Journalists and Writers Foundation in Rwanda for Global Peacemakers Conference
Date posted: August 21, 2014
“Global Peacemakers Conference” took place in the Rwandan capital city Kigali, August 7-8, 2014. Turkey’s Journalists and Writers Foundation, the sole participant from outside Africa, attended the event having attracted a large number of academics, religious figures and NGO officials from across the continent.
In his address, the foundation’s secretary-general for Abant Platform Ibrahim Anli gave a presentation entitled “Hizmet Movement: Interfaith Dialogue and Education for Peace.” The presentation pointed out the movement’s efforts to bring together people of different segments of life wherever religious and ethnic differences evolve into conflicts.
The speakers discussed the lessons drawn from the genocide claiming 1 million lives in 1994 and noted how societal relations were gradually lost back then, in the run-up to the tragic event. They brought up the following social rehabilitation and peacemaking experiences as well. They further proposed ideas for peace in the Republic of South Africa and South Sudan, in particular.
Published [in Turkish] on GYV, 11 August 2014, Monday
It seems that US President Barack Obama and the rest of the world have not taken the Turkish president seriously on this matter. The Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV), the Swiss Dialogue Institute and the University of Geneva jointly organized a peace summit titled “Mobilizing Civil Society for Building Peace” at the UN Center in Geneva. The event attracted a great deal of attention, as evidenced by the participation of renowned individuals, including Hassan al-Benna’s grandson Tariq Ramadan; Ela Gandhi, the granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi, whose statue stands in the garden of the UN Center; and Gunnar Johan Stalsett, from the Norwegian Nobel Committee. A total of 800 renowned figures from 50 countries participated in this gathering.
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