Peace and Security

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Canada and International Mediation: What Role in 2012 and
Beyond?
The Canadian International Institute of Applied Negotiation (CIIAN)
in collaboration with the _Canadian Foreign Policy Journal_
(_CFPJ_) is producing a special issue on the topic of Canada and
International Mediation: What Role in 2012 and Beyond?

This seems not to have gone out.

Dear John,

Thank you for passing along this important news. Sad, yes, but highlighting
one of the few towering figures that the field of conflict prevention can
claim. It's a shame he did not receive the Nobel Peace Prize he was
nominated for, as he can count many concrete contributions to peace. I met

John,
Thanks for letting us know. It is very sad. Max was visionary in many (and very quiet) ways.
Diana
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Monday, April 25, 2011 4:05 PM
To: Conflict Prevention; Alan J. Kuperman
Dear All,
 
As such a conference approaches, perhaps of interest for people to
know that Max van der Stoel passed away two days ago at the age of 86

Dear John,
Thank you for letting us know about Max. I had great respect for him.
Trusting you are well,
Ben
Ben Hoffman, Ph.D.
68B Raddatz Rd. RR. 2
Eganville ON Canada K0J 1T0
613-754-5283 O
613-754-5208 F

Dear All,
 
As such a conference approaches, perhaps of interest for people to
know that Max van der Stoel passed away two days ago at the age of 86
years.  Many lessons to be learned from his life's work in many
situations and several parts of the world.
 
Fyi, Max had been a Fellow at USIP many years ago (I believe after he

That's right Alan: conflict prevention efforts might not only fail to prevent conflict-they might on some occasions foster it. As Michael Lund and his IPPP team ask in Preventing Political Violence: Towards a Model for Catalytic Action, p.6: "What if the intervention backfires and makes things worse? What if the intervention triggers renewed violence? What if nothing happens?" Arguably, no peacebuilding or conflict prevention effort is ethically complete without contingencies for its failure, right?

Casey raises a great point. And not only do prevention efforts
sometimes fail to prevent, sometimes they backfire by escalating
violence against noncombatants. Reducing this risk seems like a vital
issue for a USIP conference on prevention. I'd be happy to present
the lessons of my last 15 years of research, as I did this month at a

Dear Colleagues,

Please see the latest “On the Issues” by Abiodun Williams, Vice
President of USIP's Center for Conflict Management, dealing with the
UN’s role in Libya: [link]

Best,

Jonas

-------------
Jonas Claes
Program Specialist

Thanks for this Jonas.
This is a great cast of presenters for the subject of preventing conflict. Sometimes the good work of ambassadors and under secretaries inspires in at-risk populations a hope that may turn out to be misplaced. That's not a criticism, just a comment on the nature of a very difficult endeavor. Will any of your presenters therefore speak to the ways that locals might also be supported in carefully preparing for a failure to prevent conflict?

Dear Colleague,

The United States Institute of Peace's (USIP) Center for Conflict
Management will hold its second annual conference on “Preventing
Violent Conflict” from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm on June 1, 2011, at the new
USIP Headquarters (2301 Constitution Avenue, NW).

The goals of this Conference are to spotlight the importance of

FYI
[link]

Thanks much, Kevin. I hope you are doing well.

Michael

Dear Michael
I have talked about early warning systems in Nepal whenI have been working with Paula Green in our Kathmandu workshops. The person who would know about what is happening on the ground however is about to become a Ph.D student with us. His name is Prakash Bhattarai and his e mail address is Prakash Bhattarai <prakash.bhatta...@gmail.com<m ailto:prakash.bhatta...@gmail. com>>. I have ccd him in on this correspondence.

Michael-I'm not privy to that. I would as interested as you to learn if a civilian-based conflict EW system is being contemplated/activated in Nepal.
Casey
Mr. Casey A. Barrs
Protection Research Fellow
The Cuny Center
Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2011 1:18 PM
To: preventing-conflict@googlegrou ps.com
Hi Casey, Patrick and all,

Hi Casey, Patrick and all,

While looking at Kumar Rupesinghe's FCE local early warning system in Sri
Lanka and Patrick's blog about Ushahidi as well as its website, I saw a
reference to the possibility that some sort of citizen-based or other local
early warning (EW) process has been established in Nepal, or at least has

As NATO's mission continues to redefine itself, four experts discuss what the alliance can do to remain relevant as a force for international peace and security.

Elaine Smith

What is the title for an activist that protests so much that he ends up changing everything around him? Or what can you find in common between a Belgium monk that trains rats and a Canadian teacher that teaches empathy for kids, or how to define a Brazilian priest that became a banker? These are exactly the punch lines opening the trailer of the film Quem se Importa, which means ‘who cares’ in the director Mara Mourao’s native Portuguese. Following her other social movie Doutores da Alegria in 2005, she is now back in theatres with a fantastic film about social entrepreneurs. Despite being Brazilian, the film is very international in its nature given that two-thirds of the entrepreneurs’ testimonies are in English. It was inspired by the book How to Change the World by David Bornstein (2007). And the trailer also says that this is more than a film – it is a movement. I share this idea.

I had the chance to see the film just before its opening day in Sao Paulo, in an event sponsored by Mattos Filho Advogados, one of the many firms that sponsored the film. I gladly saw Mattos Filho’s clients filling the four rooms where the film would be shown simultaneously. And I also shared the joy and fulfillment a lot of these business managers were feeling by the time the lights where turned on. I saw tears among viewers, not only the ones involved in the social arena, but also among people that for some reason are just not involved yet.

The film starts by explaining in simple terms the definition of social entrepreneur. There are 18 social entrepreneurs in the film (I’ve listed all below, along with their organization websites) and there is a lot of personal sentiment supporting the intention of those individuals working in what was initially considered a crazy idea but is now going mainstream. We are talking systemic change to a situation that might change the life of thousands of people.

The main idea of the film is that everyone can change the world. One of the main elements for such change is innovation. There are so many marvellous testimonies from these social entrepreneurs that I feel bad in picking a couple. But these changemakers are already changing the world, it is such an honour to share their thoughts. For instance, Premal Shah, from Kiva in the US, says: ‘Don’t ask what the world needs, ask what makes you feel alive, for the world needs more people to come alive.’ Unsurprisingly, I copied that straight to my Facebook page status. He also has a brilliant comment about the ‘ovarian lottery’; I had heard this idea before from Warren Buffett, in short saying you cannot control where you are born, but you are coming with some skills to this life of yours. Socially speaking, Shah brings the same theory back into question saying you cannot control whether you are born in a wealthy family in Manhattan or in a tribe in Central Africa. But there is a lot to accomplish either way.

Documentaries are short-lived in movie theatres. An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore in 2006 was an exception. But I also know that social media has changed things over the last 6 years. I cannot wait until pieces of Quem se Importa spread out over YouTube and social media pages. I want to Google ‘Muhammad Yunus’ and see his testimony in this film, along with his Nobel Prize website comments. I want to hear that Harvard students are using the film for their case studies on microcredit or the many other business models that we see in this film. By the way, two classes of Harvard Kennedy students already saw the film. But I hope it may become epidemic soon.

Mara Mourao combined in a very powerful way examples of investments in the environment and social areas, and how these need to go mainstream. I cannot wait until the DVD is released (expected time for the launch is July), so we can distribute it in public and private schools. The director is in touch with six international distributors of films, and I would imagine the curiosity of investors could ignite more international interest in the subject.

Muhammad Yunus says we are not guests in this world. We are creators and we are able to imagine what kind of world we want before we start the creation process. It is part of our social responsibility to use the best of our abilities to create a different world.

The social entrepreneurs featured in the film are:

Muhammad Yunus (Grameen Bank – Bangladesh)

Karen Tse (International Bridges for Justice – Switzerland)

Premal Shah (Kiva – USA)

Oscar Rivas (Sobrevivencia – Paraguay)

Vera Cordeiro (Saude Crianca – Brazil)

Isaac Durojayie (DMT Mobile Toilet – Nigeria)

Rodrigo Baggio (CDI – Brazil)

Dener Giovanini (Renctas – Brazil)

Wellington Nogueira (Doutores da Alegria – Brazil)

Joaquin Leguia (Ania – Peru)

Mary Gordon (Roots of Empathy – Canada)

Joaquim Melo (Banco Palmas – Brazil)

Bart Weedjens (Apopo – Tanzania)

Eugenio Scanavino (Saude e Alegria – Brazil)

Bill Drayton (Ashoka – USA)

Al Etmanski (Plan – Canada)

Jehane Noujaim (Pangea Day – USA)

John Mighton (Jump – Canada)

Elaine Smith is development manager at Instituto Geração.

Michael Alberg-Seberich

How to prevent obesity among teenagers? The Schtifti Foundation (Schtifti is the Swiss German word for a learner or apprentice) in Zurich, winner of the 2012 Feri Foundation Award, has developed unique answers to this question. It has turned the healthy lifestyle into something cool. The foundation has implemented a Web 2.0 campaign reaching around 1.5 million young people in Switzerland. It has brought its ‘freestyle tour’, a combination of sports, exercise and cooking classes, to more than 285 schools. The two donors, Roger Grolimund and Ernesto Silvani, set up a small endowment after they had experienced personal loss in early years. They have turned their fate into an amazing creativity and productivity. The Schtifti Foundation is a unique hub where young people do something for young people. 

Awards recognize engagement. They also indicate trends in a sector. The latter is especially true if a prize has a track record. The Feri Foundation Award was awarded for the seventh time on 9 May 2012 in Frankfurt. 184 foundations in Austria, Germany and Switzerland had submitted their applications. The prize is based on a two-step selection process. In a first phase a small committee of Feri representatives and their partners determines six nominees. In the second step a jury discusses the nominees and chooses the winner. The aim of the award is to recognize the civic engagement of donors and to spot innovative ways to pursue philanthropic involvement. Partners of the award are the German Association of Foundations and Active Philanthropy. Feri, initiator and organizer of the award, is Germany’s largest non-bank advisor for private and institutional assets offering financial advice, asset management, economic research and a rating service.

So, you already know the winner of this year’s award. Schtifti Foundation and the other five nominees for the prize are signposts for exciting developments in (German-speaking) foundation land. Let’s have a look at them:

• Bewegungsstiftung – a giving circle of social activists

This foundation is a giving circle of more than 150 like-minded donors from all over Germany. The donors are all convinced that the lever to social change is supporting social movements. The foundation has funded the anti-nuclear-power movement and helped to seed fund new measures to control lobbying. The Bewegungsstiftung has developed an innovative program to financially support people who want to commit most of their time to a cause. In addition, the foundation is one of the most transparent and inclusive ones in regards to its decision-making processes and its endowment.

• Stiftung Biovision – evidence-based, sustainable giving in East Africa

The Zürich-based foundation was initiated by entomologist Prof Dr Hans Rudolf Herren after he had won the World Food Prize in 1998. Professor Herren set up the foundation to combine academic rigour, ecological principles and community-based fieldwork to support a sustainable way of life in rural East Africa. The foundation is an active advocate for the knowledge it gained in its fieldwork at various international organizations. Rigour, expertise, advocacy and community work are the levers used by this foundation for its work in Africa.

• Canopus Foundation – venture philanthropy and solar for all

The vision of the Canopus Foundation is that people in all rural areas of the southern hemisphere can have easy access to electric light produced by solar energy. The foundation’s work is based on the principles of venture philanthropy. It has conducted a worldwide business plan competition to identify suitable entrepreneurs to fulfil the vision. The competition resulted in the set up of an investment fund that will help proven concepts to scale. Now the foundation focuses its efforts on providing philanthropic capital to those entrepreneurs with a good idea that still need to show that their technology, business idea works.

• Kölner Gymnasial- und Stiftungsfonds – old, innovative and community minded

This foundation was founded in 1422 to provide scholarships for students at the University of Cologne. Over time the foundation turned into a foundation of foundations, and hosts 278 foundations today. Over the last 15 years the foundation has extended its grantmaking portfolio. Besides university students it now supports disadvantaged young people in schools. In addition the foundation has extended its services to donors to serving as a foundation manager committed to the local community. This is a fascinating example of how commitment and innovation can be based on tradition.

• Stiftung Menschen für Menschen – Karlheinz Böhms Äthiopienhilfe – long-term support for Ethiopia

In the German-speaking world many people know the actor Karlheinz Böhm. He is a cultural icon of Germany’s economic miracle. At the beginning of the 1980s the actor decided to commit his life to supporting people in Ethiopia. The foundation has supported the setting up of hundreds of schools, medical centres and other services for the local population. The foundation’s long-term commitment to the country is deeply rooted in local communities in Ethiopia. The organization is an example of how celebrities can initiate and support lasting positive change.

The trends represented by the nominees can be summarized in the following way:

• Foundations as single-issue NGOs that actively fundraise.
• Foundations as social entrepreneurs.
• Foundations are actively experimenting with the lever of advocacy.
• Foundations see the potential of new investment forms and of using the entrepreneurs’ toolbox.
• Foundations – even mid-sized and smaller ones – are concerned with international issues.
• Foundations recognize the importance of community-based engagement.

I think these trends are exciting! Let’s hope that these and all the other smaller foundations out there will influence the way overall philanthropy is conducted in the future.

Michael Alberg-Seberich is managing partner at Active Philanthropy

The U.S.-Turkey relationship has become increasingly important as a result of the continuing violence in Syria and ongoing debate over Iran's nuclear program. In this crucial time, the two countries have an opportunity to work together to help shape the Middle East, including the challenges of ensuring the stability of Iraq, containing Iranian nuclear ambitions, and putting an end to the Assad regime in Syria.

A brutal crackdown continues, the opposition resists a political solution, and a divided international community offers no new alternatives, says expert Peter Harling.