ANNUAL REPORT PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Initiatives of Change (IofC) has a simple approach: the The convergence of action, initiatives and partnerships starting point of personal transformation is an honest around our focus areas of Trustbuilding, Ethical Leadership look at one’s own motives and behaviour, applying moral and Sustainable Living are more tangible and visible. There standards we wish to see in society in our own personal are some glimpses of transformative impact on individual life, and seeking inner wisdom. Listening to others, in an people, as well as potential for long-term impact through open spirit, enables honest conversations to take place that the good governance foundations and peace-building initia- build trust and increase our ability to work together across tives that have been laid and the partnerships that continue boundaries on areas of common interest. These partner- to be forged. ships increase our impact and effectiveness as agents of change in our communities and in the wider world. At its The report demonstrates that IofC continues to promote a core, IofC is about an idea and an experience lived out each constructive collaborative approach across divides to bring day by many people around the world. lasting change in society. Change in the world ripples out from changes in each one of us – that is good reason for The following pages celebrate the local and regional sto- hope and faith as we work with others to create the future ries and collaborative international actions of this extraor- we wish to see. dinary world-wide network during 2013. The geographical spread is striking, as is the range and diversity of initiatives DR OMNIA MARZOUK involving younger people. President, IofC International Initiatives of Change is a worldwide movement, active in over Ethical Leadership Pg 3 60 countries. One of its core strengths is its capacity to gener- Trustbuilding Pg 6 ate grassroots initiatives by passionate individuals. This report CONTENTS Sustainable Living Pg 11 brings highlights of this global work. Initiatives of Change Partnerships Pg 14 International serves this wider grassroots movement as well About IofC/ Finances Pg 15 as the 34 national and programme bodies which comprise its formal membership. { 2 ETHICAL LEADERSHIP BUILDING ETHICAL LEADERSHIP FOR THE FUTURE IofC programmes from across the world, aimed at developing ethical leadership, engaged with thousands of children, youth and those working with them. SOUTHEAST ASIA LIFE MATTERS COURSE, VIETNAM The second Southeast Asia Life Matters Course, hosted in Dalat, Vietnam in June brought together 29 participants from eight countries and an equally diverse group of cross-cultural helpers from around the Asia-Pacific region. The course took participants on a journey from issues of identity and personal transformation to looking at how to find meaning and inner direction for their lives and community development on a long-term basis. It also offered an opportunity to strengthen the network of young change-makers that IofC has been developing in the region. clean-up exercise. The forum has continued to experience I undertook to really listen to others and express my point of view. ~ a participant immense growth even as it seeks to inspire youth to respond ” to the most pressing challenges of their time. EASTERN AFRICA YOUTH FORUM, RWANDA ASIA PACIFIC YOUTH CONFERENCE, SOUTH The third Eastern Africa Youth Forum (EAYF) was hosted in KOREA Kigali, Rwanda in February on the theme Moral Values: The The 19th Asia Pacific Youth Conference took place in South Key to a Brighter Future. Korea in August, near the Demilitarized Zone: an apt setting The forum brought together 87 participants from 12 coun- when considering the importance of working on relation- tries. The delegates heard inspiring stories of Rwanda’s rise ships between people and countries based on honesty, purity, from the ashes of genocide. To appreciate the Rwandan expe- unselfishness and love. Sixty-one participants from 14 nations rience, delegates took part in Umuganda, a monthly national took part in the conference. 3 } CAUX SCHOLARS PROGRAM CHILDREN AS ACTORS IN TRANSFORMING The 2013 batch was SOCIETY (CATS) a great success. There As a first conference of its kind, the CATS 2013 confer- was an invigorating ence at Caux, Switzerland, was well received, with over 30 mix of 24 youth lead- nationalities represented. The location was a perfect setting ers from 19 countries for deep reflection and community integration. representing a vast The participants reflected on adults’ and children’s con- array of experiences tribution to enhancing democratic participation and new and perspectives. opportunities for children in civil society and communal en- Besides learning from vironments. It provided modules for participants to acquire each other through practical tools and skills to build capacities as empowered individual presenta- civil society actors both for children and adults working with/ tions of Conflict for children. Where I Come From, and from renowned EDUCATION À LA PAIX (EDUCATION FOR international speak- PEACE), FRANCE ers, the scholars also participated in hosting and organizing Education for Peace conducted workshops and extra-curric- the Healing History session of the main Caux conference. ular activities in 22 establishments for 1,770 young people in The Caux Scholars launched an initiative for post-programme France. Four training sessions for 40 professionals who work internships. Scholars are already taking the Caux vision to with children and in education were also conducted. The their own countries by contributing to peace, providing sup- programmes were based on mutual learning which makes port to IofC initiatives and developing new projects. everyone an actor in building their social skills. ETHICAL GOVERNANCE IN INDIA Around 2,500 individuals participated in various programmes at Asia Plateau, and many more at outreaches in the country. There were several different types of programmes for employees of public and private corporations at different levels of management, youth from schools and colleges, government servants and administrators, teachers and more. TRAINING FOR GOVERNMENT SERVANTS servants including police officers, educationalists, media rep- In March, a group of facilitators visited five states in the North resentatives, and environmentalists. East of India, conducting seven one-day IofC sessions for over 200 government servants in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and TRAINING FOR GRASSROOTS-LEVEL Meghalaya; a half-day interaction with 12 secretaries of differ- GOVERNANCE ent ministries and a half-day with 28 directors in Mizoram. Asia Plateau, in partnership with IC Centre for Governance, Programmes for the Administrative Training Institute (ATI) conducted a series of programmes on Ethical Urban on Ethics in Public Governance were conducted in Meghalaya, Governance for the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mizoram, Assam, Pune, Srinagar, Hyderabad, and Bhopal. Mumbai (MCGM). From October 2012 to March 2013, 318 The response seems to show that the workshops had fairly senior officers of MCGM attended a week-long programme substantial impact. At least 20 wrote of decisions to make in eight batches at Asia Plateau. apologies. At a follow-up meeting many shared examples of The programmes had three modules: urban governance, in- restorative action and resolved to pay greater heed to their ner governance and larger issues. The officers gave a very own inner governance to enable better outer governance. high rating to the workshops. The second phase of training In Bhopal, a team of nine facilitators conducted three one-day for selected officers at the next level began in October 2013, workshops on ethics. This outreach was a direct result of the when 99 officers, mostly assistant engineers, attended. impact that a programme at Asia Plateau, the IofC centre in India, had on an officer of the Indian Administrative Service In Meghalaya, around 550 gram sevaks and sevikas (village (IAS). Two workshops were conducted for government servers) were trained in ethical governance. { 4 ETHICS IN BUSINESS TRUST AND INTEGRITY IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY (CAUX AND UK) Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, was a keynote speaker at the sixth annual conference on Trust and integrity in the Global Economy (TIGE), held in Caux, Switzerland in July. ‘One is never too young to become a leader,’ he said during his wide-ranging talk. Joe Garner, former head of HSBC Bank UK, gave the opening address. Other keynote speakers came from the corporate and grass roots levels. The TIGE conferences focus on ways to pro- mote ethical decision-making, economic and environmental sustainability, and justice. The TIGERoadshows were held at Liverpool Hope University’s Department of Business in March and at Sheffield Business School in September. The Roadshows aim to equip participants with an ethical framework, and practical tools, for use in their places of work. Keynote speakers included the renowned business author Margaret Heffernan; Tony Bradley, Director of the SEED Centre (Social and Ethical Enterprise Development), Liverpool; Peter Lewis, CEO of Principled Consulting; and Rikki Griffiths, HSBC Liverpool regional development manager. A businessman from Moldova, who came to Caux for the first time, was very inspired and has decided to invest 100% DIALOGUE ON MAKING DEMOCRACY REAL of his profits into social projects. In response to the recent developments that brought chal- lenges to