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 conict” 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 conict. 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 Conict Resolution Committees In fact, violent conict 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. conict 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. Conicts 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 conict 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 diculty of nding constructive ways e solution is not limited to treating the symptoms of violent conict—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 conict into cooperation. It’s equipping that a dicult 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 diculty of nding constructive ways to respond to conict, but they refuse to accept that a dicult 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 conicts. THE NEXT 10 YEARS Over the decades, we have constantly adapted to stay relevant to the ever- In a rapidly evolving world, conicts change quickly. In e Plan is a 3-scope strategy to is process yielded changing nature of society, politics, and violent conict. 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 conicts • 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 conicts. 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 conicts 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.