| We want to encourage you to look
into the range of possibilities of groups that you could work with, or groups
from which you can get useful information about peace work. When you
hear someone talk about "peace work" or "peace activism," it isn't immediately
obvious what that means. So, it's important for us all to educate ourselves
about what peace projects have been successful (or not so) in the past, what
is being done now, and what's possible for the future. A web search of "Peace organizations" will yield thousands of websites. We are listing just a few here that strike us as particularly intriguing, just enough to get you thinking. We welcome other suggestions of organizations or projects to describe (briefly) here. We do not claim any connection with any of the groups or projects listed below. Nor do we claim to know exactly what each group does. Therefore, the listings should be viewed as paths to information, not as endorsements. |
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| The International Peace Bureau (IPB) has been
around for more than 100 years. Their website includes information
about their own projects as well as a wide range of other peace groups with
which the IPB has worked. Web address: www.ipb.org. |
Global Peaceworks is focused
on the often intense religious conflict in India. The organization
gives people from India and other countries a chance to work directly on
projects that bring people of different religions together, to see clearly
the destructiveness of religious conflict, and to appreciate the tremendous
potential of cooperation. Web address: www.globalpeaceworks.org. |
| The Heifer Project is interesting because it
was not designed as a peace initiative. Yet it has become a useful
tool for peace by directly alleviating poverty, building community, and encouraging
cooperation between groups that have been competing for scarce and vital
resources. Web address: www.heifer.org. |
The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) is
one of those peculiar entities created by the U.S. Congress with public funding
for the purpose of functioning like an independent organizationation (perhaps
analagous to public broadcasting). As such, it acts as a source of
research and project grants and as a clearinghouse for information related
to U.S. government policy for promoting peace abroad. You'll need to
click on "About Us" to see links to specific projects. Web address: www.usip.org. |
| The United Nations is probably the most
well-known peace organization on the planet. But it has some flaws
that are hard to ignore. You've heard the controversies in the news.
Check out their website to see the wide range of things that they are doing.
(It's not all bad!) Web address: www.un.org/english. |
The Fellowship of Reconciliation is reportedly
the oldest peace organization in the U.S. Their projects tend to focus
on sending Americans into areas of conflict so that they can gain a clearer
understanding of the roots of conflict. In turn, those delegations
return to the U.S. to share their discoveries and to promote non-violent
conflict resolution. There are lots of informative resources on the
site. Web address: www.forusa.org. |
| Youth for Understanding (YFU) was created in 1951
to give young Germans an opportunity to live with American families and see
that they were not the evil characters depicted in Nazi propoganda.
Now, YFU thrives as one of the oldest and largest student exchange programs
in the world, promoting international understanding through exchanges with
more than 50 countries. (This is also an organization that we have
supported for many years!) Web address: yfu.org. |
Free Rice, is a non-profit website run
by the United Nations World Food Programme. Our partner is the Berkman Center
for Internet & Society at Harvard University.
FreeRice has two goals:
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| The Joy Foundation, (JOY) is a non-governmental
organization that was founded in 1996. As the name already implies, JOY
was formed as an initiative to “Share the JOY of Giving” by a team of benevolent,
philanthropic and socially committed businessmen in Nepal. |
Room to Read seeks
to transform the lives of millions of children in developing countries by
focusing on literacy and gender equality in education. Working in collaboration
with local communities, partner organizations and governments, we develop
literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children, and
support girls to complete secondary school with the relevant life skills
to succeed in school and beyond. |
A World of Good, Inc.
(a wholesale-only site)