As desirable, rewarding, and valuable as peace is, it does not come easily. Conflict happens at every level of society and every corner of the world, which means that peacebuilding must involve people everywhere. The Ubuntuworks Projects seeks to educate the public about this main Ubuntu principle and to connect people with helpful, informative resources that put peacebuilding front and center. Mediators are especially equipped to handle conflict, and organizations like Mediators Beyond Borders International is just one example of how, together, we can address the critical need for peace.
The Ubuntuworks Resource Hub provides organizations and individuals with data, stories, studies and support for a more connected and compassionate world.
About Mediators Beyond Borders International (MMBI)
Excerpt from MMBI:
“MBBI started at a time when the founders recognized the critical need for conflict resolution skills at all levels of community, keenly aware of the necessary shift from the ‘powerful nations’ model to a ‘people-centered’ peacebuilding model; of the increasing leadership role of regional and sub-regional organizations, along with increasing engagement of civil society actors. All of these transitions underscored the need to prepare people at every level for participation in the state of the art peacebuilding processes that are multidisciplinary and collaborative.
MBBI’s areas of functional expertise:
- Mobilizing Experts/Advisory Support
- Technical Expertise – Mediation, Negotiation, Dialogue
- Design and Facilitation of a range of processes
- Program Implementation and Capacity Building
- Transition, Governance & Security Dimensions of Peace Processes
Mediators Beyond Borders International (MBBI)’s mission is to build local skills for peace and promote mediation worldwide. Recognizing that the only lasting peace is the one built by those involved, MBBI advances the objectives of its 134 global partners by delivering and teaching skills for evidence-based context assessment, trauma-informed peacebuilding, post-conflict reconciliation and recovery, cross-sector and network collaboration, project design, implementation, evaluation, and peacebuilding leadership. Since 2007, more than 200 distinguished MBBI professional mediation, conflict transformation, and trauma recovery specialists have been catalyzing the success of local partners working to build a more peace “able” world in 33 countries on five continents. Accorded Special NGO Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), MBBI is also an Official Observer Organization for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change talks and Conference of the Parties.
MBBI works to bring mediation and peace skills to organizations and communities around the globe so that they can prevent, resolve, and heal from conflict. Its more than three hundred members and over fifty-five consultants comprise a global network of local practitioners.
MBBI projects are initiated by invitations from local community organizations, are designed in collaboration with community representatives, and are informed by a wide range of expertise in systems, process and training design, mediation and dialogue, restorative practices, trauma, community development and organizational behavior.”
To learn more about MMBI and to get involved, visit https://mediatorsbeyondborders.org
Photo: Casey Lovegrove