2018 IMPACT REPORT: POWER TO THE PEACEBUILDERS 1
SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUND 2019 POWER TO THE 2018 PEACEBUILDERS IMPACT REPORT
KENYA SRI LANKA MIDDLE EAST AND SIERRA LEONE Citizens And e Army Join Healing A Nation From e NORTH AFRICA e Child Reporter Who Forces To Reduce Violence Ground Up Women At e Helm Became Sierra Leone’s Top Investigative Journalist 2 SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUND 2018 IMPACT REPORT: POWER TO THE PEACEBUILDERS 3
Peacebuilding is INDISPENSABLE ON THE RISE JUST IN TIME
How you react to hearing the words Political leaders and ordinary citizens alike are Peacebuilders are not a new type of “violent con ict” depends on who realizing the scope and urgency of the threat activist. ey have been around for a you are and where you live. posed by poorly managed con ict. At the same while, and many of them—Martin Luther For some, it’s a harsh daily reality, disrupting time, they are becoming aware that adversarial King, Gandhi, Mandela—hold their own each and every aspect of life—safety for yourself ways to confront it oen end up perpetuating it. lengthy chapters in the history books. and your family, your ability to eat, your access Peacebuilding is increasingly sought aer, and But peacebuilding itself is evolving. As to even the most basic services. For others, examples can be found everywhere. In the more and more people embrace it, the it's a painful memory or a looming threat. US, the National Security Council is looking mantle of these legendary gures is For many, however, it’s a distant echo to scale up the role of peacebuilding in their passing onto everyday heroes like the of tragedies happening somewhere far strategy to counter violent extremism. In ones whose stories you will read here. away. Somebody else’s aiction. Yemen, civil society groups are organizing e biggest threat to our eld is the belief into local Con ict Resolution Committees In fact, violent con ict is simply the that peace is not possible. Today, ordinary to help their communities survive and meet citizens are proving that it is. ey are making manifestation of a deeper problem that daily needs in the midst of a brutal civil war. aects all of us: our inability to deal well incredible progress toward stability, safety, In Nigeria, communities of faith are coming and justice in some of the world’s toughest with our dierences. at’s not somebody together to break cycles of violence and else’s problem. It’s everybody’s. con ict zones. ey have the power to segregation. In this report, you will nd many ignite a global movement that can turn the Every human being has at least some experience examples of how leaders at all levels—from 21st century into the era of peacebuilding, with dierences handled poorly. We live in a Kenyan shermen to Sri Lankan government when we resist becoming consumed by world that is becoming more interconnected— ocials to female political candidates in our dierences and instead resolve to and falling apart at the same time. Political Lebanon—are embracing peacebuilding. collaborate to solve our biggest challenges. polarization is at a record high in Europe and Even the word “peacebuilding” was nally We have been among the pioneers of citizen- the United States. Con icts once conned accepted into several of the most popular English to national borders now drag entire regions led peacebuilding for 35 years, and we pledge dictionaries in the world, another indicator of to be a key player in this momentous shi. into cycles of violence. Today, the world is the eld’s emergence into the mainstream. struggling to serve the needs of the highest number of refugees since World War II. Put simply, as highlighted by the World Bank, our inability to manage con ict is the primary driver of poverty and suering. It’s hindering “Search for Common Ground recognizes every advance in human life: from education to the ght against poverty, from healthcare to coping with the eects of climate change. the di culty of nding constructive ways e solution is not limited to treating the symptoms of violent con ict—caring for victims, reconstructing roads, rebuilding to respond to conict... but they refuse to accept economies—though those are important too. It’s diagnosing the root causes and transforming con ict into cooperation. It’s equipping that a di cult thing cannot be done.” ordinary people with the tools they need to choose collaboration over confrontation. We call it citizen-led peacebuilding, and we know it can build safe, healthy, and - THE AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE, IN THEIR LETTER just societies anywhere in the world. Shamil Idriss, Isam Ghanim, CEO President NOMINATING SEARCH FOR THE 2018 NOBEL PEACE PRIZE 4 SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUND 2018 IMPACT REPORT: POWER TO THE PEACEBUILDERS 5 NOBEL PEACE PRIZE nomination
In March 2018, one of the most respected organizations in peacebuilding, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), nominated us for the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the global Quaker community for having “made a profound impact in our world, inspiring and equipping people […] to nd our shared humanity.”
"In liing up Search for Common Ground we hope to draw attention to the importance of creating a space in which dialogue is possible,” AFSC said in the nomination letter. “ey do not see the aim of dialogue as the simplistic reaching of compromise, in which everyone must be prepared to give up something important. Instead, one of their core principles is that ‘common ground is not compromise’; they aspire to a common ground where all parties collectively and creatively work toward a future in which everyone’s needs and concerns are valued.”
"Search for Common Ground’s work is based on the belief that peace is a process, not an event, and that it takes long- term commitment and profound dedication to achieve it,” they continued. “is personal dedication to peacebuilding also requires immense courage from sta on the ground.”
"Search for Common Ground recognizes the di culty of nding constructive ways to respond to conict, but they refuse to accept that a di cult thing cannot be done.”
As recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1947, the AFSC and the British Friends Service Council have the privilege to propose one nominee to the Oslo Committee each year. We could not be more honored or grateful to them for nominating Search for Common Ground in 2018. We take their nomination as a recognition of the courageous and eective work of the community of frontline peacebuilders worldwide who make up Search for Common Ground, and as a challenge for all of us to continue producing work worthy of such recognition. 6 SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUND 2018 IMPACT REPORT: POWER TO THE PEACEBUILDERS 7
TURNING We began our journey in 1982, inspired by the vision of a world where ordinary citizens could transform even the toughest con icts. THE NEXT 10 YEARS Over the decades, we have constantly adapted to stay relevant to the ever- In a rapidly evolving world, con icts change quickly. In e Plan is a 3-scope strategy to is process yielded changing nature of society, politics, and violent con ict. We supported order to have as much impact as possible, our response • Drive systemic change in 10 of the • First-ever criteria for where we work diplomatic eorts during the Cold War and pioneered a country program must evolve, too. world’s most consequential con icts • First-ever unied eory of Change model to tackle the civil wars of the 1990s. We leveraged broadcast In 2016, we launched an 18-month process to determine • Popularize the Common • A new denition of programmatic success VISION Ground Approach media for peace throughout our history and championed online how. We involved more than 200 sta, partners, policy- • Reforms to achieve operational excellence media in the last 15 years. In 2018, we initiated another momentous • Advocate for more eective support INTO makers, donors, and thought leaders. • Revitalized Leadership Team structure shi toward tackling 10 of the world’s most consequential con icts. for locally led peacebuilding is process ended in 2018 with the launch of our new 10- and Board composition is is how our initial vision became the world’s largest dedicated year Strategic Plan. Learn more at sfcg.org/strategic-plan IMPACT peacebuilding organization. 2001 1985 1994 9/11 attacks in the United States. US President Ronald e Rwandan Genocide occurs. Reagan and Soviet Leader Nelson Mandela is elected Mikhail Gorbachev hold President of South Africa. their rst summit.
2013 1989 e United Nations e Berlin Wall falls. General Assembly adopts the Arms Trade Treaty. e Velvet Revolution begins in Czechoslovakia. 2010 e series of demonstrations known 2015 as the Arab Spring begins in Tunisia. e Nigeria National Elections 1980 1992/93 1996 mark the rst-ever peaceful Cold War tensions grow; the Civil con icts erupt in Ko Annan is selected transfer of power in the country. 1975 2003 2011 US and other teams boycott the former Yugoslavia, as Secretary General of e Paris Climate e Vietnam War ends. the Moscow Olympics. Afghanistan, and Burundi. the United Nations. e Second Congo War ends. e Syrian War begins. Agreement is adopted. IN THE WORLD THE IN
1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020
1973 1982 1995 2001 2008 1991 2014 US Republican Senator John Marks founds Search We open our European HQ in Lead negotiators ask us to open e rst iteration of our We open an oce in Former Search COO and UN Cliord Case joins Democrat for Common Ground. Brussels, deepening relationships an oce in the Democratic TV and radio drama “e Amman, Jordan, and start ocial Shamil Idriss succeeds Frank Church to introduce a with European multilaterals. Republic of Congo to support Team” debuts. As of today, working in the Middle East. John Marks as Search’s President bill ending US involvement On the heels of the genocide in the peace process. Today, the show has been adapted and CEO. in the Vietnam War. Case’s it is our largest program, in more than 20 countries. Rwanda and during the civil war His previous organization, Soliya, aid in this eort is former in Burundi, we establish Studio with more than 100 sta. 1994 joins Search as a strategic partner. diplomat John Marks. Ijambo—the rst multi-ethnic- We establish an oce in staed media outlet in the Great Macedonia at the height of Lakes region of Africa, airing the Yugoslav wars, forging the programs on reconciliation. template for our long-term, locally led programming. AT SEARCH AT At a meeting in South Africa, a 1986 former commander of the South We establish our media African ANC armed resistance 2012 unit, Common Ground coins Search’s original motto, “Understanding dierences, 2002 We open oces in Chad, Niger, Productions, and begin and Kyrgyzstan, growing to 2018 airing mediation shows acting on commonalities.” We establish our rst Asia more than 30 country programs. We are nominated for the on PBS, a major American oce in Jakarta, Indonesia. television network. 2018 Nobel Peace Prize. 1998 We launch Common Ground News, We launch a new Strategic a news service which produced As part of a long-term eort of discrete talks Plan, mapping the next 10 weekly balanced reporting and years for our organization. and public exchanges, we arrange a historic opinion pieces on relations competition between American and Iranian between Western and Muslim- wrestlers in Tehran—the rst public visit of majority societies for hundreds of Americans to Iran since the 1979 Revolution. thousands of readers for 10 years. 8 SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUND 2018 IMPACT REPORT: POWER TO THE PEACEBUILDERS 9
SEARCH SEARCH COMBINED US BELGIUM FINANCIAL CURRENT ASSETS Cash and cash equivalents $ 10,321,797 $ 2,558,272 $ 12,880,069 Grants and contracts receivables 27,336,212 34,311,015 61,647,227 BREAKDOWN Advances and other receivables 403,957 - 403,957 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 350,120 3,080 353,200 Total current assets 38,412,086 36,872,367 75,284,453 PROGRAM EXPENSES BY REGION FIXED ASSETS Furniture and xtures 224,858 195,212 420,070 6.5% Oce equipment 145,475 257,494 402,969 Soware and computer equipment 1,267,496 34,926 1,302,422
12.3% Sub-Saharan Africa 1,637,829 487,632 2,125,461 Less: Accumulated depreciation Middle East & (1,629,829) (188,935) (1,818,764) North Africa and amortization 55.7% Asia & Paci c Islands 25.5% Net xed assets 8,000 298,697 306,697 US & Global OTHER ASSETS Deposit 73,054 2,957 76,011 TOTAL ASSETS $ 38,493,140 $ 37,174,021 $ 75,667,161
Search in numbers EXPENSE BY TYPE CURRENT LIABILITIES Recoverable grant $ 4,800,000 $ - $ 4,800,000 2% Promissory note 812,000 - 812,000 Accounts payable 1,109,492 18,344 1,127,836 16% Other accrued expenses 1,564,910 384,748 1,949,658 409,667 Program Services Donor advances - 451,791 451,791 PEOPLE REACHED WITH IN-PERSON ACTIVITIES, OF THOSE:* Administration Refundable advance 168,595 590,663 759,258 Fundraising Provision for loss 573,344 - 573,344 827 82% Due to (from) SFCG Aliate 358,838 ( 358,838) - ARTISTS 932 Total current liabilities 9,387,179 1,086,708 10,473,887 PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS* 3,011 LONG-TERM LIABILITIES MEDIA PROFESSIONALS Deposits 15,444 - 15,444 671 REVENUE BY SOURCE Total long-term liabilities 15,444 - 15,444 STAFF 12,967 MILITARY & POLICE Total liabilities 9,402,623 1,086,708 10,489,331 3% NET ASSETS 2,524 8% Governments #39 RELIGIOUS LEADERS 27% United Nations & Unrestricted 400,229 403,924 804,153 SEARCH’S RANK IN NGO Multilateral Entities Board designated 2,750,000 2,750,000 ADVISOR’S TOP 500 NONPROFITS IN THE WORLD 27% Foundations/ 5,927 Corporations Investment in Capital - 297,911 297,911 POLITICAL LEADERS Individuals Provision - 71,260 71,260 35% Others Total unrestricted net assets 3,150,229 773,095 3,923,324 91% 2018 43 Temporarily restricted 25,940,288 35,314,218 61,254,506 OF OUR STAFF WORK IN - YEAR OF OUR FIRST NOBEL PRISONERS THEIR HOME COUNTRY PEACE PRIZE NOMINATION Total net assets 29,090,517 36,087,313 65,177,830 TOTAL LIABILITIES $ 38,493,140 $ 37,174,021 $ 75,667,161 *Data refers to period between 1/1/17 and 1/1/18 AND NET ASSETS 10 SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUND 2018 IMPACT REPORT: POWER TO THE PEACEBUILDERS 11
Finally, we looked at ways to reduce the negative patrols are now able to identify people boating impact of the army’s counter-terrorism operations in shing zones. ey can combat al-Shabaab’s on local communities and develop shared security human tracking without impacting the normal strategies. economic activity of the community. Fishermen We launched a mobile phone application that local can carry on without fear of being arrested. citizens can use to quickly provide information on Aer seven long years, thanks to the Mvuvi cards, terrorist activities to the authorities or check the the authorities lied the night shing ban in Lamu. security situation in their area. e app strengthens Currently, we are expanding the Mvuvi cards cooperation between security actors and civilians, project to thousands more Kenyan shermen and creates a shared sense of responsibility, and makes creating more opportunities for collaboration the security forces more accountable to the local between ordinary citizens and security forces. population. Much more still needs to be done to curb the In Lamu, where the night shing ban had recruitment of young Kenyans into violent wreaked havoc on coastal villages, we deployed a extremist groups. We need to create opportunities transformative tech solution: Mvuvi cards. for education and work, continue to strengthen Taking their name from the Swahili word trust between communities and their protectors, for “sherman”, Mvuvi cards are biometric and keep searching for shared solutions to security identication cards that contain a sherman’s issues. name, national ID number, Beach Management But the story of what happened in Lamu lls us Unit registration, and other data. We distributed with hope and reveals an important insight: we are the cards to more than 200 shermen and provided on the right track. security ocers with card readers. As a result, the
ese dialogues have been able to build the relationship between police and youth. KENYA Before the program, youth were the enemy of police and vice versa. Nevertheless, now we are their 222 friends and sources of their information…ey don’t Children and youth Citizens and the Army Join Forces reached by in-person arrest us unreasonably as they used to do.” training and events - Young program participant from Lamu
by Judy Kimamo Before the project [...] the community had no to Reduce Violence Country Director - Kenya place to air their complaints such as the night Kenya’s Lamu archipelago is a famous seaside combat al-Shabaab’s human tracking in Lamu process of recognizing each other’s perspectives shing ban. On the other hand, police had no place destination, home to some of the most beautiful deprived the locals of a vital source of food and and building a foundation of mutual trust. to explain the reason behind it.[...] rough these beaches on Earth. But despite the wealth of income. It ended up pushing even more youth to Follow-up social events and sports competitions dialogues, both parties were able to understand one natural resources and the potential for tourism, join terrorist groups. helped reinforce the relationship. 156 life in Lamu has not been easy for its citizens. e Police and army ocers another, and the relationship improved.” My team stepped in to nd locally owned In parallel, we set up trainings for wives, number one culprit: violent extremism. reached by in-person – Program partner from Malindi solutions to this complex problem. In the process, mothers, and daughters of men who have joined training and events In recent years, terror groups—most prominently, we started rebuilding trust between the security violent extremist groups. ese women face an al-Shabaab—have been on the rise in my country. forces and the community and found ways to impossible problem; they are now the sole income ey have established hideouts in the forests revitalize the local economy. generators for their families, but they oen can’t close to the Somali border and are turning steady In 2016, we launched a two-year project called access employment opportunities because of the prots from sea piracy and human tracking. Search for Common Inuka! Community-led security approaches to social stigma around them. 241 3000 Many young Kenyans living in extreme poverty violent extremism in coastal Kenya. We targeted Working closely with Muslims for Human Rights, Fishermen with a Target number of Mvuvi have joined the ranks of these groups in an Ground really helped us four coastal counties deeply aected by violent we established a support forum to help the Mvuvi card card holders in 2019 attempt to survive. extremism, including Lamu. We worked closely women heal from the trauma they experienced bring the security forces and the In response to this threat, the Kenyan government with three local organizations: Muslims for upon the loss of the men in their families. Stress relies heavily on the use of force. In many coastal Human Rights, the Kiunga Youth Bunge Initiative, management trainings and group counseling community together.” communities, the combination of terrorist and the Kenya Muslim Youth Alliance. sessions enabled them to gradually work through 18% 57% activities and the army’s counter-operations their pain. In addition, we launched a series of - Noor Daher Ali, founder of the Kiunga Youth Bunge Program participants who Program participants who Our rst challenge was to re-establish a Initiative and 2018 Common Ground Awardee. have destroyed the livelihoods of local citizens entrepreneurship trainings to discuss start-up said police and community say police and community relationship between the local community and Watch a short film on his story at sfcg.org/noor-ali who depend on tourism and shing for survival. had a positive relationship, security ocers. Given the high tensions, we rst fundraising strategies for small businesses. Today, have a positive relationship, Hotels have shut down, and the number of before the project held separate dialogues with each group to hear some of the women are running a joint poultry aer the project foreign visitors has plummeted. Most tragically, a farming project and a soap business; they are able their grievances; then, we brought them together. PROJECT FUNDED BY night shing ban enforced by the army in 2011 to to support themselves. anks to our expert mediators, they began a Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Bureau of the US State Department 12 SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUND 2018 IMPACT REPORT: POWER TO THE PEACEBUILDERS 13
Peace is a bottom-up process. If there are strong bonds of friendship at the ground level, we will 400+ start to question politically motivated Traveling exhibit conicts. We will start asking who we locations are ghting with [...] If people are more humane, these conicts will not arise.” - Sinhalese participant
1,093 2 MILLION Participants in Sri Lankans reached with dialogue sessions media campaigns
354 Children and youth reached by in-person training and events
In my childhood, I thought the Sinhalese were very bad people, and I was afraid of them. But SRI LANKA aer participating in this program, I realized that they are also waiting for our love. We realized how we love each Healing a nation from the ground up other. I am very sorry and sad for my by Nawaz Mohammed previous thinking on the Sinhalese.” Country Director - Sri Lanka - Tamil participant
e Sri Lankan Civil War lasted almost 26 interrogations and perpetuating a culture Tamil, as well as English, and built an online rst-hand accounts of survivors. years and killed hundreds of thousands of my archive called Memory Map, which houses all of impunity. Adding to this volatile context, Finally, we scaled the initiative to target a mass compatriots. 354 testimonies. It is the rst-ever archive of a wave of attacks against Muslims in the audience across the country. We launched stories from the con icts in Sri Lanka. I grew up through all of it. I bear my own spring of 2018 in several regions of Sri Lanka social media, TV, and radio campaigns on scars from it. And I know how important it is increased the risk of destabilization. We then organized dialogue sessions, reaching remembrance, which cumulatively reached over to remember everything about it if we want In this environment, our ongoing Community more than 1,000 people in person. At rst, two million people. We also launched a traveling today’s peace to endure. Memorialization Project is helping build these dialogues featured homogeneous groups exhibit featuring the archive testimonies that, A decade has passed since the hostilities ended bridges and heal trauma through the powerful of people from the same ethnic and religious as of the end of 2018, has stopped at over 400 in 2009. In this time, my country has made testimonies of ordinary citizens who survived communities. Our facilitators used the archive locations including the capital Colombo. testimonies to start dicult conversations on enormous strides toward ethnic and religious the war and the insurgencies of the 20th As the Community Memorialization Project the trauma le by the con ict, sparking the coexistence, starting to repair the divisions century. continues, independent evaluators have found sharing of even more stories by participants behind our history of violent con ict. But even Launched in October 2015, the project’s goal that, among participants, the number saying they who felt comfortable doing so. We discussed though tensions have subsided, they have not is to preserve historical memories of these would prefer to live in a multiethnic area of the their understanding of the con ict and been vanquished. con icts, facilitate a process of common country is almost double the national average. encouraged them to think about the actions understanding of these memories, and create e coalition government restored democratic they can take to prevent harmful con ict in the Healing the wounds le by nearly three decades platforms for people across ethnic, religious, institutions and created an environment future. of con ict will take perhaps just as much time. conducive to free and independent media, and political divides to engage in community We have and will continue to face setbacks along In the next phase, we launched joint dialogues, but it has not taken the needed steps toward dialogue, memorialization, and reconciliation. the way. But I am proud to be part of a small as well as three exchange programs, between reconciliation and trauma healing. So far, while In partnership with HerStories Project, we group of peacebuilders that, alongside thousands 112 community leaders from dierent districts. they have set up the Oce for Missing Persons, started by gathering testimonies in local of ordinary citizens, is advancing a more In this phase, communities took the signicant the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and villages in three districts. We collected tolerant, united Sri Lanka. step of connecting with those on the opposite Reparation Programme doesn’t yet exist, and stories in the form of interviews, audio logs, side of the con ict. Together, they visited sites the wartime Prevention of Terrorism Act is still videos, letters, drawings, and more. We then PROJECT FUNDED BY where violence took place and listened to the in force, allowing for routine torture in police translated each of them into Sinhala and e US State Department 14 SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUND 2018 IMPACT REPORT: POWER TO THE PEACEBUILDERS 15
YEMEN
MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA Being a woman here, everything is challenging. Everything.” - Wafa Hamoudi
Wafa Hamoudi is a pioneering mediator and facilitator, born and raised in one of Yemen’s most Women at the helm conservative communities. In Yemen, women are oen only allowed to by Abou El Mahassine Fassi-Fihri work in certain professions that feature minor Regional Director - MENA interactions with men, like teaching in female schools or working as nurses under female doctors. Wafa wanted to break that mold but didn’t know how. at’s where our Yemen oce came into play. From rural villages to bustling capitals, at school and LEBANON on TV, women and girls in the Middle East and North We selected Wafa to participate in the Yemen Africa are stepping up to create safe, healthy, just Lebanon ranks among the lowest countries in Common Ground Institute. e project aims to societies. Our local teams are on the front lines of this 23,102 the world on women’s representation in decision- identify and train trusted mediators and dialogue change, fostering gender equality across the region Women and girls reached by in-person training making. Today, women hold only 6 of the 128 seats facilitators among the local population of three and supporting heroic women peacebuilders. and events across the MENA region* in the Lebanese Parliament, and only 1 minister in districts in Yemen. Despite the ongoing, brutal civil war gripping 30 is a woman. Despite momentum generated by Yemen, mediators like Wafa play a key role Wafa seized this opportunity. When the men in civil society groups and feminist activists, Lebanon’s in preventing violence in villages and rural her district refused to accept her as the leader of new electoral law failed to include a female quota to communities. Almost everyone interviewed as the mediation sessions, she persisted in trying to promote women’s political participation. part of our nal project evaluation reported that nd ways to work with them. Eventually, Wafa won dialogues led by our trained mediators have Our Gender Sensitive Communication Project is the trust of her entire community in Al-Hodeidah helped reach solutions to local con icts. a nationwide media initiative to change social and became the driving force for peacebuilding norms around women’s leadership and foster their projects in her area. She has opened the door for Learn more about Wafa at sfcg.org/beyond-labels willingness to run for oce. e project included many more local Yemeni women to follow in her a series of workshops on drama for social change, footsteps and has widened her male counterparts’ PROJECT FUNDED BY a short lm competition, and a social media eyes to the powerful contributions of women in e European Union campaign. It culminated in the broadcasting of two leadership positions. original miniseries on national television in the spring of 2018. e rst, a-Ras El-Leyha (“On top of the list”), details the struggle of a social worker trying to help a man TUNISIA in need of urgent medical care. Aer all her eorts We develop many of our attitudes toward diversity, gender, and con ict fail, she chooses to dedicate her life to changing her during childhood. at’s why creating a school environment that country by becoming a parliamentarian. e second, rewards tolerance and equality is paramount. W Iza Ken Mara (“So what if it was a woman?”), tells the story of a widely respected pediatrician who Our Tunisia team is striving to do just that with the 1001 Nights joins a local electoral list in hopes of bolstering its Curriculum for Civic Education, a project targeting 20 schools and over chances to win the parliamentary elections. 1,000 students between ages 8-12 across Tunisia, in partnership with Big Bad Boo Productions. In total, more than 400,000 people have watched the shows on al-Jadeed TV. 1 in 2 women viewers In our multimedia curriculum, primary school children watch one expressed the will to run for political oce if given episode a week of the award-winning animated series 1001 Nights and the chance. e ratio is 70% higher than among discuss the content with their teacher’s facilitation. ey also receive non-viewers. homework assignments to complete with their parents and siblings. rough these activities, they explore their own understanding of social PROJECT FUNDED BY issues in Tunisia and learn positive attitudes toward diversity. e British Embassy in Lebanon As part of this project, we have also established extracurricular Peace Clubs in six youth centers. e Peace Clubs oer workshops on nonviolent communication and con ict transformation, as well as mentorship opportunities for young people. rough [1001 Nights] my Independent evaluators found that notions of gender inequality—and students learned about specically, that one gender is more capable than the other—reduced equality between men and women by 40.6% among children who participated in the project. and that both of them can do the same work.” - Tunisian school PROJECT FUNDED BY teacher from Kasserine e Government of Canada *Data refers to period between 1/1/17 and 1/1/18 16 SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUND 2018 IMPACT REPORT: POWER TO THE PEACEBUILDERS 17
Michael was an avid Golden Kids listener. At the England area of Freetown. Judging from its end of each episode of the show, a message in the modest appearance, the station doesn’t look like a local Krio language repeated, “Our oce is at 44 media juggernaut. But, you know how the saying Bathurst Street,” enticing Michael to pay them a goes. SIERRA LEONE visit. Encouraged by his grandmother and uncle, Radio Democracy 98.1 was the rst station a DJ and radio producer himself, one day Michael to broadcast programs in local Krio. It was nally mustered the courage to go. established during the civil war as a counter- The child reporter who Two weeks later, he was ocially a golden kid, propaganda outlet, gaining nationwide notoriety. running around Freetown to capture the stories of Aer the end of the con ict, it became the radio young people. station with the largest listenership in Sierra Leone. “e decision [to go] changed my life,” he tells me. became Sierra Leone’s top With the mentorship of Search’s sta, his talent Gud Mornin Salone, the daily program produced blossomed. He started by following experienced by Michael, is its crown jewel. It’s the most popular journalists and quickly learned the tools of the radio show in the country; according to the media trade. Within months, he was leading interviews professionals I asked, it garners an estimated seven investigative journalist himself, speaking up to the powerful despite his hundred thousand to a million listeners every young age. day. For a nation of seven million people, that’s a by Massimiliano Colonna “e idea was to empower people growing up. staggering amount. Manager—Digital Communications, Editorial, Campaigns Children’s rights, sanitation, corruption… Michael’s reporting for Gud Mornin Salone has burning issues were coming up, and the kids were had tremendous impact. One story on child brides e hilly prole of Freetown, Sierra Leone, is with his grandmother, the only relative still in the the ones investigating them,” Michael says. “We sparked a nationwide debate on the human rights taking shape in the morning twilight as he drives country. Everyone else had already moved to the interviewed authorities, policy makers, [members of children. Another report uncovered a system the half-paved road to the radio station. Millions Bronx, in New York City, where Michael’s father of] civil society, children themselves. ‘What about of bribery behind access to Freetown’s energy of people in the city are just waking up. He knows still lives today. the Convention on the Rights of the Child? Has grid. Michael’s investigations unearthed scandals they are excited to hear from him today. Ten years of war had deeply scarred Sierra Leone’s the government done X, Y, and Z for children? related to food hygiene, political corruption, and I meet him in the parking lot. He greets me in children. Hundreds of thousands of them bore What about WASH [water, sanitation, and embezzlement, shedding a glaring light onto truth haste, walks inside, and gets into the producer’s the trauma le by the con ict, and a signicant hygiene, Ed.]?’ … I see myself as a journalist from in a country that consistently ranks low in global booth. A few minutes later, he signals the start of minority had even fought as child soldiers. Access that point.” press freedom rankings. his program, Gud Mornin Salone. to healthcare and education was limited, as was In his two years as a golden kid, he covered is groundbreaking reporting has gained “Confession time,” he mutters to himself. awareness of the rights of young people. hundreds of stories, learning much more than Michael recognition from the two most just the profession. e experience molded authoritative media institutions in Sierra Leone: All across the country, the students getting ready Broadly speaking, in the eyes of the public, children in Sierra Leone fell into two categories: his personality, instilling in him the values of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) for school, the drivers of poda poda vans packed integrity, justice, and truth that inform his work and the Independent Media Commission (IMC). with commuters, and the sellers at streetside victims of violence, or perpetrators of it. It was Search for Common Ground who rst today. “At Search, when we started, it was all about He received his rst award for political reporting markets are tuning in. ey listen to his report, values. You would be at a production meeting, and by IMC in 2012, when he was only 21. Every year uncovering a case of corruption that involved a broke this dichotomy and turned children into interlocutors—with Michael’s help. they would tell you about the goal and vision of since, he has won an award from either SLAJ or small political party during the recent elections. Search,” he recalls. “[When you are] a kid growing IMC, the latest in Fall 2018. He got the party leader to admit to taking In 2000, Search opened its Sierra Leone oce. One up, what you plant is what you’re going to sow. My As I observed Michael’s work for a few days, it money… on record. of the organization’s rst moves was to establish a values, norms, and tradition—those came from struck me that he can do it all. He’s a detective, radio production house, Talking Drum Studio, to Search.” At the end of the report, his unmistakable, slow- a storyteller, a sound technician, and an editor, paced sign-o phrase blares out the speakers. create programs in support of the peace process. It was a tremendous success; within a year, Talking From the Golden Kids days, it would take Michael able to produce his stories from ideation to “For the society of Radio Democracy, it’s Drum Studio had already become a household about a decade to become Sierra Leone’s leading broadcasting. He’s passing on his techniques to the Michael… SA-MBO-LA.” name, racking up a massive audience nationwide. investigative journalist. First, he volunteered as a journalists he supervises at Gud Mornin Salone, voice actor on Talking Drum Studio’s soap opera building a formidable team of news hunters. I imagine them—the students, the drivers, the Among the studio’s biggest hits was the show Atunda Ayenda, an ongoing radio drama that commuters, the market sellers— ashing a satised Golden Kids. I followed Michael on one such hunt, the started back in 2001. en, he became an assistant grin as he is now, still sitting with his arms crossed investigation behind the corruption story that Nothing like it had ever aired in Sierra Leone. At a producer with Search – Sierra Leone and worked in the producer’s booth. time when youth had little to no media presence, aired today. Watching him, you wouldn’t fathom on the news show Borderline. He went on to study that his name strikes fear in the hearts of those on Once again, Michael Sambola, the greatest Golden Kids turned children into journalists, Mass Communications at the local Fourah Bay the wrong side of the law. He looks even younger investigative journalist in Sierra Leone, has giving unprecedented power and resonance to College. than his 28 years, wears a student’s backpack, and delivered. young voices. Under the supervision of Search’s sta, the titular ‘golden kids’ produced reports, Around this time, Radio Democracy’s manager, captures sound bites with a small recorder. e newscasts, and interviews raising awareness Asmaa James, oered him a position at her station. whole time, he maintains a friendly, unassuming Since I arrived in Freetown and started following of the issues faced by young people in the Along with his participation in Golden Kids, this demeanor with the interviewees. However, they Michael’s work, everyone I have met has referred aermath of the war. Golden Kids gained a large was another major turning point in Michael’s know that, through him, they are being held to him as a hero. So, when the bright red ON AIR following, changed the social and cultural norms life—and possibly in the history of journalism in accountable in front of the entire country. sign goes o and we sit in the recording studio surrounding young people, and in uenced Sierra Leone. Unsurprisingly, some people try to sway him with for an interview, it feels a bit like I’m asking Peter policy at the highest levels. e show was one of bribes. Parker about his origin story as Spiderman. the factors leading to the adoption of the Child Nested on the slope of one of the city’s many “ey might ask you, ‘How much do you need Rights Act in 2007, a comprehensive regulation Michael was 12 years old when the civil war nally hills, Radio Democracy 98.1 broadcasts from for this story? is doesn’t have to go public. Just protecting the rights of children in Sierra Leone. ended in January 2002. At the time, he was living an unobtrusive one-story building in the New tell me your price, and we’ll give [it to] you,’” 18 SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUND 2018 IMPACT REPORT: POWER TO THE PEACEBUILDERS 19 LEADERSHIP BRUSSELS UK GLOBAL BOARD BOARD OF BOARD OF OF DIRECTORS DIRECTORS TRUSTEES
ADAM BERREY JEREMY S. GOLDBERG SANDRA DJUVARA MELONE LORD PURVIS OF TWEED Board Chair President, LeagueApps Board Chair, Board Chair, Search for Common Ground Liberal Democrat Peer ERIC A. BERMAN SHAMIL IDRISS* EVP | Public Aairs, CEO, PATRICK DE WOLF SHAMIL IDRISS Universal Music Group Search for Common Ground Managing Partner, CEO, * Ex-ocio member DALDEWOLF Search for Common Ground LESLY BLACK Philanthropist LAURIE MICHAELS SHAMIL IDRISS REBECCA TIMMS Founder, Open Road Alliance CEO, Lawyer, ABIGAIL E. DISNEY Search for Common Ground Mayer Brown International Filmmaker, Philanthropist, Activist ELIZABETH RIKER Senior Partner, New Prot DR. ALEXANDROS SPACHIS ZANDER WOOLLCOMBE TIMOTHY FEIGE Innovation Fund Ambassador of the European Union Global Campaigns Consultant Former Senior Vice President (ret.), Secretary General, European and International Insurance INGRID STANGE Business Council for Africa & the Group Executive, Founder and Chair, Mediterranean Prudential International Insurance Partnership for Change and the PfC Social Innovation Fund
PRESIDENT’S SEARCH’S GLOBAL LEADERSHIP COUNCIL LEADERSHIP TEAM
HER MAJESTY QUEEN NOOR KENNETH KIM SHAMIL IDRISS REBECCA BESANT says Mabel Kabbah, Head of News at Radio says SLAJ President Kelvin Xander Lewis. “A lot “And?” came the reply. AL HUSSEIN Founder and Chief Medical Director, CEO Regional Director, East Africa Democracy. “But Michael, he’ll tell you ‘I don’t Council Chair Ark Clinical Research of people are looking up to [Michael]; he is the “And I’m going back.” want your money; I’m not here for the money. foremost person doing this kind of investigative ISAM GHANIM NIAMH HANAFIN I’m here to investigate the issue, and the public journalism.” His father asked why. Michael opened his laptop CAROL BANQUER DILIP KULKARNI President Regional Director, Central and must know what is going on.’ […] Whenever they and showed him one of Gud Mornin Salone’s Physician and Investor President & CEO, Systematic Southern Africa “It’s a very dangerous world. You have to be fearless LENA SLACHMUIJLDER hear Michael Sambola is there, people are afraid, broadcasts. His father was proud but still resisted Management Services, Inc. in a way. You must have the guts to say, ‘I have KIM CHIRLS Senior Vice President of Programs QUENTIN LEVET because they know [he will] get the information the idea that Michael should return. an instinct; this is a story I can pull o’ without Nonprot Board and Operations LINDSAY LEVIN Regional Director, West Africa he wants without any money or bribery.” thinking about the dangers,” says Ady Macauley, Michael remembers every word of the exchange Project Consultant Founder, Leader’s Quest WASIM KHAN e subjects of some of his investigations oered who presides over Sierra Leone’s Anti-Corruption that followed. Vice President of Finance RAJENDRA MULMI Michael bribes up to 8 million Leones, roughly Commission. “He’s that kind of journalist.” “Mike, I don’t think you should go back. Sierra THOMAS CHRISTIE RAFIQ MASRI Regional Director, Asia CARL DAVIS, JR. 1,000 USD. at’s a small fortune in a country Leone is not developed right now.” Retired, Audit Partner, Ernst & Young Owner and President, Network where the majority of the population lives in Management, Inc. Vice President of Philanthropy and ABOU FASSIFIHRI “If we don’t develop Sierra Leone, who will?”. extreme poverty. To be a successful investigative journalist, Michael SHARIF ELGAMAL Global Communications Regional Director, Middle East & must ask tough questions. Sometimes, he must ask “at’s not going to happen now, it’s going to be in Chairman and CEO, Soho Properties SUHAIL RIZVI North Africa “If you collect money from someone, [people] will MICHAEL SHIPLER those questions of himself. a long time.” Founder and Chairman, know. So your credibility as a journalist becomes MICHAEL N. EMMERMAN Rizvi | Traverse Management Associate Vice President, CHARLINE BURTON in the balance,” Michael explains. “When I was Recently, he won a visa lottery to enter the United “I know. But we have to start somewhere. And I Managing Director and Senior Strategy and Program Quality Executive Director, Brussels at Search, one thing I learned was, don’t collect States. If he so desires, Michael could move want to be a part of that change.” Money Manager, Neuberger Berman DAVID ROSS permanently to the other side of the Atlantic and MIKE JOBBINS ADRIENNE LEMON money. Don’t sign for it! […] at value about Gud Mornin Salone continues to draw a million Investment Advisers, LLC Senior Mediator, JAMS rejoin his father. In 2017, he decided to stay in New Associate Vice President, Director, Institutional Learning money not being the issue is paramount.” listeners every day. One of them tunes in from the York for a few months and see how he would like it. GENGHIS HADI IAN WATSON Global Aairs and Partnerships Team Michael’s behavior has earned him a reputation Bronx, New York City. His dad was happy to see him. “Observe the system Co-Founder and Managing Principal, Chairman, Genagro Ltd. for courage and audacity, renewing the public’s JACQUELINE OBURU here”, he said, “and then decide.” Michael settled in Nahla Capital respect for the profession as a whole. It changed Associate Vice President, Human and started taking college classes. One day at the the image of journalists in Sierra Leone from GLORIA JOSEPH Resources and Administration end of the rst semester, he made up his mind. blackmailers to heroes. “ere is a new brand In 2018, Michael Sambola received a Common New York Real Estate Investor of journalists who are a model of integrity,” “Dad,” he said. “I observed the system.” Ground Award for his courageous reporting. and Realtor 20 SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUND
We Believe...
CONFLICT IS INEVITABLE, VIOLENCE IS NOT. Con ict is a natural result of human diversity. When we deal with conflict adversarially, it sparks polarization and violence. When we collaborate, con ict is transformed and catalyzes positive change.
HUMANKIND IS INTERDEPENDENT. Human beings cannot survive in isolation. Our humanity is affirmed through relationships with others. Our world is more interdependent than ever before, and the challenges before us require collaborative approaches.
CHANGE IS ALWAYS POSSIBLE. All individuals and relationships can change, even in seemingly intractable con icts. Every con ict oers opportunities for transformation. All wars end.
WHEN EVERYBODY WINS, CHANGE LASTS. When conflicts end with a winner and a loser, they oen feed a cycle of violence. Enduring change arises from win- win outcomes which all parties defend.
COMMON GROUND ALWAYS EXISTS. Despite the depth and complexity of our dierences, we can always discover something we share. In doing so, we grow our human connection, mutual trust, and respect and trigger collaboration in ways otherwise unimaginable. Common Ground can always be created.
1730 Rhode Island Ave NW Rue Belliard 205 bte 13, Suite 1101, B-1040, Brussels, Washington, DC 20036, BELGIUM USA WWW.SFCG.ORG