We don’t build schools.
We don’t build homes. We don’t build roads.
We build peace.
Children in the world’s war-torn countries want to go back to school. But they are afraid. Memories of past atrocities to family and friends linger. When war ends, the threat of violence doesn’t go away. War tears communities apart and building a school or a home is only part of the real work that needs to begin.
International Alert is the UK’s leading peacebuilding charity working to ensure peace lasts in communities affected by violent conflict in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. Building peace is essential, because when an environment remains volatile, it takes more than infrastructure to ensure that the situation doesn’t revert back to war.
We don’t build the school, but we work to bring children from all sides of the conflict together, so that they can sit in the same classroom without fear.
Building peace takes time, but it is a vital investment in the future. An investment that we hope you’ll be a part of.
Below are examples of how you can help and how your money could be spent;
£20 – will help set up meetings, creating space for dialogue between survivors and those who have been accused of the crimes – to promote reconciliation between both
£30 - could sponsor a programme on a community radio covering issues such as violence against women, governance and elections
£100 - could provide a survivor of the Rwandan genocide with the microfinance to start a business; when husbands and fathers were killed in the massacre, many families also lost their livelihood
£100 - will take forgotten women from conflict zones to policy-makers to highlight important issues directly affecting the lives of their communities.
£500 - could enable a group of Guinean artists to produce a drama promoting reconciliation
£600 - will fund a community radio station for a year in somewhere like Sao Tome and Principe, providing local people with a public forum where they can keep their government accountable for its use of oil resources.
Is peace possible?
We have produced a peace booklet to answer any lingering questions you may have about peacebuilding and Alert. It’s short, informative and a quick read, so please click on the link above and take a look!
Working in over 20 countries, we partner with communities working to create a peaceful solution to violent conflict and provide hope for their futures.