In a conversation-style talk at tables set for an intimate lunch, Mohamud told 91短视频 leaders: “I’d like to officially request your help for Somalia with the tools and techniques you have here, which are very life-saving tools – not [only] life-saving at the individual level, but life-saving at a nation level.”

He commended CJP’s , which has 16 Somali-speaking women as graduates or current students: “You educate a woman, you educate a family. You educate a family, you educate a whole nation.”

He added that another important group to nurture as peacebuilders is the youth of his country, who constitute the largest segment of its population and who have spent much of their lives experiencing violence and displacement. “All of their lives [have been] unstable for a long time. They keep running, one place after another.”

The young of Somalia need trauma healing, education, and work opportunities in order not to be vulnerable to recruiting by terrorist organizations, he said.

CJP program director concurred with Mohamud’s observation, saying: “We don’t want to create a society where young men are drawn into violence because they have no prospects for a positive life, while young women are taught to be peacemakers.”

91短视频’s commitment to Somali region

Docherty touched on 91短视频’s “long commitment to the Somali region.” She spoke of celebrating the graduation of CJP’s first cohort of Somali women in the peacebuilding leadership program in December 2013. There she felt “great hope,” but also heard the women express “the need to connect large-scale work on trauma healing with any initiatives to rebuild the country.”

Mohamud arrived in Harrisonburg in a mid-sized black car sandwiched between two other black vehicles, with accompanying members of the U.S. Secret Service.

“We are always honored when our former students return to campus, [but] to my knowledge, you are the first alumnus to return with a motorcade,” said CJP executive director in his welcoming remarks, evoking a warm smile from the Somali president.

How this president came to know 91短视频

CJP’s direct connections to Somalia include alumna Khadija Ossoble Ali, who earned her in 2001. Ali then became a member of Somalia’s parliament and served in the prime minister’s cabinet. She left Somalia in the mid-2000s due to political changes and began pursuing a PhD at in Virginia. With her doctorate just completed, she recently met with Mohamud in Somalia where they spoke of new responsibilities for her. (The president conveyed her personal greetings to 91短视频.)

After Ali began studying at CJP in the late 1990s, she recommended 91短视频’s Summer Peacebuilding Institute (SPI) to Mohamud, who was then an educational leader in Somalia. (He is the founder of what has evolved into in Mogadishu, with 5,000 students.) Mohamud took three of SPI’s intensive courses in 2001, focusing on mediation, trauma healing, and how to design learner-centered trainings.

“My brothers and sisters,” he said, recalling his time at SPI, “this is another great day in coming back here after more than 10 years away.” Since Mohamud’s time at SPI, more than a dozen Somali men and women have attended SPI, plus many others who have Somali roots but enroll in SPI from Kenyan, U.S., or other addresses (SPI does not track its participants by ethnicity).

“After I left here,” Mohamud recounted, “I extensively traveled in Somalia, mediating [between] different communities and clans [which] were having conflicts for different reasons.”

Understandings, patience, helped by SPI teachings

“The tools and the instruments that I took from here helped me a lot in sitting with the people, having the patience and the endurance to listen to sometimes irrational arguments,” he said.

Fortunately, Mohamud said, his SPI training helped him to realize that the people speaking irrationally and often choosing destructive paths were burdened by psychosocial traumatic baggage as a result of their constant exposure to violent conflict.

Unfortunately, he added, Somalia remains a tinderbox. A destructive act by even one person can undermine years of efforts at peacebuilding and reconciliation and spark widespread attacks of one group against another.

Threatened by terrorists

In this environment – with Somalia’s still-weak, distrusted governmental bodies – the terrorist group Al-Shabaab has played a viciously destabilizing role in Somalia and indeed the entire region, Mohamud said. Members of this group tried to kill Mohamud in a hotel assault four days after he became president on Sept. 10, 2012, and have launched other attacks on him over the last two years, sometimes killing people around him.

On a positive note, Mohamud said Somalia is a “very, very rich country” in terms of possibilities for its people to thrive once stability is achieved. It has millions of hectares of arable land, two strongly flowing rivers, the longest coastline in Africa, and the most livestock per capita. He pointed out that Somalia is situated at one of the “most strategic locations in the world.”

The meeting was held in an area that could be easily secured by the Secret Service and local police. Twenty-six representatives of 91短视频 joined Mohamud and his accompanying group of eight for remarks and lunch at , a relatively secluded meeting area on the back side of Common Good Marketplace, near the southeast corner of 91短视频’s campus.

Mohamud singled out?, a rising junior at 91短视频, for special attention at the luncheon, giving her a warm hug as he departed. He praised her deceased mother, , a Somali-Muslim renowned for her peace work in East Africa, for insisting that the “cross-cutting subject” of peacebuilding be woven through the required coursework of all students at Simad University.

Fruits of interfaith work

As one of three who spoke on behalf of 91短视频, Byler explicitly referred to the interfaith nature of 91短视频’s work with Somali-speaking people, who are largely Muslim.

Byler quoted two passages from the Holy Quran that “whoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved the lives of all humankind.” And: “Have you seen him who denies the religion? He is the one who harshly rebuffs the orphan and does not urge the feeding of the poor.” Byler offered Psalm 82:3 as having a similar message for Jews and Christians: “Give justice to the weak and the orphan; maintain the right of the lowly and destitute.” The Somali president nodded in affirmation as Byler spoke these words.

As a sign of CJP’s commitment to Somalia and the rest of the Horn of Africa, Byler said CJP is establishing its first “practice and learning hub” to “partner with and support our [East African] alumni as they engage in this challenging work” of addressing the deeply rooted, systemic problems that feed the cycles of violence.

91短视频 President presented the president of Somalia with several gifts, including training materials in the Somali language used by 91短视频’s program.

At the end of her first 91短视频 semester, Kaltuma Noorow had a casual conversation with Caleb Hinga, then a sophomore.

She mentioned her mother’s name – Dekha Abdi. Instantly Caleb made the connection,“You’re Dekha’s daughter!”

Dekha Ibrahim Abdi, a Somali-Muslim woman who was internationally recognized for her peace work, had been his mother’s inspiration at 91短视频’s .

Caleb’s mother,?Warigia Hinga, had earned a in the spring of 2011. Kaltuma’s mother was a student at the in 1998 and 2009 and an SPI instructor in 2011. She weeks after returning to Kenya in the summer of 2011.

“I don’t want her dream to die,” says Kaltuma, a rising junior majoring in . Kaltuma is the eldest of Abdi’s four children, aged 11 to 22 when their mother died. When one of her mother’s friends encouraged Kaltuma to consider studying at 91短视频, she stopped at three years of architecture studies at a Kenyan university to start over in Harrisonburg.

Some of her 91短视频 classes are taught by her mother’s former professors. Kaltuma hopes to one day earn a CJP masters degree. And she wants to connect her love of architectural design with her passion for – she’s hoping to take a new course at this year’s Summer Peacebuilding Institute, “.”

Kaltuma lived four years in Birmingham, England, with her family and has traveled to Ethiopia, Uganda, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam, plus many western European countries. “Yes, I have wanderlust,” she says. “When I first arrived in Harrisonburg, 91短视频 looked pretty small. I’m a city girl.”

In her first year here, Kaltuma quickly identified a cultural trait of her fellow students – a cool reticence in class discussions. “They chose their words so carefully for fear of being misunderstood. I was the one who freely said what was on my mind, and I had to adjust. I didn’t want to be the annoying person who talks too much in 肠濒补蝉蝉.”

She describes herself as a “visual learner. I’m so bored reading textbooks. I’m asking, ‘How can I practically apply this?’”

One practical skill she would like to see expanded from a two-day workshop at CJP to a semester-long course is instruction in “how to talk to donors, how to write grants for funding.”

The work her mother began, Kaltuma is preparing to continue. She has already gained much practical experience in the field through her mother’s network of friends and associates, working alongside them in Uganda and Southeast Asia.

Fellow Kenyan Caleb describes a similar journey, prompted by his mother to come to 91短视频. “She saw leadership abilities in me, but I wasn’t using them in positive ways,” he admits.

Three years later and a rising senior, computer science major Caleb is glad he followed his mother’s advice. “I was studying mechanical engineering in Kenya. My physics class had 700 students; the teacher was projected on a big screen. Here, classes are small. The teacher knows if you’re slacking. They know your strengths and weaknesses,” says Caleb.

He and Kaltuma lead the International Student Organization; he served as president this school year and she as vice-president, rising to president next school year. In addition, Caleb has served on student government, campus activities council, and as an organizer for a 20-school international student event at James Madison University.

The 7,500 miles separating Caleb from his homeland are quickly leaped each weekend with a 2-hour phone call to his parents. “I’m much closer to my mom now than when I was back home. She challenges me when I jump to conclusions too quickly. She’s a big part of helping me get the most out of 91短视频.”

Caleb has embraced the sport of rugby, big in Kenya and other British Commonwealth nations, competing in a Harrisonburg league with players of all ages and many countries.

Caleb knows he’ll be a different person when he ultimately returns to Kenya in a year or two. “I’ll go back a more outgoing person. I’ve learned how to relate to all kinds of people in a good, respectful way, even those who don’t understand me easily.”

Before he returns, Caleb wants to achieve one more wish of his mother. “She always wanted me to take peacebuilding classes,” he says. “Next spring, I hope to take the 肠濒补蝉蝉.”

All women, all Muslim, all university-educated, and straining the bonds of their conservative societies, these nine graduates of the all live in Somali-speaking regions of east Africa.

“Credit for the creation of this program belongs to another strong and committed Somali-speaking woman, ,” Docherty said in her remarks at the WPLP graduation ceremony in a hall of University of Hargeisa, Somaliland. Abdi visited 91短视频 in June 2010 for a gathering of women peacebuilders.

At that gathering Abdi asked these provocative questions: “Are we women innocent victims, or are we part of the problem and perpetrators? And if we contribute to war, then how do we organize ourselves to contribute to peace?” The ideas from that gathering – educating women to lead their societies away from violence and towards just relationships necessary for peace – are central to 91短视频’s new program.

18 months of study and practice

WPLP consists of cohorts of carefully chosen women – strongly recommended by organizations with a stake in in a particular region – who undertake coursework for 18 months, partly at 91短视频’s main campus in Harrisonburg, Va., and partly in their home region.

“WPLP was designed by women for women’s life situation and learning needs,” says CJP’s executive director , JD. “The cohort model creates space for the students to support one another during their course of study, as well as during in-country implementation of peacebuilding practices.”

The first group received their graduate certificates from the program at the end of 2013 in a ceremony attended by six of the nine Somali-region cohort women. “The program they have completed was academically rigorous. They completed the same courses taken by our master’s degree students – and they did it largely at a distance, while meeting the demands of work and family obligations,” said Docherty.

In attendance and speaking at the graduation ceremony were the president of the University of Hargeisa, several political party leaders, and three women leaders of cabinet-level departments in Somaliland. The university facilitated this ceremony as a courtesy to 91短视频 since the WPLP graduates would have had difficulty obtaining travel visas for the spring 2014 graduation at 91短视频.

“Strong, resilient women”

Graduate Asli Mohamoud spoke at the ceremony and praised her cohort’s “group of strong, resilient women… All the women you see in front of you are used to carrying weights and burdens… We are happy and thankful that now we have the tools and knowledge to guide our experience. We hope to work together as a team to enhance peace and stability in our respective communities.”

Working together as a team is a major component of WPLP’s approach. Drawing women who share a common language, ethnic identity and similar experiences of conflict, the cohort-based program requires a “very different form of teaching, a revamping of the curriculum, tailored around their problems and their region,” notes Docherty. Their real-life case studies, drawn into an academic framework, provide material for their courses.

The collaborative teamwork fostered during their coursework, practicum and mentored projects will hopefully continue as they implement what they have learned. “Each group of graduates builds out the peacebuilder network,” says Docherty. “Our graduates, wherever they work around the world, have an uncanny knack for finding and supporting each other.”

For Mohamoud, WPLP was more than an academic exercise. It was “a journey of healing and understanding and acceptance of our situation as women affected by conflict, and who are looked up to as the leaders of change in our locations.”

On journey of healing, pushing for answers

Her supervisor at confirms that Mohamoud “pushes us hard now, asking very tough questions and causing all of us to think.”

For graduate Hibo Kheyre, being part of WPLP enabled her to recognize that she had been doing peacebuilding work for a long time. “Now with the courses and skills I have had, I know that I can continue peacebuilding in a much better way. I have changed my world view into a bigger one.”

Colleagues now express amazement that she is serving in “the role of traditional elder,” who would typically be a man, she adds.

“Training gives these women the power to step up and lead,” said WPLP director from Nairobi, Kenya, where she was interviewing the 2014 group of eight women candidates from that country. Two women from Sudan and two from South Sudan will complete the incoming group.

The Somalia-region group of graduates included women who live and work in Somaliland, Somalia, Kenya and Puntland. While enrolled in WPLP, many were promoted or found more challenging jobs that use their expanded skills. Their work includes aid relief, gender advisor, peace educator, migration issues advisor, HIV educator, job trainer and electoral reform policymaker. Their WPLP participation was funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Mohamoud summarizes the interconnected issues these graduates will face. “I am now in a position to link peacebuilding work with gender, human rights, and environmental protection – all crucial to building lasting peace in Somalia and in Africa.”

Other first graduates from Liberia, Fiji, Solomon Islands

In addition to the nine women of the Somali-region, the first class of WPLP graduates includes two women from Liberia, two from Fiji and one from the Solomon Islands. Some of these graduates plan to participate in 91短视频’s April 27 commencement weekend.

Docherty described her journey around the globe to participate in the first WPLP graduation ceremony in Hargeisa, Somaliland: “I had already scheduled a trip to Burma/Myanmar, so I continued west from there. I stopped in Dubai, took a flight down to Hargeisa, was there four days, back to Dubai and then home. Total time on airplanes, coach class seats, was more than 48 hours. But it was important for someone from here to be there.”

This was Docherty’s second visit to Hargeisa. In September 2012, she, Jan Jenner, and , PhD, traveled there to teach a two-week course to eight WPLP students denied travel visas for training. Of that experience, Docherty noted in her graduation remarks, “Spending time here in Hargeisa was immensely helpful as we learned more about the rich culture of the Somali-speaking peoples and more about the potential for peace in this region.”

The United States government denied entry to the six (two each from Kenya, Somalia and Somaliland). This was ironic, given that a federal agency, , was paying for their training.

The stated reason for exclusion was that the women might overstay their visas, says Jenner. That allegation “was more upsetting to them than that they were denied visas,” adds Jenner, who found all six women “completely committed to their countries.”

The women, ages mid-20s to early 40s, included peacebuilding-organization workers, an educational journalist, and a trauma-healing counselor. Some had been war refugees as children – a history belying the ebullient smiles in photos showing them with their American instructors, all wearing Somali clothing.

All participants in this program need a university degree before they can be admitted to WPLP [Women’s Peace Leadership Program], something not easy to obtain for many Somali women. Thus, says Jenner, these women needed to be very determined and passionate about getting an education despite often-difficult circumstances.

Jenner, Rhodes and Docherty devoted two weeks in September and October ?– amid a busy semester on 91短视频’s Harrisonburg, Va., campus – to teach the women in Hargeisa, Somaliland’s capital. Commercial flights to Hargeisa from Nairobi had just been discontinued, limiting the 91短视频 teachers to “lowest priority” seating on United Nations flights.

Docherty explains that WPLP is designed to create a network of women peace leaders within a specific country or region, who can “relate to

one another as ‘lost sisters from the same clan,’” while helping transform their region’s conflicts.

The first stage of the women’s program – initially conducted for 12 other women at in May and June – consisted of two six-day courses. In “Conflict Analysis,” taught by Rhodes, the women in Hargeisa acquired tools for understanding problems. “Strategic Peacebuilding,” taught by Docherty, helped them plan interventions.

They’re now finishing activities and papers begun during course sessions. Those completing the 15 credit-hour program will receive graduate certificates.

“It is a privilege to interact with and teach women who have been brought up during a time of civil war,” says Rhodes. “I’m learning a great deal about what gives these women motivation for peacebuilding and about how wise, strong and resilient they are.”

Rhodes felt buoyed by the women’s hopefulness. They had “hope for security and stability, hope for more women’s participation in decision making, and hope for a peaceful Somaliland and Somalia in the future.”

Somaliland is a self-declared, but internationally unrecognized, state that broke off from northern Somalia to form its own parliamentary government in 1991. It enjoys more stability than war-torn Somalia, which has struggled to establish a functioning government (though Jenner says the WPLP women consider its new president, who has himself attended SPI, to be promising). Since earlier visits, Jenner has seen former refugees returning to Somaliland, and the building of shopping centers and high-rises, though extreme economic disparities remain.

Jenner says the six were “such fun women,” yet deeply committed. Even within a patriarchal culture, “They can be spokespeople for the women who don’t have the ability to speak for themselves.”

In Somali culture, she adds, “In theory, women have quite limited power. In practice, it’s like any society” – widely varied. Women, for example, often resolve family disputes.

The 12 program participants on campus in mid-2012 came from Liberia, the South Pacific and Somalia. Before her death in a 2011 accident, former SPI student and teacher Dekha Ibrahim Abdi had advocated for a women’s program, while master’s degree alumna and served as a major inspiration.

The program is expected to grow gradually, says Jenner, depending upon the ability of regional women’s networks, or cohorts, to build local organizational support and secure sources of funding.

, a philanthropist, scholar and award-winning filmmaker, will give the at 91短视频 (91短视频), Sunday, April 29, at 1 p.m. “91短视频 is a remarkable institution, an island of sanity in a country that often has difficulty crediting the discourse of peace,” said Disney.

“It recognized in , an extraordinary gift for activism and principled nonviolent leadership long before either I or the Nobel Committee did, and for every Leymah that has risen to prominence from 91短视频 I happen to know there are dozens of others quietly laboring in obscurity to build peace.”

More than just a last name

Granddaughter of Roy Disney and grandniece of Walt Disney, co-founders of the Walt Disney Company, Abigail Disney intertwined her longtime passion for women’s issues and peacebuilding in her first film, “” (Fork Films, 2008). Directed by Gini Reticker, the film shows how Liberian women forced their warring men to arrive at a peace settlement that led to the election of Africa’s first woman president.

The film focuses on the peace activism of 91短视频 alumna and .

“War has never been a tidy, closed activity, taking place on a clearly demarcated battlefield between two uniformed entities, or when it has, that has been the exception,” Disney wrote on the “” PBS website. “Rather, war marches right through the center of everything—through house, hearth and field—ripping a hole into the center of things that can never be entirely repaired.

“To bring a woman’s eyes to the telling of the story of war—to turn the camera around and place it in her hands—is to fundamentally alter the way war looks, sounds and smells,” she added.

Previous ties to 91短视频

91短视频 first hosted Disney at a entitled “,” featuring Gbowee and women from around the world who are involved in peacebuilding. The event included previews of the five-part PBS television special, “Women, War & Peace,” , which premiered in October 2011. The series challenges the conventional wisdom that war and peace is a man’s domain, and features celebrity narrators Matt Damon, Tilda Swinson, Geena Davis and Alfre Woddard.

The forum was part of a larger gathering of women peacebuilders at 91短视频. Disney was one of 20 participants in a three-day conference that grouped female peace workers from nine countries to learn from each other’s experiences and explore the potential value of an educational program at 91短视频 tailored to women peacebuilders.

During the public forum, Disney moderated a discussion by three influential women in peacebuilding: Leymah Gbowee; the late , a Kenyan-Muslim woman of Somali ethnic origin who received the 2007 Right Livelihood Prize (alternative Nobel Prize); and , an MA graduate of the and director of the .

Fostering female peacebuilders

In 2008, Disney launched “,” an organization supporting female voices and international peacebuilding through nonviolent means.

Peace is Loud organized a 2009 Global Peace Tour as part of the UN’s International Day of Peace. The tour brought “Pray the Devil Back to Hell” to hundreds of community screenings in churches, living rooms, community spaces, and forums in the U.S. and abroad, sharing the inspirational story of the women of Liberia.

Disney is the founder and the president of , a progressive, social change foundation that bestows grants to grassroots, community-based organizations working in low-income communities in New York City.

Disney earned a BA from Yale, an MA in English literature from Stanford University, and a PhD in English from Columbia University. She has served on the boards of the Roy Disney Family Foundation, The White House Project, the Global Fund for Women, The New York Women’s Foundation, the Fund for the City of New York, and more.

Learn more about Abigail Disney and her work

Gbowee, the leader of a women’s movement that helped end 14 years of warfare in Liberia in 2003, earned a from the (91短视频) in 2007.

“In many societies where women used to be the silent victims and objects of men’s powers, women are throwing down the walls of repressive traditions with the invincible power of non-violence,” Gbowee told listeners at the Nobel Peace award ceremony in Oslo, Norway, including in row 27.

“Women are using their broken bodies from hunger, poverty, desperation and destitution to stare down the barrel of the gun. This prize has come at a time when ordinary mothers are no longer begging for peace, but demanding peace, justice, equality and inclusion in political decision-making.”

Swartzendruber said he found Gbowee’s speech to be “inspiring and passionate.” His host in Norway, international peace scholar Peter Wallensteen of Sweden, felt similarly, calling it “powerful.” Gbowee asked for a moment of silence for women who have recently died while working for peace, including of Kenya.

Gbowee and Abdi last met when they joined 18 other women peacebuilders from nine countries in June 2011 to discuss whether 91短视频 should host an educational program tailored to women working for justice and peace around the world. As a Kenyan-Muslim woman of Somali ethnic origin, Abdi was known for her peace skills and interventions throughout East Africa. She was a former student and instructor at under its Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP).

“In collaboration with CJP graduates and partners, we have determined that women peacebuilders will indeed benefit from a program focused on the distinctive needs, skills and strengths of women,” said CJP executive director Lynn Roth. “We will be launching this program in our .”

Also attending the ceremony from 91短视频 was Joshua Mensah, a sophomore, who is Gbowee’s first-born child.

Gbowee, who shares the prize with and , earned a master’s degree in conflict transformation from the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP) at in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She attended CJP’s Summer Peacebuilding Institute in 2004 and participated in a round-table for Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience (known as “STAR”) in 2005.

Gbowee led a nationwide women’s movement that was instrumental in halting Liberia’s second civil war in 2003.

“Leymah Gbowee mobilized and organized women across ethnic and religious dividing lines to bring an end to the long war in Liberia, and to ensure women’s participation in elections,” noted the in making the award. “She has since worked to enhance the influence of women in West Africa during and after war.”

Starting in the 1990s

Gbowee’s links to Mennonites began in 1998, when she received training in “trauma healing and reconciliation” and then worked at rehabilitating child soldiers. Perhaps unbeknownst to her, the first trainings in this subject in Liberia occurred when , a Mennonite with trauma expertise, arrived in Liberia in the early 1990s, with funding from and what is now called , both based in the United States.

Hart trained Lutheran church workers who, in turn, trained Gbowee. Hart also arranged for , who became Gbowee’s friend and mentor, to earn a graduate degree in conflict transformation at 91短视频. In 1998 Doe became one of the earliest master’s degree graduates from what is now called the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, setting the stage for Gbowee to earn the same degree nine years later.

In her 2011 memoir, “,” Gbowee says she came to 91短视频 because it was “an American college with a well-known program in peace-building and conflict resolution. It was a Christian school that emphasized community and service.”

Responding to the Nobel announcement, 91短视频 President said: ?“The impact that Leymah was able to have, first in Liberia, then in West Africa, and now all over the world, shows that another, nonviolent reality is possible. This affirms the dreams and hopes of groups, educational institutions, and churches that are devoted to supporting peace work.”

“We plant what we call ‘seeds of peace’ as widely as we possibly can, usually through education in peace building theory and skills, and then trust that some of these seeds will bear fruit,” he added.

Seeds of Peace

The woman Gbowee calls her “true friend” and fellow founder of , Thelma Ekiyor, attended 91短视频’s 2002 Summer Peacebuilding Institute, as did Gbowee’s first champion and employer in Liberia, Lutheran Reverend “BB” Colley, who attended the annual institute in 2000 and 2001. At Colley’s urging, Gbowee read “” by the well-known Mennonite ethicist John Howard Yoder.

Gbowee, who was named , is the central figure in a documentary co-produced by , “.” Completed in 2008, the documentary is part of a “” series to be aired over five successive Tuesdays in October 2011 on public television stations in the United States.

In her memoir, Gbowee credits with introducing her to the (WANEP), an organization that he co-founded and led after finishing his master’s degree at 91短视频. (Doe received 91短视频’s annual and now works for the United Nations. His daughter, Samfee, graduated from 91短视频 in the spring of 2011, overlapping for one year with Gbowee’s eldest son, Joshua “Nuku” Mensah, who enrolled in the fall of 2010.)

“WANEP, based in Ghana, emphasized using nonviolent strategies and encouraged women to join the effort to address problems of violence, war and human rights abuses,” wrote Gbowee.

WANEP supported the launch of , the organization through which Gbowee and her colleagues conducted the campaigns that played a key role in ending the civil war in Liberia. (This organization is the predecessor to Gbowee’s current organization, Women, Peace and Security Network Africa.) The WANEP-launched women’s network—plus , the grassroots movement led by Gbowee—laid the groundwork for the election of fellow Nobel Laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as president of Liberia, the first woman president of an African nation.

WANEP is now led byof Ghana, a 2002 graduate of CJP.

CJP Teachings Credited

Gbowee’s memoir credits two of the founding professors of CJP, and , with strongly influencing her through their writings and teachings.

“I read Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi and the Kenyan author and conflict and reconciliation expert Hizkias Assefa, who believed that reconciliation between victim and perpetrator was the only way to really resolve conflict, especially civil conflict, in the modern world. Otherwise, Assefa wrote, both remained bound together forever, one waiting for apology or revenge, the other fearing retribution.”

As Gbowee began to attend international meetings pertaining to peace and feeling the need to “speak with more knowledge and authority,” she says, “I began amassing books on conflict resolution theory: ‘’ and ‘,’ both by .”

In May 2004, the summer after the Liberian peace accords were signed, Gbowee came to 91短视频 to attend classes at its annual Summer Peacebuilding Institute. “Those four weeks were another transformative time for me,” she says in her book, noting that she studied with Assefa at the institute and with, “who taught me the concept of ‘restorative justice.’”

“Restorative justice was… something we could see as ours and not artificially imposed by Westerners. And we needed it, needed that return to tradition. A culture of impunity flourished throughout Africa. People, officials, governments did evil but were never held accountable. More than we needed to punish them, we needed to undo the damage they had done.”

Women in Peacebuilding at 91短视频

In June 2011 at 91短视频, Gbowee participated in a by-invitation conference on the needs of women peacebuilders around the world. Participants included filmmaker Abigail Disney of the United States, of Fiji, of Afghanistan, and , a Kenyan-Muslim woman of Somali ethnic origin who received the 2007 Right Livelihood Prize. (Abdi died in a car accident after returning to Kenya in July 2011.)

“As a direct result of this conference, we will be launching a women and peacebuilding program at our ,” says , executive director of CJP.

The announcement from 91短视频 on the Nobel Peace Prize award can be found at .

Abdi was a student at the peacebuilding institute in 1998 and 2009 and an instructor during the 2011 Summer Peacebuilding Institute. Abdi also participated in the Women in Peacebuilding Symposium, which was held June 9-11 at 91短视频.

“Dekha’s death is a great loss to her family, to 91短视频 and to peacebuilding efforts in Kenya and the Horn of Africa,” said Fred Kniss, provost and acting president of 91短视频. “She leaves four children – Kaltuma, 22; Ibrahim, 19; Noora, 14; and Balquesa, 11.”

Abdi’s husband died in the same accident that took her life.

Abdi’s work on behalf of peace in East Africa and the well-being of traditional pastoral peoples around the world brought her into association with local and international agencies in Cambodia, Somalia, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Germany, Ethiopia, South Africa, the Netherlands, Zimbabwe, the United Kingdom, Uganda, Ghana and Kenya.

Abdi received the 2007 Right Livelihood Award – often described as the alternative Nobel Peace Prize – which is bestowed on those “working on practical and exemplary solutions to the most urgent challenges facing the world today.”

The Right Livelihood Foundation website describes Abdi as “a global peacemaker…her comprehensive methodology combines grassroots activism, a soft but uncompromising leadership and a spiritual motivation drawing on the teachings of Islam.”

Abdi also was one of 1,000 women nominated as a group for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 and was named the Kenyan Peace Builder of the Year in 2005.

Her most recent work included development of Wajir Peace University in northeastern Kenya, often in collaboration with several colleagues at 91短视频’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, including long-time friend Janice Jenner.

In the book Working with Conflict, Skills and Strategies for Peace (Zed Books, 2000), Abdi wrote about her experiences as a mediator and offered insights into the roots of and solutions to conflicts.

Abdi served on several boards including the Nomadic and Pastoralists Development Initiative in Nigeria and the Berghof Center in Germany. Abdi is also a founding member of the Coalition of Peace in Africa (COPA) and the Global Peace Practitioners Network “ACTION” (Action for Conflict Transformation).

Abdi, a Muslim woman of Somali ethnic origins, died in a Nairobi hospital; she worked from her home in Mombasa, Kenya.