IRD Activities

• Building Communities

  Communities divided by conflict cannot sustain a lasting peace. Forty per cent of conflicts restart within 10 years of a formal peace treaty, because the underlying causes of the conflict have not been resolved. Conflicts can arise from community divides, will certainly intensify them and feed off them, and cannot be finally ended without healing those divisions. Uniquely, local peacebuilders can break this cycle of violence. They are rooted in their communities, and they understand the dynamics and groups better than any outsider. They can bring together people from all sides, act as neutral facilitators, and build understanding instead of mistrust. This is why local peacebuilders are the key to building peaceful communities. They provide access to justice to settle disruptions peacefully, negotiate for the safe return of refugees, find a new place for ex-combatants in their old communities, and bring people from different backgrounds together to learn more about each other and find mutual goals for peace. Local peacebuilders are getting communities involved in peacebuilding by organising interfaith meetings and creating innovative economic and cultural projects that unite people from different backgrounds. PD initiated interfaith meetings in Sri Lanka, Sudan, South Sudan, Philippines, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Main Focus Countries of Activities

Sudan - South Sudan - Philippines - Sri Lanka - Bosnia and Herzegovina