Peace in the Rift Valley: Bringing Reconciliation among Kenya's Multi-ethnic Peoples
| Global Peace Festival and Convention 2010 Announced in Nairobi, Kenya |  The Global Peace Festival Foundation in coalition with government and civil society partners is bringing innovative character education and Sports for Peace programs to Kenya's volatile Rift Valley Province. The ethnically diverse Rift Valley Province is home to Kikuyus, Luos, Luhyas, Kalenjins, and Masaai, and has had flashes of conflict at least since the 1950s, when large-scale colonial farming disrupted a long-standing ethnic equilibrium. The Masaai and Kikuyu communities particularly are in ongoing conflict over water and grazing lands. Read the full report | Kenya has won the bid to host the 2010 Global Peace Festival and Convention, to be held in Nairobi on November 17-20. Read the full reportKenya's President Kibaki Named Patron of Global Peace ConventionPresident Mwai Kibaki has been named the Patron of the 2010 Global Peace Convention to be held in Nairobi in November. At the same time, Prime Minister Raila Odinga was named the Patron of the 2010 Global Peace Festival. Kenya Broadcasting Corp. Report African Press Agency Report |
Peacebuilding Leaders Tackle World’s Most Pressing Global Issues
First Global Peace Convention Convened in the Philippines from December 10-14, 2009 Early morning, December 14, 134 dignitaries and leaders of peacebuilding efforts from 28 different nations boarded a plane to Mindanao – a region that has been the center of national attention recently. Globally, Mindanao may be seen as a hot spot of armed conflict and considered “dangerous”, but it is also the home of innovative peacebuilding models. These models have attracted leaders of global peace efforts. Read the report |
|
|
Global Peace Festival Supports Peacebuilding and Development in Rift Valley |
|
 Kenya’s ethnically diverse Rift Valley province has experienced unrest since the introduction of large-scale colonial farming in the 1950s. The divisions flared into open violence following the disputed presidential elections in 2007. In 2008, the Global Peace Festival arrived in Kenya, bringing a model of interfaith and inter-cultural peacebuilding through cultural celebration and community service that is winning wide acceptance among concerned Kenyans.. More
GPF Kenya 2010 Commits to Advance Nairobi River Initiative
 On February 16, Nairobi Mayor Geoffrey Majiwa joined a coalition of prominent national youth organizations and religious, business, and elected leaders to mark the launch of the 2010 Global Peace Festival and Convention, with a renewed commitment to advance the restoration of the endangered Nairobi River. More
|
|
The Mindanao Peace Initiative
Building on the foundation of the Global Peace Festivals in Manila and Mindanao, a coalition of partners launched the Mindanao Peace Initiative at a gathering in the Philippine House of Representatives and in cities across Mindanao in late February and early March 2009.
The initiative is chaired by Dr. Estrella Abid Babano, Director for the Department of Education in Region 10, and co-chaired by Father Benjamin Beltran, Director of the Sandiwaan Foundation in Lanao Del Norte in Mindanao. The Mindanao Peace coalition also includes representatives of Muslim, Christian, and indigenous communities, the Armed Forces, business, academia, and youth organizations. Learn more
|
|
|
