partners, not just the beneficiaries of the program.
The Festival and the award ceremony offered a unique opportunity to highlight the new developments that WPDI is undertaking with the Western Union Foundation to empower young women and men residing in a settlement camps for refugees in Kiryandongo, Uganda.
Because WPDI is firstly an incubator for youth-led social innovation, Forest Whitaker insisted that he was accepting the 4GAMECHANGER Award in the name of the young peacemakers he trains and who take action to promote positive change in remote communities of their countries: “They are change makers. They are the game changer whom you honored by giving the Game Changer Award to the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative. Today, they want to thank you with all their heart. Knowing that people who live far away from them would still recognize their work makes them very proud. They told me to ask you to join them in their quest to achieve peace and prosperity worldwide.”
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VI. Youth Trained by WPDI in the Spotlight
WPDI Peacemaker participates in 10th UNESCO Youth Forum to brainstorm on new
avenues to peace and sustainable development
Monday Collins Okello, one of Forest Whitaker’s peacemakers from Gulu Northern Uganda,
participated for three intensive days to the 10th edition of the UNESCO Youth Forum organized
at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris from 25 to 26 October.
Invited as a representative of WPDI, Monday was among 60 young women and women
recognized for their expertise and commitment in a wide array of fields and sectors. He was
selected with fellow participants for his capacity to lead change in his community and his
country. The Forum was an opportunity to bring these change-makers to the global discussion
table and start a conversation on how UNESCO can improve its engagement with youth to
better promote peace and sustainable development through education, the sciences, culture
and communication and information.
Monday actively contributed to the group discussions, stressing that “young people all over
the world need UNESCO to strengthen its role as a platform facilitating to access resources and
support their projects”.
For Monday, who confessed to be very impressed by the individual talents of the participants
as well as the collective energy emanating from their group, this experience with UNESCO as a
global laboratory of ideas is more than probably only a beginning since the organizers of the
Forum intend to maintain a long-term engagement with this group.
From Gulu to Paris, Monday has demonstrated his capacity a full-fledged peacemaker, whose
fundamental mission is to engage either locally or globally in open dialogue for sustainable
solutions.
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UNESCO Courier: The story of Magdalena—South Sudan
WPDI Youth Peacemaker Magdalena Nandege's story was highlighted in the October-
December 2017 edition of the UNESCO Courier:
"I think that art can do a lot for peace in South Sudan, so much more than long speeches. It can
show positive characters that people can identify with, inviting them to practise peace and
sustainable development. We need more art in South Sudan so we can have more peace."
https://en.unesco.org/courier/2017-october-december/story-magdalena-south-sudan
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VII. WPDI Partnerships
Over the past year, WPDI has joined forces with several organizations that are contributing to our mission in unique and important ways.
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VIII. Translating Our Ideals Into Concrete Action
As UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation and CEO of his foundation, the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative, Forest Whitaker undertakes activities on the ground, most of which in close collaboration with UNESCO.
A. Activities on the ground in South Sudan
WPDI implements programmes in South Sudan jointly with UNESCO Juba since 2012. WPDI develops activities in the three states of Equatorias, the sourthernmost region of South Sudan. UNESCO Juba Office hosts the Country Office of WPDI in South Sudan and recently supported the establishment of a Community Learning Center in Juba. Most activities of WPDI are undertaken under its flagship program, the Youth Peacemaker Network (YPN), first piloted in 2012 and launched in earnest in 2014. Since 2014, WPDI has also initiated a series of activities
to support Internally Displaced persons in the Protection of Civilians Site in Juba. WPDI is also collaborating with UNESCO Juba and the South Sudan Ministry of Education for the roll-out of our peace education program in primary and secondary schools throughout the country. Through the YPN, WPDI maintains a multi-tier network designed to harness the potential of youth for peace, non-violence, reconciliation and mediation in fragile contexts. One of the most innovative features of this project is to aim at mobilizing the power of youth through a package that includes capacity-building, connectivity, support to economic and cultural community projects with a view to strengthening local communities, impacted by conflict, armed violence, insecurity, ethnic tensions as well as limited opportunities for socio-political development. Trainings provided by WPDI rests on a unique mix of peacebuilding, conflict resolution, mediation, life skills, vocational training, ICT skills. Once trained, these young leaders go back into their communities to replicate, as trainers of trainees (ToTs), the teachings of WPDI with groups of young people at the local level. Together, the ToTs and their local youth undertake peacebuilding activities and income-generating projects. In 2014, the YPN was started in the Eastern Equatoria State. 18 young leaders are now active in their communities, where they have trained another 156 local youth with whom they started, in 2017, 9 community income generating businesses, which are very promising. Among others, the YPN youth are regularly invited by local civil society organisations and government officials to conduct peacebuilding workshops for conferences and trainings and also to mediate conflicts. In February 2017, WPDI held a seminar in Uganda where the YPN youth from Eastern Equatoria were
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invited to share experiences and learn with the YPN from Gulu, Uganda. This was the first time all the youth trained by WPDI in Africa could meet in this fashion. In addition, WPDI has already successfully initiated and established 9 Community Learning Centres (CLC) in 9 county headquarters in the former Eastern Equatoria state, one CLC in Juba and one in Yambio. CLCs create a community hub at a location that most of the youth and the general community around the area can access with relative ease. The CLCs are fully equipped with computers, books, halls and open spaces which can be used by the youth as engagement platforms for interactions and to acquire new skills. The CLCs have been providing computer classes using a fully-fledged curriculum that is developed to lead to certification. Peace building and conflict transformation classes are being conducted by the Trainers of Trainees (ToTs) whom WPDI trains and supports in the context of its flagship program, the Youth Peacemaker Network (YPN), which equips young women and men to become entrepreneurs and mediators. Having our ToTs as part of the team managing activities in the CLCs is key to ensure long term ownership of the project as a whole. The business skills trainings are conducted by a certified trainer that will help the youth come up with valid and sustainable business plans that will bring them job opportunities. In March 2017, Mr. Whitaker launched a new branch of the YPN in Western Equatoria State, where 20 future youth leaders have now completed their basic training as ToTs and will start going back into their communities beginning of 2018. In 2018 also, WPDI kept developing its programs mobilizing sports and cinema to promote peace within the Protections of Civilians Site in Juba. The Peace Through Sports program now comprises 115 teams with 4000 children and youth. The tournaments have become important highlights in the life of the camp.
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Testimonies from South Sudan Nandege Magdalena, midwife in training, ToT in Eastern Equatoria When we started our agribusiness community project, I personally learned modern agricultural practices which promote high productivity like row planting. We are also able to create job opportunities for idle youth who previously used to sit on street. They are now actively working on our farm. The surrounding community members will also greatly benefit from this project especially during weeding and harvest. We will give wages to those who assist us with the farm activities. We greatly appreciate WPDI team. Helping us and being there for us is a great sacrifice and commitment given the security situation in our country. We also thank Forest Whitaker for his vision and his dedication to youth
Lochebe Boniface, Member of the Kapoeta North Parliament, ToT in Eastern Equatoria I am Trainer of Trainees within the Kapoeta North Youth Peacemaker Network. We have started training local youth and the knowledge, skills and financial support we got from WPDI has given them an incomparable support. It has inspired in them a bigger dream in regards to social cohesion and business opportunities. When we initiated the project, we targeted the most vulnerable youth – school dropouts, drug addicts, the disabled and many others – and encouraged them to join the program. The income-generating community project is an incredible experience. We make bricks, which is very concrete and attracts the interest of many people. People visit the site every day, which is great to know the community better. Because there is so much to do, we learn a lot. The local youth have changed their perspectives on life. They cannot think enough of the project, which means that they don’t have time anymore to idle or to engage in risky or violent behaviors. Most of them now want to become entrepreneurs. They speak out their plans. This has been a very good start and we hope for the best. I sincerely want to thank Forest Whitaker and his teams for the tremendous work they have accomplished.
Isaiah Michael Baya, ToT in Western Equatoria The fourth training of ToTs in Juba has been one of the best in living memory. It exposed me to a lot of challenges that I still refer to as opportunities. As far as Conflict Resolution Education (CRE) is concerned, I had the experience of teaching in one of the best secondary schools in Juba. My interactions with the students taught me a lot of lessons. This hands-on practice is one of the best methods WPDI has exposed me to, and there is no doubt whatsoever that I am going to prove competent enough as a ToT that the Foundation can count on. The fourth training has also enabled me to learn a lot in the Business Sector. I now know how to come up with a good Business Plan, and to come up with a viable business idea that can be sustainable. Thanks to WPDI for the tailored curriculum that suits our situation in South Sudan. As far as ICT training is concerned, I have improved on my use and acquaintance with the social media like the internet, twitter, facebook, etc. to pass peace messages and advertise business. I no longer will use the social media just to chat with friends, but to make serious and helpful business adventures.
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B. Activities on the ground in Uganda WPDI launched a branch of the YPN in northern Uganda in 2012 jointly with Hope North, a rehabilitation campus in Masinde, where refugees, orphans and former child soldiers rebuild their lives through education and vocational training. 30 youth leaders between 15 and 25 years old have been fully trained and certified as mediators in their communities. The youth are implementing a total of 7 income generating community projects that focus on agriculture to provide employment to other youth and access to food at a reasonable price for communities. The Community Learning Center in Gulu, which provides daily ICT, peace education, arts & crafts and business skills trainings, has proved successful after two years of existence. An average of 400 attended the center every month to use computers, take trainings or use the library services. We have regular testimonies of young people finding jobs or returning to school after having taken our trainings. We are also working now with the army in Gulu as we train youth from the army barracks in conflict resolution to reduce the level of violence inside the barracks. WPDI keeps implementing a CRE programme in 6 primary and secondary schools in northern Uganda. These classes are followed by 250 students and provide a basic overview and knowledge about conflict resolution in theory and in practice. WPDI also works with Starkey Hearing Foundation. The youth participants in the YPN project are involved in the after-care support to the communities for the replacement of hearing aids. An after care center was also opened in 2016 at the CLC in Gulu and registered more than 1000 patients. In February, a workshop was held in Gulu, gathering for the first time the YPN youth from South Sudan and Uganda. The workshop included a session with ADG/SHS, the UN Resident Coordinator for Uganda (Mrs Rosa Malongo), and the Yunus Social Business Foundation. In February 2017, Mr. Whitaker launched a new branch of the YPN in the Kiryandong Refugee Settlement in partnership with Western Union Foundation. 46 future young leaders are currently being trained and a Community Learning Center has been established within the camp with courses quickly filling up in ICT, business skills, CRE and arts and crafts. We are also working with a group of 285 women that is being trained in business skills to support their businesses. We have deployed the peace education program in the settlement in 2 primary schools and 1 secondary school. The Peace through sports program was also launched in May 2017, with teams and tournaments quickly established. The Peace through Sports program has allow us to build trust with the different tribes and communities inside the settlement through conflict resolution trainings conducted as well for community leaders. It was agreed by the leaders to have female teams as part of our program as well as a team composed both of Dinka and Nuers, the fighting tribes in South Sudan. In March 2017, Mr. Whitaker launched a new branch of the YPN in the Acholi sub-region of northern Uganda in partnership with the Swedish Postcode Foundation. 33 young women and men trained to become agents of peace and sustainable development in their communities. The graduation of the 79 young leaders from the refugee settlement and Acholi sub-region took place in early December 2017 in the presence of Mr Whitaker and his partners, including Western Union Foundation, represented by Hikmet Ersek, CEO of Western Union, Ericsson, MTN Uganda as well as the United Nations, represented by Ms. Rosa Malongo, Resident Coordinator for Uganda.
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Testimonies from Uganda Suzan Atto, ICT Trailing at Gulu CLC After I finished school, a man deceived my parents and told them he would get me a job. Instead, he forced me to marry him and bear children. When I could finally escape, I had nothing because my father had abandoned my mother and my siblings. By luck, I heard about WPDI and could register in the July 2016 training. I graduated in December 2016. The certificate helped me get an interview for a job that I obtained, as School Secretary at the Gulu War Affected Training Center (this school offers vocational trainings to former child soldiers and abducted girls). From the monthly earnings out of the job I am able to support my three children, my other siblings and my mother. I would like to thank Forest Whitaker for having such a big heart and WPDI for the once in a life time opportunity they gave to be able to become a role model and indeed as Forest Whitaker said We must plant the seed of hope. We must nurture the seed of peace. Together it’s possible. I am proud to say that I am the seed that Whitaker has nurtured. I pray that other youth outside there in northern Uganda that their voice hasn’t been heard should be reached to as well through peace building, conflict resolution, ICT and entrepreneurship.
Malise Abashi, South Sudanese refugee from Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement My name is Malise Abashi. I am 25 years old, and before I came to WPDI I was a very violent person. I did not know how to relate with people, but through the constant training we receive through our art sessions I learned how to relate with others. I can now talk freely to other people from different cultures and I now value myself and my friends. I even met new friends and, believe me, my life is much better than it used to be. I also acquired some skills which is helping me to make some little money for myself. I am so very grateful to WPDI for the work they have done in my life. I also pray they continue to do the same to help other youth who were once like me.
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Aryemo Esther Ambrose, South Sudanese refugee from Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement
I am Aryemo Esther Ambrose, 25 years of age and a refugee from South Sudan; I would like to say that I have benefited a lot from the peace building and conflict resolution trainings, I am now able to approach peace building through illustration of peace frame work in the community in order for them to understand the meaning of peace building with very clear examples. On mediation process, am now able to approach conflict and solve it by being non-judgmental with the knowledge and experience I got from the facilitators, I am able to use the right channels to communication than before. The communication sessions has enabled me to understand communication techniques in order for everybody to understand. Lastly, I believe I got enough experience and knowledge to be able to overcome the challenges which will come my way in the community. And I have also learnt how to be confident, patient and committed by doing voluntary work in the community to promote peace as a peace maker in the settlement due to the
experience I got from the facilitators.
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C. Activities on the ground in Mexico In Mexico, WPDI aims at providing training to vulnerable youth in conflict resolution, community building, wellness and life coaching, information and communication technologies (ICT), among other skills and to support them in the development and deployment of positive leadership and constructive change in their own communities. 68 youth from both Tijuana and Chiapas trained by WPDI are now implementing with the support of the local teams their community projects. 14 projects have been designed such as “Protect and Serve the Community” focusing on the reinsertion of incarcerated young girls; “Youth with an optimistic conscience” that provides workshops on non-violence with the aim to raise awareness on bullying in schools, etc. WPDI youth are regularly mobilized by various partners to participate in events and campaigns as promoters of peace. Several Harmonizers volunteered to assist in the relief operations of the earthquake that struck Mexico in September.
Testimony from Mexico María Yolanda Hernández Gómez, Youth Peacemaker, Chiapas
As a young girl, I had few friends because I faced discrimination due to my skin color and my family background. My family faced discrimination because we were considered unusual and poor. I started working at the age of 5 and lost my father when I was 7 years old. Despite these and other challenges in my life, I was able to attend elementary school and participate in various activities such as dance. My mother encouraged my sisters and me to keep studying, and that helped me to secure scholarships in middle and high school to further my studies. It is the challenges that I faced that helped me to become resilient and to take action and pursue every opportunity available to me, rather than sit idle and accept discrimination and rejection alongside some of my relatives who remain demoralized. What made me eager to become young peacebuilder with WPDI
was the desire to learn and to meet other young women and men who are working to build a different society. Now, I do not feel so alone, and I know that I have a core group of youth in the Youth Peacemaker Network Program who I can turn to for support if I ever need it. My teammates and I are working on a project that will make a big difference. Our goal is to create a public space for people to come together, and have access to books and knowledge on a wide variety of topics. We aim to serve children and our community as a whole by exposing them to new ideas and ways of thinking. We aim to bring together women, men and children from our community. My team and I are trying to include youth of all ages into our project, while also being respectful of those who are older than us. WPDI’s program has made me believe in myself and grow as a person. It has filled me with hope and made me a stronger person. In fact, after each session, I am eager to share what I learn with my family!
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Some of the biggest challenges I faced in my community are apathy among youth and working with older women who have different views. I am overcoming these challenges by working with my teammates to mobilize youth from Zinacantan, and encouraging them to get involved in our initiatives. I know that change takes patience. My message to other youth is to dream of the extraordinary!
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D. Activities on the ground in Los Angeles, USA WPDI in partnership with the California State University Dominguez Hills and Carnegie Middle School, has designed a Conflict Resolution Education programme targeted towards middle school students to give young people the skills they need to be able to identify conflict in their lives and respond in a positive way. The CRE modules are integrated into core subjects like English, social studies and science so that teachers can integrate valuable CRE lessons without taking time away from their state-mandated curriculum. The programme and curriculum, which intertwines CRE with the Common Core State Standards for social studies, science, math, and English, are to be implemented for the next two academic years and in collaboration with all of the teachers and students at Carnegie with the intention of creating a peaceable school culture.
