Kimpa Vita Press

Peace and Conflicts Transformation

TRANSCEND INTERNATIONAL connects autonomous individuals and centers working on peace by peaceful means, development by developmental means and environment by environmental means. The mission statement defines four pillars: To bring about a more peaceful world by using action, education/training, dissemination and research to handle conflicts with empathy, nonviolence and creativity.

TRANSCEND was founded August 1993 by Johan Galtung and Fumio Nishimura as a conflict mediation organization. Dietrich Fischer joined and June 1995 Fischer and Galtung invited 11 others. Mid 2008 TRANSCEND has 350 scholars-practitioners from 80 countries as members, one third women. TRANSCEND International, Inc., is registered in Hawai’i and has 501(c)3 tax-exemption number 99ï·“0339345. Treasurer: Katrin Kaeufer

TRANSCEND is organized in a dozen regions around the world: Northern Europe, German-speaking Europe, Eastern Europe, CIS, Europa Latina, Africa, the Arab World, the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, (North-)East Asia, North America, Latin America. Each region has a convener. The Board of Conveners is TRANSCEND’s highest authority, sensitive to the biannual member assemblies.

During the 15 years from 1993 most of the work has been on conflict mediation and violence conciliation, using Diagnosis-Prognosis-Therapy, on often very difficult and complex conflicts. In that connection peace journalism, peace education and peace business have played important roles

POSITIVE PEACE.
Increasing fulfillment through cooperation, harmony and fusion, peace building, development, structural peace, cultural peace and spirituality.
Key contact: Johan Galtung

SABONA (Zulu for “I see You”)
is TRANSCEND in daily life–schools, couples and family, at work–to help people understand what happens in conflicts, how conflicts can be solved and better relations be built. From experimental schools in Norway the program is now expanding.
Key contact: Synove Faldalen

GENERALS FOR PEACE.
During the Cold War Generals and Admirals for Peace voiced military arguments against the type of warfare contemplated. The same is needed today.
Key contact: Emma Leslie

CONFLICT SENSITIVE DEVELOPMENT.
Based on deep knowledge of Sri Lanka, the Institute for Integrative Conflict Transformation and Peace-building (IICP) in Vienna was asked to design a conflict sensitive development program–beyond reconstruction–in one Sinhalese, one Tamil and one Muslim village, as well as a joint peace resource center, after the 2004 tsunami.
Key contact: Gudrun Kramer

THE ARAB WORLD.
22 countries and more than 300 million, with numerous key conflicts within and without call for the use of
- Action: conflict transformation for Iraq, Somalia, and others
- Research: a Conflict Atlas for the Arab world, human rights
- Dissemination: peace journalism, also translated into Arabic
- Education: TRANSCEND Peace University, courses in Arabic

Key contact: Abbas Aroua

MIDDLE EAST.
The Israeliï·“Palestinian conflict has so far defied interventions. TRANSFORM (The Interdisciplinary Centre for Conflict Analysis, Political Development and World Society Research) is currently building a network of Facilitators for Peace in the Middle East and is developing a methodology for Social Transformation in Conflict. It is also disseminating TRANSCEND’s approach of pursuing peace by peaceful means.
Key contacts: Ahmed Badawi and Ofer Zalzberg

AFRICA.
More than 50 countries and 500 nations call for creative use of peace resources in deep cultures and structures, giving nations prominence in federations and opening up in communities, with focus on the baraza and other peace resources.
Key contact: Rais Boneza

(NORTH-)EAST ASIA.
The problem facing a (North-)East Asian region with China and Taiwan, the two Koreas and Japan–cooperating with Russia Far East–is Japan, often referred to as the US 51st state. On the other hand, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization includes Central and South Asia. Creative reconciliation and new approaches are needed.
Key contact: Kyoko Okumoto

THE INVISIBLE CONTINENT.
The state system and inter-governmental organizations, playing their often lethal games, are highly visible; less so the millions of human generally living peaceful lives, facing deep conflicts, performing miracles of conflict transformation and peace building. Stories pass from generation to generation and groups to groups through griots, to be made more visible.
Key contacts: Naakow Grant-Hayford and Karoline Weber

FROM STATE FOREIGN POLICIES TO GLOBAL DOMESTIC POLITICS. The state system is yielding to regionalization and globalization. State foreign policies can no longer be based on (dominant) nation interests only but have to be aligned with regional and nature-human-global interests. The program calls for joint efforts in many states, like Ministries for Peace, solutions for inter-regional conflicts, and global visions for Weltinnenpolitik.
Key contacts: Johan Galtung and George Kent kent