Reconciled Peace-filled Societies

We hope to see communities working together across divides to resolve conflict peacefully

The Bible tells us that those who have suffered the realities of poverty, violence and oppression are the ones God chooses to rebuild, restore and renew (Isaiah 61:1-4). It describes them as ‘oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendour’. Supporting and enabling such individuals is at the heart of our peacebuilding work.

The Bible tells us that those who have suffered the realities of poverty, violence and oppression are the ones God chooses to rebuild, restore and renew (Isaiah 61:1-4). It describes them as ‘oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendour’. Supporting and enabling such individuals is at the heart of our peacebuilding work.

We aim for deep impact, investing in and nurturing these key change-makers, committing to work in locations long enough to see and measure sustainable change. We combine this support with development programmes that address the drivers of conflict – from climate change to lack of sustainable employment. We also look to strengthen those structures and processes that bring peace.

We recognise the contribution and success of female peacebuilders, and the vital role young people can play, and we prioritise these groups as we build and support peacebuilding networks. We also challenge harmful social norms that exclude women and young people through our Transforming Masculinities programmes and our work with survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.

What we learnt

Faith leaders with vision have influence and are able to mobilise others in their community around that vision, creating change. But to sustain their work in often difficult and dangerous environments over the long term, they need to be given opportunities to come together, physically and virtually, to share successes and challenges, to pause for breath, recharge and learn from each other.

We know we can go further

Although we have made progress, there is not yet enough meaningful inclusion of women and young people in our peacebuilding work. To this end, we are now merging our gender equity and peacebuilding approaches wherever possible so that they and other integrated programmes have a stronger focus on inclusion, and we will continue to address barriers that hamper inclusion of those on the margins.

Going forward in 2023/24 We aim to:

• support 300 communities to experience greater trust and reduced levels of violent conflict
• contribute to reduced levels of gender-based violence and increased participation of women and young people in 300 communities
• support 300 churches and faith communities to model and drive structural change in support of sustainable peace