Peacebuidling is ethical and that is evident in our Peacemakers in Action Network, a community of practice comprised of 30 religiously motivated peace actors from 23 conflict and post-conflict zones around the world.
The Peacemakers in Action award recognizes the brave individuals
who pursue peace in their communities. They are relatively unknown at the time of the award, motivated by their religious and/or spiritual beliefs, and their life and liberty are at risk.
For the Peacemakers in Action, ethics are at the core of their peacebuilding vocation.
Yeny Quijada of El Salvador is a lifelong peacebuilder, and reflects the ethical values of trust and dignity. Corruption and inaction have marred the country’s response to crime organizations that terrorize communities and coerce unemployed youths into joining their ranks. Yeny’s mission is to provide alternatives to at-risk Salvadorans through peacebuilding workshops, organic farming training, and working with police precincts. Find out more about Yeny’s work in El Salvador here.
Fatima Al-Bahadly of Iraq, a nation that is no stranger to war and corruption. Fatima’s efforts encompass a wholly ethical approach to peacebuilding. She works to maintain and restore the dignity of young men at risk of joining armed factions, to build trust in communities by maintaining cohesion between minority groups, and to defend the human and civil rights of the girls and women of Basra. Learn more about Fatima Al-Bahadly here.
Rev. Jacky Manuputty of Indonesia uses local techniques to engage disparate communities in ethical approaches to solving conflict. In his audio case study, Jacky admits that he did not always pursue peace ethically. Subscribe to Peacemakers in Action on Apple Podcasts to hear Jacky’s case study in November 2021 and discover how he now instills ethics in his peace work.
Sri Lankan Peacemaker Dishani Jayaweera pursues ethics in her work by bringing together religious actors of different faiths. Together with the Centre for Peacebuilding and Reconciliation, Dishani and her colleagues run trainings that emphasize locally-led problem solving for Sri Lanka’s diverse religious communities. Ethical coexistence and cooperation fuel Dishani’s desire for a more peaceful Sri Lanka. Listen to Dishani’s case study here.
South African Peacemaker Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge’s ethical endeavors involve the organization she founded in 2010, Embrace Dignity. Nozizwe works with South African officials and civil society to adopt the Abolitionist Equality Law in South Africa. An ethical South Africa involves gender equality, as set forth in the country’s constitution. Read more about Nozizwe’s current work here.
Nigerian Peacemakers Pastor James and Imam Ashafa model a transformed relationship as their approach to global ethics. Once sworn enemies and now partners in peace, they share their path to partnership with other seemingly intractable conflicts. Recently, they started the Peace Trees initiative as a way to bring conflicting parties of herders and farmers together for a larger environmental and ethical solution to the local issues they face. Read more about the Peace Trees Initiative here.
Learn more about the Peacemakers in Action who embody global ethics in their daily work.
Janie Dumbleton, Peacebuilding Assistant Director
Elie Khoury, Peacemaker in Action Network Coordinator