Peace Direct

Peace Direct is a charity based in London, England which supports grassroots peacebuilders in areas of conflict. Peace Direct focuses on supporting grassroots peacebuilders who are local to the conflict and have a clear vision of what needs to be achieved. Peace Direct funds this work, promotes it and learns from it. Peace Direct is a member of the One World Network, which seeks to "promote sustainable development, social justice, and human rights."

Origins

Peace Direct [http://www.peacedirect.org] was founded by Scilla Elworthy and Carolyn Hayman in 2003. Elworthy previously founded the Oxford Research Group and Hayman was Chief Executive at the Foyer Federation.

Projects

Peace Direct funds 'Champions' projects in Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya, and has given to projects in Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Iraq with their ‘Rapid Response’ programmes. The Champions projects provide core funding to groups that are committed to non-violence, have a track record, strategic ambition, a desire to communicate, and whose work fits with Peace Direct’s charitable aims. The Rapid Response Funds are managed by local committees and are used to respond quickly to emerging violence or opportunities in peace processes. Peace Direct is also responsible for the pioneering web-based project Insight on Conflict

Peace Direct promotes grassroots peacebuilding by bringing peace into the mainstream media. Peace Direct are working with photographer Ted Giffords, Getty Images, BBC Radio 4 and the Virgin Group to re-brand peace and seek out positive, active pictures that shout out loud what it is to be free of war. 7/7 survivor Gill Hicks has become the first Peace Direct ambassador; her viral video documenting the importance of peace to her has been seen by 10,000 people around the world and can be viewed on YouTube.

Peace activists whose skills have been developed in violent conflict have much to teach the west about resolving conflict, not least through their conviction that things can change. In Autumn 2005 Peace Direct brought Muslim peace activists from Kenya and Palestine to work with young British Muslims to explore how they could fulfil their potential within British society. Every month Peace Direct send out Practical Peace Newsletters sharing ideas and suggestions with their supporters about how to make practical changes towards a more peaceful future.

Patrons

*Dekha Ibrahim Abdi
*Dame Margaret Anstee
*Dame Anita Roddick
*Mark Rylance
*Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan

External links

* [http://www.peacedirect.org Peace Direct]