It is at the Global Peace Convention in Korea (November 28-30, 2011) that I finally had the chance to meet Saroj Kumal Khanal, the Executive Director of Service For Peace in Nepal. In previous encounters, I had only heard about the initiatives that he was running through third party persons and mostly on the Global Team calls that Service For Peace and Global Peace Connect team members participate in on a weekly basis.  

Now at the Convention I had the opportunity to not only meet him but to also hear about the projects and initiatives in Nepal from the horse’s mouth as Saroj shared a presentation on the initiatives they were running. As Saroj speaks, he does it with such humility but also with so much passion and you can see the zeal, the determination and the commitment to the success of these initiatives. And as I listened, I could not help but think what a great model of community driven development this was. Saroj was able to share with us four great examples of initiatives that I would like to highlight in this article.

First, was on a literacy program focused on women in a rural poor community in Nepal that has the women empowering themselves and driving its development. I hope to share in more depth about this initiative that truly stood out for me.

Second, was on a goat scholarship program; students are provided with a goat that has the potential to be impregnated and the first two kids that are birthed are invested back to the project and those birthed thereafter remain in the custody of the student and their family.

Third, was a potato farming project that involves the larger community with the intention to increase productivity levels.  The community itself provides the land and the organization provides seed money to undertake the farming.

Fourth, is an initiative towards sustaining the initiatives and increasing their scale-ability by initiating a fundraising effort called ‘the power of one rupee’ that also invites the participation of all community members to give as little as one rupee towards supporting these community initiatives.

It was important to note that among the highlights during one of the session at the Convention on “Empowering citizens in Community Driven Development” emphasized on ensuring that there was ownership of the development within the community, the need to start at a small scale and once successful, begin to scale-up and the role that new innovative strategies can play in scaling up community driven initiatives that were working.

I found Saroj’s initiatives well within this criterion especially in the ownership and in starting at a manageable scale.  In a follow-up article, I hope to highlight in depth one of the initiatives that really stood out for me — the woman to woman literacy program that was changing the lives of poor rural women in Nepal and had experienced growth through their very own efforts.

By Becky Gitonga

Will this high level forum help save the world? I don’t know for sure but it is a step in the right direction.

The GP Connect! Social media team comprised of Atlas Corps Fellow and IT Director Phil Mlanda and Becky Gitonga a consultant with GP Connect! were in attendance for the Busan conference in Seoul, Korea hosting a twitter fall and sharing provocative questions. Where does GP Connect! fill in during the conference? We hope to become players in the development arena. I mean that our model, the Community Driven Development model will hopefully help the aid community focus funding in a sustainable and effective manner. Also in attendance to the conference was the President of Service for Peace Dr. Charles Phillips and Atlas Corps Fellow Varun Sood the Director of Strategy and Operations. One of the major agenda’s of the conference is that major donor countries increase transparency in order to meet the UN’s millennium goals.

Busan is one of the final steps to completing the 2015-millennium goals. How will the development community get there? HLF4 is the incubator that will give birth to new ideas and partnerships to achieve living standards for the poorest people in the world. The north south model of developed countries has given way to developing countries joining the arena.

Developing countries, civil society and private donors are all contributors to lifting communities out of poverty. The goal of the Busan conference is to emphasize transparent engagement, real world solutions and the involvement of new partners to bring the promise of 2015.

For more information about the high-level forum, follow the discussions on twitter hashtags: #gpckorea11 & #HLF4

By Josephine Ona

In November 2010, Kenya had the privilege of hosting the Global Peace Convention, one of the key programs of the Global Peace Festival Foundation (GPFF) that focuses on bringing together a preeminent assembly of leaders from the government, civil society, and faith-based organizations. The Convention convened in Nairobi last year was the first following a significant series of regional Global Peace Festivals held around the world. The festivals are another key program of GPFF that promotes an innovative approach to peace building through multi-cultural celebrations and service initiatives that engage volunteers from every background and has managed to bring together more than a million peace-minded people in nations on every continent. Each of these initiatives aim to generate local and regional ownership in addition to collaborative action.

This year (2011), the Global Peace Convention will be held in Seoul, Korea under the theme of “Peace building in East Asia and the Unification of the Korean Peninsula” starting November 28-30, 2011. A key aim for this year’s Convention being to bring a new focus to the significant issues related to the reunification of the Korean peninsula, with consideration of innovative civil society approaches that promote mutual understanding and cooperation.

One of the significant aspects of the Convention being that it provides a world-level platform to share best practices and develop collaborative strategies in addressing key areas within each of the regions that the Global Peace Festival Foundation initiates these programs. Also of significance is the opportunity the Convention provides to initiate new partnerships, develop new programs and strengthen existing ones. I wanted to draw some perspective on the significance of the Convention focusing on the developments in Kenya both prior to the Convention in November 2010 and thereafter.

Prior to the Global Peace Convention held in November 2011, there were a number of initiatives that the Global Peace Festival Foundation (GPFF) had launched; first was the initial effort to bring together key stakeholders in mobilizing youth and communities in a major clean effort along the Nairobi River as part of the first Global Peace Festival held in 2008. Thereafter, GPFF initiated the Character Competency Initiative (CCI) that was being implemented within high schools in Kenya. Of significance to note is that the CCI is one of the programs that has greatly benefited from partnerships established during the Global Peace Convention held last year. The Initiative was able to draw partners from Government such as the Ministry of Education and from the private sector such as Brand Kenya, Oxford University Press and institutions such as the Africa Nazarene University. The CCI program has since grown tremendously having started with five pilot schools and working with over thirty more schools nationwide. The CCI has managed to build a locally driven process through character competency committees comprised of school principals, teachers, parents and student, providing a great example of school based community driven development.

Similarly for Global Peace Connect (GP Connect!), a recently emerged unit that performs the critical role of providing the needed research, analysis, reporting, reviewing, and long-term planning that is an essential part of community driven development, the Convention was of much significance. First was the invitation to various key speakers to participate during the community driven development sessions held at the convention. Not only did this provide a platform to discuss the significance of the community driven development process but also sought to provide an enriching perspective on the topic, experiences and challenges faced, and provided an initial network of stakeholders that GP Connect! was able to engage after the end of the Convention.

Following the convention, GP Connect! has since undertaken comprehensive community mapping initiatives within two key communities, one an urban slum and the other a semi-urban community of Nairobi. The community mapping process has proved to be a vital tool in providing useful information on the needs within the community but more importantly in identifying existing community resources and assets. Through a comprehensive data analysis and a process that enables the community to prioritize its needs, this will be useful in shaping ongoing programs in Kenya.

And now as the Global Peace Convention moves to Korea, this will be yet another opportunity to share some of the emerging best practices and lessons from the field. In addition, the Global Peace Convention provides the platform to connect with practitioners from a different region.

By Becky Gitonga 

This year’s Global Peace Convention will be in Seoul, Korea right after the thanksgiving holiday in the US and before the Christmas season. This reminds me that the message of peace and community is essential to having a strong country. Through GP Connect!, community driven development and shared values the Global Peace Festival Foundation wants to help bring the North and the South together.

With a shared history, culture, language and family ties the political, ideological and societal barriers that have separated the peoples of north and south can be overcome. My hope for this holiday season is unification, peace and prosperity for all.

What I love about development work the most is the power it has to transform our society. My goal as a citizen of the world is being a part of the solution in our global community.

By Josephine Onah