Core Group of Pacific Peace Builders to Get Induction Training Soon
[February 26 – Nadi] What is peace? What are the linkages between peace, conflict and development? How can gender and human rights be addressed through peace building projects? These are some of the questions that will be answered in an induction workshop for a core group of Pacific peace builders scheduled for May.
The induction workshop is part of a peace building project supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Pacific Centre. The project, Strengthening Capacities for Peace and Development in the Pacific aims to bring together regional organizations, government and civil society actors to share experiences, discuss the difficult issues and begin to strengthen leadership and capacities for Peace in the Pacific.
UNDP Pacific Centre’s Conflict Prevention and Peace Building Expert, Tracy Vienings said the core group of peace builders will be drawn from selected countries in the Pacific.
“Through this project we are targeting a core group of peace builders, generally middle level staff in civil society organizations, governments and intergovernmental organisations,” said Ms Vienings.
“Those participating in this programme will also benefit from a small grants mechanism to fund peace projects of those participating in the initiative,” she said.
The induction workshop as well as activities relating to the Strengthening Capacities for Peace and Development project, were discussed at a two-day mapping and design meeting that ended in Nadi today. The membership of a project steering committee was identified.
The meeting was attended by representatives from regional organizations, governments, non government organizations, as well as the private sector from selected Pacific island countries.
The overall aim of the Strengthening Capacities for Peace and Development in the Pacific project is to strengthen the cadre of peace practitioners from the Pacific whose work and approach will hopefully be strengthened through skills building, up-scaled policy interventions, the regional sharing of good practices and effective peace building mechanisms suited to the Pacific - and through improved access to resources and experts made available through a peace-net portal supported by the project. One of the key issues is not to duplicate work being done at the regional level or the national level, but rather to complement and add resources to current initiatives.
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For further information contact: Shobhna Decloitre on (+679)9926396 or shobhna.decloitre@undp.org
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