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SOUL BEAT : Community Radio

Where community radio is central to Africa's social and economic development


Search for Common Ground

Countries

Angola, Burundi, Congo (DRC), Cote d'Ivoire / Ivory Coast, Guinea, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Liberia, Macedonia (Republic of), Morocco, Nepal, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Ukraine, United States

Regions

Global, West Africa

Programme Summary

Search for Common Ground (SFCG) is a not-for-profit NGO that has been working in conflict prevention and conflict resolution worldwide since 1995. It collaborates closely with European institutions, EU member states' governments, the United Nations, and local and international NGOs in order to introduce techniques of peaceful conflict resolution in areas of extreme tension.

Communication Strategies

SFCG uses well-known conflict resolution techniques as well as less traditional ones, like TV production, radio soap opera, and community organising. Specific strategies include:

  • Mediation and facilitation
  • Dialogue workshops that bring together opponents
  • Conflict-resolution institution building and training, including work with local partners to sponsor conflict-resolution centres in Gaza, Egypt, Macedonia, Angola, Burundi, and Ukraine
  • Policy forums, including the Great Lakes Policy Forum in Washington and Brussels, the Conflict Prevention and Resolution Forum, and the Balkans Forum
  • Joint action projects that encourage people in conflict to work together on shared problems. For example, SFCG enables Hutus and Tutsis in Burundi to cooperate on micro-credit projects; backs joint Israeli-Palestinian efforts; and sponsors collaboration between liberals and conservatives in the US
  • Cross-ethnic cooperation within professions - SFCG convenes multi-ethnic meetings of editors, human rights activists, environmentalists, filmmakers, and scientists
  • Back-channel negotiations
  • Domestic shuttle diplomacy
  • Community organising - for example, in Burundi, SFCG sponsors a Women's Peace Centre, which assists Hutu and Tutsi women in peace-making activities
  • Court-based mediation - in Gaza, the West Bank, and Ukraine, SFCG has helped establish alternative dispute-resolution systems to lighten court dockets and improve the judicial process
  • Education - courses in conflict resolution in Gaza, Jordan, Macedonia, and Ukraine
  • Interethnic bilingual kindergartens in Macedonia
  • Reduction of stereotypes - SFCG sponsored workshops and studies in the Middle East to examine stereotypes and promote anti-bias education and cross-cultural understanding
  • Radio - SFCG operates radio studios in Burundi, Liberia, and Sierra Leone that produce news, features, music, and soap operas in an effort to encourage dialogue and discourage violence
  • Television series promoting common ground in South Africa, Macedonia, Angola, and the US
  • Children's TV in Macedonia to help strengthen cross-ethnic understanding
  • Video-based dialogues in Angola and Macedonia
  • Journalist training to try to diminish inflammatory reporting and promote mutual understanding in Macedonia, the Aegean region, and the Middle East
  • Cross-ethnic team reporting in Macedonia
  • Publications - SFCG produces a quarterly newsletter on regional cooperation in the Middle East and occasional monographs and anthologies co-authored by traditional foes
  • Arts and culture - SFCG co-sponsors exchanges of art between Iran and the US, and supports drama troupes in Angola, Burundi, and Liberia
  • Music - SFCG sponsors videos, peace songs and concerts, and festivals in Macedonia, Angola, and Burundi
  • Sports - SFCG collaborated with USA Wrestling to take an American wrestling team to Iran. In Burundi, SFCG sponsors soccer matches between Hutu and Tutsi youths who were previously involved in violence
  • Awards - SFCG presents the annual Common Ground Awards to honour outstanding achievement in peacemaking, to bring public attention to the field, and to encourage creative approaches.

Development Issues

Conflict.

Partners

Click here for a list of collaborating organisations; click here for a list of funders.

Contact

Search for Common Ground - Headquarters

1601 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Suite 200

Washington DC
20009
United States
Tel: 202 265 4300
Fax: 202 232 6718

Source


Placed on the Soul Beat Africa site October 17 2002
Last Updated June 18 2009



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