Religion and Peacemaking
Latest from USIP on Religion and Peacemaking
- April 26, 2013 | Publication
A new Peace Brief details the lessons learned and best practices on engaging men in support of women’s rights and empowerment in South Asia and the Middle East. It is based on a November 2012 forum organized by USIP’s Center for Gender and Peacebuilding.
- March 18, 2013 | Course
Learn about conflict resolution initiatives in Israel and the Palestinian Territories by examining case studies of the internal dialogue processes generated by civil society organizations. The course will focus on the development and impact assessment of conflict resolution programs in the current Israeli-Palestinian context.
- February 25, 2013 | Course
Learn how to use Intergroup Dialogue (ID) to engage alienated groups in safe conversation about their identities with the goal of improving understanding, dismantling perceptions of the “other,” and creating alliances that help pave the way to greater intergroup cooperation and peaceful coexistence.
- January 23, 2013 | Publication
With Islam as a common underpinning for many of the societies in turmoil where NATO is likely to be involved in the foreseeable future, USIP expert Hamid Khan says the alliance needs to be better prepared to deal on those terms.
- December 6, 2012 | Publication
Qamar-ul Huda, USIP's senior program officer in the Religion and Peacemaking Center and a scholar of Islam, talks about the deaths of more than 150 Shiites in recent weeks in Pakistan and the the targeting of Shiite mosques and neighborhoods and Shiite religious processions.
- October 18, 2012 | Publication
As part of an effort to increase dialogue and prevent violence between ethnic and religious groups during Kenya’s 2013 general election, United States Institute of Peace has once again partnered with FLT Films, a UK-based non-profit organization, to make the story of Nigerians Imam Muhammad Ashafa and Pastor James Wuye more widely known among Kenyan communities. With USIP support,FLT Films is in the early stages of dubbing in Swahili and distributing An African Answer—the Kenya-focused sequel to FLT Films’widely acclaimed documentary The Imam and the Pastor. An African Answer chronicles the successful mediation efforts of Imam Ashafa and Pastor Wuye—former leaders of opposing militias in Nigeria —as they overcame their differences and worked together to reduce tensions in communities hardest hit by violence after the 2007 Kenyan general election.
- October 16, 2012 | Event
Dr. Chaiwat Satha-Anand, a prominent nonviolent activist and scholar from Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand, joined us for a conversation on the subject of transforming radical extremism with principles of nonviolence action.
- October 5, 2012 | In the Field
USIP sponsored a peacebuilding and conflict management workshop from September 20 through October 1 in Turkey. Eleven leaders represented all of the major Sufi orders and came from both rural and urban centers. In addition to an intensive workshop, the program intended for the Pakistanis to learn from Turkish civil society organizations and to better understand their model of religious moderation.
- September 17, 2012 | Publication
Susan Hayward, USIP's senior program officer for the Religion and Peacemaking Center of Innovation, discusses her travel to Burma and role of religious leaders in civil society peacebuilding and community-led efforts to advance inter-religious coexistence.
- August 29, 2012 | Publication
Qamar-ul Huda, USIP's senior program officer for the Religion and Peacemaking Center, talks about a a six-month investigation report recently released on the burning of Korans in Afghanistan last February, which sparked riots and deadly violence across Afghanistan.
- August 23, 2012 | Publication
Qamar-ul Huda, senior program officer for USIP's Religion and Peacemaking Center, reflects on the foreign ministers at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) signed resolution to expel Syria from the international body.
- August 3, 2012 | Publication
The maturing field of religious peacebuilding faces challenges in integrating with secular peacebuilding efforts, engaging women and youth, and working more effectively with non-Abrahamic religious traditions.
- July 9, 2012 | Publication
Based on its experience in many zones of conflict, USIP believes that religious leaders and clergy are crucial to transforming inter-religious conflict. In Iraq, as in many places around the world, clergy are influential in shaping public opinion and mobilizing communities.
- July 9, 2012 | Course
Understand the causes of conflict and violent extremism in tribal Muslim societies and learn how to develop policies and programs in conflict resolution, governance, justice, security, and development that contribute to sustainable peace.
- July 5, 2012 | In the Field
Susan Hayward, senior program officer for the Religion and Peacemaking Center of Innovation, discusses USIP’s 5-day workshop, which focused on religious violence, inter-communal pluralism, and processes of problem-solving, sought to elicit consensus and provide practical support for religious leaders to serve as agents of peace in their local communities. This workshop was conducted in partnership with the Ministry of Religion and Endowments of the Kurdistan Regional Government.