George Gachara, co-founder of the Picha Mtaani a street
exhibition initiative in Kenya, has been chosen as a recipient of the 2011
Outstanding Leadership Award from the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR)
International Development Committee.
George was selected in recognition of his extraordinary
contribution to advancing conflict resolution internationally. The awards will
be presented on October 12, 2011 at ACR’s Annual Conference in San Diego,
California (USA).
George has helped create spaces for young people to become
agents of peace and reconciliation in their communities. In the aftermath of
the 2007 presidential election in Kenya, waves of political and ethnic violence
swept the country, resulting in the deaths of over 1,500 people and the
internal displacement of 600,000.
“As a country we stood on the brink of collapse. We saw how
bad things can get. For us, Peace cannot be just an interval between wars,
which is why we’re driving a much needed cultural transformation,” He said.
He adds, “Addressing conflict is not merely about
pacification of peoples, but addressing injustices, inequalities between
people. Unless we can meet this challenge, new conflicts will flare up and we
will lose another generation to war, it is our duty to nurture a future and
hope for young people suffering from unemployment and have little prospects of
improving their lives.”
The International Development Committee of the ACR’s
International Section each year honors exceptional work promoting conflict
resolution in development projects around the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment