Youth peacebuilder, Gbenga Oni of Nigeria, is a Generation Change and YALI Fellow who implements peacebuilding programs in Northern Nigeria in partnership with Justice, Development and Peace Caritas Advocates. JDPCA envisions a community where justice and promotion of human dignity are held sacred and all citizens are able to realize their full potential in a just, safe and free environment. On the show, Gbenga will discuss the challenges associated with reaching gender equality in Nigeria and what young people are doing to further this goal.
Kicking off 60 days of engagement around youth, gender and peace, this episode of the Peace Frequency speaks with Vweta Chadwick – a human rights champion with over 10 years’ experience working to advance the rights of women and girls. She is the programs director of Project ASHA, an NGO advancing the rights of women and girls in underserved communities across Africa. She, equally, doubles as the secretary of Carrington Youth Fellowship Alumni Network. The 60 days of engagement – #Youth4PeaceandEquality – are bringing awareness and education to three international days of celebration: August 12th is International Youth Day; September 21st is International Peace Day; and October 11th is International Day of the Girl Child.
In this episode we speak with Saba Ismail, who co-founded with her sister, Aware Girls – a young women-led organisation working for the empowerment of young women and gender equality in Pakistan. Her bravery and activism was acknowledged by Foreign Policy Magazine, which awarded her as one of the 100 Leading Global Thinkers of 2013. She is also on the Steering Committee of UNOY and represents Asia in the World Youth Movement for Democracy. She has done research on the “Role of Young women in Emerging Democracies”. She is the co-founder of South Asian Regional Feminists Forum on Women’s Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. She has worked as Youth Ambassador for Asia Pacific Youth Network (APYN: 20120-2013).
In this show we speak with Kerri Kennedy, Associate General Secretary for International Programs at the American Friends Service Committee. Kerri has 18 years of experience managing international development and emergency response programs in areas of conflict and post conflict environments with a focus on inclusive governance systems, civic education and advocacy campaigns, gender, and rights-based policy development.
In this show we speak with Todd Walters – Founder and Executive Director of International Peace Park Expeditions. Walters has adapted Peace & Conflict Impact Assessment methodology to transboundary protected areas, and produced short documentary films in the Transcending Boundaries series which portray multiple stakeholder perspectives concerning environmental peacebuilding in transboundary protected areas. Walters is also a member of the Transboundary Conservation Specialist Group at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature where he is developing a practitioners training curriculum on Transboundary Conservation best practices and is a Fellow at the Institute for Environmental Diplomacy and Security.
In this episode we speak with author, educator, activist, and co-editor of the 2012 book, “We Have Not Been Moved: Resisting Racism and Militarism in 21st Century America.” Meyer is a long-time leader of the War Resisters League and a founder of the anti-imperialist collective Resistance in Brooklyn (RnB). His solidarity and writing includes co-authorship with Pan-African pacifist Bill Sutherland of Guns and Gandhi in Africa, of which Archbishop Tutu commented: “Sutherland and Meyer have begun to develop a language which looks at the roots of our humanness.” Meyer’s work in education includes a ten-year stint as Multicultural Coordinator for NYC’s Alternative High Schools, and work on the Board of the Peace and Justice Studies Association.
In this episode we speak with Benjamin Naimark-Rowse – a PhD candidate at the Fletcher School for Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. His dissertation, in the works, is titled “Dear Friend: Correspondence Across Enemy Lines,” which looks at the relationship Nelson Mandela had with leaders of the Apartheid government during and immediately after his 27 years in prison. Naimark-Rowse uses this story as a foil to better understand the concept of strategic communication and how it applies to nonviolent and mixed method movements.
In this show we speak with Dr. Erica Chenoweth–Associate Professor at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver and an Associate Senior Researcher at the Peace Research Institute of Oslo (PRIO). Together with Maria J. Stephan, she won the 2013 Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order, which is presented annually in recognition of outstanding proposals for creating a more just and peaceful world order. Their book, “Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict,” also won the 2012 Woodrow Wilson Foundation Award. In December 2013, Foreign Policy named Chenoweth one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers of the year “for proving Gandhi right,” noting her work on providing evidence for the efficacy of nonviolent political movements.
In this episode we speak with Hamidullah Natiq – Senior Training Officer working for the United States Institute of Peace in Afghanistan. In our conversation Natiq takes us through his journey towards becoming a self-identified peacebuilding trainer. He also sheds light on how he approaches setting up and facilitating a learning experience. He introduces the term, “discovery education,” and talks about some of the ways this model of teaching and training aids the peacebuilding process.
In this conversation we speak with Dr. Eileen F. Babbitt – Professor of Practice of International Conflict Management, Director of the Institute for Human Security, and Co-director of the Program on Human Rights and Conflict Resolution at The Fletcher School.
This is a professional resume blog that highlights different elements of my career and provides more information about the skills, passions, and interests I bring to my work.
