Building peace in conflict-affected countries

This post is written by Mandar Apte, Director, Cities4Peace - a strategic peacebuilding initiative of the International Association for Human Values (IAHV) and the Art of Living Foundation.

• The problem: The Cyprus problem remains unresolved after many attempts for a political solution.
• Why it matters: The trauma from the war that happened 50 years ago still lingers in the hearts and minds of Cypriots on both sides of the divide.
• The solution: Community changemakers are crucial for developing peace solutions as they intimately understand the local challenges since so much of their work is at the grassroots level.

The United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) was set up by the UN Security Council in 1964 to prevent further fighting between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities.

In the absence of a political settlement to the Cyprus problem, UNFICYP has remained on the island to supervise ceasefire lines, maintain a buffer zone, and undertake humanitarian activities to improve social cohesion between the two communities. There have been many attempts at negotiating a peace deal between the two sides, however the Cyprus problem remains unsolved.

Cities4Peace peacebuilding intervention in Cyprus

C4P IAHV Cyprus Peacebuilding from Mandar Apte on Vimeo.

Peacebuilding not only needs a disciplined approach, structured processes, and frameworks but at its core, it also requires individuals who are inspired, committed, and willing to implement bold and innovative ways to promote peace and social harmony. However, often those involved in the design of peacebuilding programmes ignore the well-being and socio-emotional needs of the peacemakers (i.e. the community leaders and changemakers) and also their need to build their leadership and innovation capacity for peacebuilding.

Community changemakers are crucial for developing holistic peace solutions as they intimately understand the local challenges since so much of their work is at the grassroots level. They are a key resource for maintaining safe and peaceful communities and neighbourhoods.

With the goal of improving social cohesion and understanding between the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot communities, UNFICYP sponsored the Cities4Peace Mindful Leadership programme to empower community change-makers from both the Turkish and Greek Cypriot communities to enhance their mental wellbeing and to build their leadership capacity to promote peace and social harmony on the island.

Community changemakers are crucial for developing holistic peace solutions as they intimately understand the local challenges since so much of their work is at the grassroots level.

The project was implemented in close collaboration with a local bi-communal women’s organisation, Hands Across the Divide (HAD). From March to June 2022, the Cities4Peace team customised and delivered two peacebuilding workshops that were attended by twenty women leaders from both sides of the conflict. The participants were selected based on the diversity of their experience, professional background, and more importantly, their desire to be part of the solution by becoming a trusted bridge for the Cypriots on the island.

The SKY Mindful Leadership training programme consisted of evidence-based SKY breath and meditation practice to develop inner resilience and improve mental wellbeing. In addition, through interactive discussions and group processes, the program enabled participants to develop systems thinking and build trusted networks. The training programme focused on equipping participants with evidence-based tools and strategies to improve their mental well-being, reduce their trauma, enhance their resilience, and develop heightened socio-emotional skills, in order to design innovative solutions to overcome the challenging situations that may unfold during their community peacebuilding work.

Peace in action

As part of the training, participants were encouraged to design and execute a peace project that would use the wisdom that they have gained from the workshop and make a difference to others on the island. Here are few examples of the peace projects, and the impact that was made:

“It was an honour to host a video podcast discussion between four mothers (two from each side). We shared stories that we have heard as daughters and mothers and realised that we have to heal our trauma to move forward. I believe that women and mothers can play a big role in enabling peace in Cyprus.”

- Eleni Antoniou, Host, Mothers for Peace Podcast

Watch the full video:

“I brought together 15 musicians from both Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities to recreate The Beatles song ‘All You Need Is Love’. Everyone supported the idea and enjoyed the experience. I sincerely believe that music can help to transcend our boundaries and unite us in the spirit of love and peace.”

- Melina Demetriou, Event Planner

Watch the music video:

Making a difference

We received very positive feedback from all the 20 participants on the effectiveness of the SKY breath meditation practices - and its benefit for both personal and professional development. It was heartening to learn that many participants have experienced a sense of solidarity (after the training) amongst them, with friendships and collaborations forming organically and many examples of how they are supporting each other's peace projects.

Through this project, participants reaffirmed our theory of change that empowering community leaders and changemakers with mental wellbeing tools can play a very important role in the peacebuilding process. By providing these stakeholders with meditation-based tools and systems thinking frameworks, they become empowered to manage their well-being as well as design more innovative, impactful and more effective strategies to deepen their peacebuilding mission and goals.

Across the world, and especially in regions of conflict, stress and anxiety are reaching unprecedented levels and threatening the mental health and wellbeing of our global society. We hope that our work inspires relevant UN agencies, organisations, and donors interested in reducing violence and peacebuilding to implement programs like ours that focus on the inner development needs of the changemakers. By integrating the holistic development of community leaders and changemakers we can empower them to develop sustainable peace solutions in their communities and neighbourhoods.

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(Image Credit: Datingjungle, Unsplash)