Peacebuilding

A training resource that to provide grassroots communities with tools to end conflict and division.
(The following text has been taken from the Preface:)This is possibly one of the most important books you will ever hold in your hands. Its aim is to help bring the sanity of peace to a world wracked by the madness of violence. It will train workers in Caritas to incorporate conflict prevention, peacemaking and reconciliation into their work as part of Caritas Internationalis (CI), an international Confederation of 162 Catholic relief, development and social service agencies working in 200 countries and territories – one of the largest humanitarian networks in the world.At the 16th General Assembly of Caritas Internationalis, held in the Vatican City in June 1999, the work of the CI Working Group on Reconciliation, which resulted in Working for Reconciliation: a Caritas Handbook, was confirmed. Serious work in this area at the global and regional level had begun at the 15th General Assembly in 1995 against a backdrop of the horrors of Rwanda and Bosnia where long-term development projects were destroyed as neighbour killed neighbour. The Handbook was a great success and was valuable in raising awareness of the issues involved among CI members, showing them how to integrate good models of reconciliation practice into their programmes and indicating the centrality of this work to an organisation rooted in the Christian faith.This manual is the next logical step - a practical manual to provide trainers in peacemaking with ideas and resources; with interactive materials that cover the basic conceptual dimensions of peacebuilding; with training modules that will enhance the skills of participants but be flexible enough to be tailored to particular needs. It has already been piloted in most regions of the world and should therefore have a universal resonance and relevance. It will be constantly updated so that it becomes a dynamic tool in the hands of peacemakers. We aim to launch in all Caritas regions a series of “training for trainers” programmes based on this manual so that peacemaking and reconciliation gradually permeate all our work in the Confederation.