Dear friends, colleagues and all those who have been connected and involved in CATS. - Children as Actors Transforming Society, over the past years,

Hosted in Caux, Switzerland, the CATS. Forum was initiatied in 2012, by Initiatives of Change (IofC) France in partnership with IofC Switzerland, Child to Child and with the support of the Learning for Well-being Foundation, which joined the year after as an official partner.  At different stages, other partners have also joined: a group of children and young people established as M.E.O.W (since 2016) and Eurochild at first as an organizing partner (2015 and 2016)  and after, as an associate partner

The original partner’s commitment enabled the Forum for 5 years, which had then been extended to two more years until 2019. Throughout the 6 editions of the CATS. Forum, more than 1600 children and adults have participated in a living experience of intergenerational collaboration to advance children’s rights and wellbeing, in particular the right for children to be heard and be taken seriously. The CATS. Forum has inspired initiatives from school days (Belgium), to national networks (Israel), national forum (France) and regional fora (Latin America and Asia). 6 years modelling, inspiring and enabling child participation.

In spite of the magic lived at the Forum, holding the event and its associated activities was not always easy. The road was uncharted, and much of the governance, financing and implementation models had to be created and reviewed along the way. For all those involved, this process has been a source of great learning about the meaning and the boundaries of creating environments where all children can engage in meaningful participation, at all levels.

This learning journey led the above mentioned partners to reach the conclusion they would now like to give a different expression to their commitment to children’s rights, in a way that best suits their respective vocation.

Therefore, we are sending you this message to let you know that:

• the CATS partnership is being dissolved and as such the CATS programme has now come to an end;
• the CATS Forum 2019 will not take place anymore, but new initiatives for children’s rights participation and/or wellbeing may be developed by the different partners.
• the CATS Forum in India scheduled for 10-16 February 2019, will be held as originally planned, led by Initiatives of Change, any continuation of this project after the forum will be under a different name;
• the CATS Latin America programme, will cease to use the name CATS as of the end of February 2019;

The CATS. partners are very proud of what they achieved together and will now go forward separately. We wish to take this opportunity to build on our shared experiences and further multiply our efforts to continue advancing children’s rights and wellbeing.

We also want to say a big THANK YOU to all those who participated, contributed and gave so much of their time and dedication to the development of this programme. This was an endevour that was co-created by many, young and old, and the CATS. Forum would not have been as amazing as it was without all of you. We created something wonderful together which will continue to inspire us all in our future work.

Should you wish to inquire about the future plans of each of the partners in the field, please contact:

• Maylis Guillou — for Initiatives of Change France: maylis.guillou@ic-fr.org
• Nick Foster— for Initiatives of Change Switzerland / Caux Foundation: nick.foster@caux.ch
• Yakarah Attias-Rosen — for the Learning for Well-being Foundation: yakarah@learningforwellbeing.org
• Arshad Mozumder — for Making Earth Our World – M.E.O.W.: arshad97@hotmail.co.uk

On the International Day of Tolerance, Initiatives of Change, who received the Ousseimi Prize on Tolerance in 2014, was invited to contribute to a panel discussion hosted by the UN Library in Geneva on “Solidarity, Dialogue and Tolerance among Nations: towards a culture of Peace”. 

Moderated by Sigrun Habermann from the UN Library Geneva, the event brought forward different perspectives highlighting the importance of multilateralism and the contribution of international solidarity to a more just and inclusive world. What followed was a lively discussion with the panelists and the room about Tolerance and how, and even if, we should go about achieving it.

Archbishop  Silvano Tomasi, Author and former Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in Geneva, presented his book “The Vatican in the Family of Nations: Diplomatic Actions of the Holy See at the UN and other International Organizations in Geneva” which he hopes will be useful to support the international community to “build bridges instead of walls”.

Ambassador Elayne Whyte Gómez, Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the United Nations in Geneva, talked about Costa Rica’s efforts to build a more inclusive society and make the voices heard of those who are usually discriminated against. She also argued that we should move from the concept of tolerance to that of understanding and of comprehension, especially nowadays as we are much more interlinked than before.

 Victor Bampoe, Director at the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS at UNAIDS, spoke about the intrinsic need of international solidarity in the Health Sector. “AIDS doesn’t know borders. To get rid of it, we have to work together.”

Rainer Gude, representing Initiatives of Change, spoke about the experience of Initiatives of Change, which worked for tolerance without ever focusing on it.  “People, and a society, that is more tolerant is simply by-product of inspiring, equipping and connecting people to start to be the change they wish to see in the world.” He said that Tolerance was important, but more of a starting point, a foundation or even a safety –net but he actually advocatedthat we should go beyond tolerance : “ who wants  to be just tolerated? We probably would rather   be accepted, understood and loved”.

The discussion went from the very practical to the very philosophical covering concepts such as the Golden Rule common to all religions, “do unto others as you would to yourself,” and even covered the French Revolution’s famous tryptic “Liberté, égalité, fraternité” (freedom, equality and fraternity) and how throughout history equality and liberty had gotten more attention. In his conclusion, Rainer Gude talked about bringing back the concept of “Fraternity”. “If we are to achieve true tolerance than we must go beyond it.  In that sense Fraternity can help.  Up till now we have seen Equality and Liberty taken to their extremes with communism and neoliberalism, and yet none has lived up to its promise.” Aiming at one or the other always led to some oppression or exclusions, he said. However, in a family, brothers and sisters are both free and equal    Hence, it was time to “bring Fraternity back” and that could help us realize a more tolerant world in the process.

The UNESCO Principles on Tolerance were adopted on 16 November 1995.

Humanitarian field workers who deal every day with belligerent groups in the most dangerous places in the world need specific skills and techniques. Such institutions as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the World Food Programme (WFP) invest energetically in training their staff in advanced negotiating skills, security frameworks and international humanitarian law.

However, these professional skills are not enough, according to four frontline negotiators who took part in a human library event co-organized by the Competence Centre on Humanitarian Negotiation (CCHN) and Initiatives of Change Switzerland. Strong human and interpersonal skills, and even empathy and love, are also essential.

The event took place on 4 December 2018, during the Third Annual Meeting of CCHN, a community of humanitarian workers and institutions which is a joint initiative of the ICRC, the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), WFP, MSF Switzerland and the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD).

One of the human books, Óscar Sánchez Piñeiro, a Senior Field Coordinator for UNHCR in Iraq, described how he acquired some of his most basic negotiating skills, as a Spaniard growing up in a conflict-ridden area of the United Stated. During his childhood and adolescence, he said, ‘violence was the order of the day’. He had to negotiate his way to and from school: ‘You had to know how to walk those streets.’ One of the most important assets in humanitarian negotiations is to be able to connect in a human way, he asserted.  

Vivian Caragonis, who works for WPF in South Sudan, spoke of dealing with people who may have committed the most horrendous crimes and human rights violations. ‘You have to forgive,’ she said, ‘keeping in mind that there will be justice for those crimes.’ She places love and her religious beliefs at the forefront of her humanitarian work. ‘When you love your interlocutors, you fulfil humanitarian principles; besides, it creates a positive surprise and it gives you impartiality and independence.’

The human library also showcased the personal stories of Raphael Veicht, Head of Mission for MSF in South Sudan, and Markus Brudermann, Head of the Regional Delegation of the ICRC to Cameroon. Both shared the challenges they had experienced on the frontline from a personal, even intimate, perspective.

Following these personal accounts, Joëlle Germanier, Negotiation Support Specialist at CCHN, officially launched the first CCHN Field Manual on Frontline Humanitarian Negotiation. She explained that the document’s richness lies in the fact that, rather than taking an academic approach, it collects experiences and learnings from frontline humanitarian negotiators around the world.

This was the last Human Library event organized by Initiatives of Change Switzerland in 2018, in collaboration with partner institutions and organizations, as part of its Enriching Encounters series. It proved again that storytelling, in a highly institutionalized context such as Geneva International, disrupts the classic conference-expert dynamic and creates a whole different atmosphere. It allows participants to connect and network in a more human way and to explore the scope of trust in advancing peace, dialogue and tolerance.  

©Mark Henley | CCHN

The 6th edition of the Geneva Peace Talks, on 21 September 2018, had the theme of ‘Peace beyond Borders’. In previous years, Initiatives of Change has provided speakers, but this year it was asked to co-moderate the event. Initiatives of Change (IofC) has built up a bit of a reputation in international Geneva for doing events differently by focusing more on personal stories and offering opportunities for interpersonal connection and even (crazy as it may sound) silence.

IofC helped organize a series of online interviews on Facebook Live before the event took place. About 600 people attended the event itself, which took place in room XVIII at the Palais des Nations. Sarah Noble, head and co-creator of the Peace Talks, and I moderated it together.

The Peace Talks have built up a format of eight-minute talks in which peacebuilders tell their personal stories and share their message. We added two new elements. At the beginning we  included a chance for everyone to turn to their neighbours and introduce themselves to the ‘other peacebuilders’ in the room, as we are all called to work for peace. At first there was some hesitation about being so informal in such an official space, but after some light nudging people really got into it. It was great to see ambassadors and UN directors leaning over their desks to shake hands with high-school students. The buzz reverberated off the old UN walls that had seen countless hours of rather more official interactions. A first border between people had been crossed.

After that, the peacebuilders told powerful stories from the grassroots and from the heart. Two speakers in particular touched me.

Diana Garcia from Colombia passionately encouraged the participants to embrace uncertainty as a route to peace. She had seen the dangers of certainty and and rigidity in Colombia’s civil war.

Jasminko Halilovic spoke of his innovative War Childhood Museum, the only museum to focus exclusively on the children’s experience of war. It was illuminating to see war and also peace through the eyes of a child. The energy rose as the stories ebbed and flowed, followed by music.

Our second innovation was a couple of minutes of silence at the end, to let everything sink in. We were not sure how silence would work (or sound) in a UN conference room with 600 people. It was moving to see how people took it to heart: a profound silence took hold of this room made for talking. Many commented on how powerful and fitting it was to digest all the powerful messages in this way.  I was proud to be a part of this event and to see how IofC can contribute, with others, to promoting peace beyond borders. 

The Geneva Peace Talks are a public event co-organized by the United Nations Office at Geneva, Interpeace and the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform to celebrate the International Day of Peace, the 21 September.

Watch the whole event here.

Report: Rainer Gude

Photo: Antoine Tardy for Interpeace

13 November 2018 – Christine Beerli, former Vice-President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and former member of the upper house of the Swiss parliament, was appointed on 1 November 2018 as the new President of Initiatives of Change Switzerland. 

On 7 November 2018, 75 people participated in the latest event in IofC Switzerland’s Enriching Encounters series, which took place in the UN Library in Geneva. ‘Peacebuilders – Voices from local communities’ was co-organized with the Library, as part of the fifth Geneva Peace Week.

This was the third year that IofC Switzerland took part in Geneva Peace Week, an annual gathering of academic, institutional and non-governmental institutions, which are working to build peace on the local, national or international level. The theme of the 2018 Week was ‘Building Peace in a Turbulent World’. During the five days, over 120 groups organized more than 65 events. IofC Switzerland and its partners chose to approach the subject through the stories of five individuals working with local communities.

Three of the five speakers were brought in by our partners: the Kofi Annan Foundation, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers.

Mimoun Berrissoun is part of Extremely Together, an initiative of the Kofi Annan Foundation which others outstanding young leaders who are tackling violent extremism. He spoke about 180° Wende, the organization he founded in Cologne to engage with young people affected by extremism.

Jennifer Pro, a Senior Emergency Coordinator for IOM, spoke of her work managing humanitarian response operations in Somalia, South Sudan and Syria.

Martine Miller is the Director of Inclusive Peace (global) and Asia and Libya (lead) for the Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers. She drew on over 20 years of experience providing direct peace support to communities and organizations.

The organizers felt it was important to have a local perspective in the mix of speakers and invited Fabrice Roman, Director of Le Centre de la Roseraie, to take part. He helps migrants in Geneva to become actors in their lives through French classes, visits in the city and support in administrative procedures. He expressed the need to ‘build bridges between grassroots organizations in Geneva and the UN’.

The fifth speaker was Amina Dikedi-Ajakaiye, President of Creators of Peace, an IofC programme which works to empower women in over 50 countries. She shared the importance of listening deep within so that we can be advocates for peace in our communities.

We look forward to continuing the Enriching Encounters series in 2019, creating the space for a different, more interactive, sort of conversation from the traditional conference model where experts address an audience. Stay tuned for more such opportunities to engage!

Storytelling forms a central part of the yearly summer Caux Forum. One of the most dramatic stories this year was that of former neo-Nazi Peter Sundin from Sweden. When he spoke in the main hall in Caux during Addressing Europe’s Unfinished Business 2018, the woman I sat next to was in tears. She couldn’t really find words to explain it. She had no radical past herself. ‘But it touches me in the heart,’ she said. ‘So much courage.’

Telling his life story is one of the ways Peter Sundin wants to ‘give’ to society, to repair the damage he has done in his youth. He works at a crime prevention centre in Sweden to combat radicalization, particularly in schools. ‘Saying sorry is not enough,’ Sundin says. ‘I want to show people I am different now and contribute to society.’

With anti-Semitism growing all over Europe, Sundin’s work feels all the more urgent. In his home country the ultra-right Swedish Democrats became the third largest party in the elections in September. The party has roots in the Nazi movement in the eighties, although they distance themselves from them.

In the past few years the extremist Nordic Resistant Movement also seems to be gathering strength, with the establishment of a political branch in 2015, apart from its military branch. They have been elected onto some municipal councils. This makes Sundin feel like ‘banging my head against a wall’. He knows from experience that working against racism takes a lot of dedicated time and effort. 

Sundin grew up in a racist family with Nazi traditions passed down from the 1940’s. His mother told him that his second generation foreign class mate and his family were to blame for the Sundins’ rocky household economy. His brother gave him white power music to listen to and he read Nazi newspapers and children’s books. At school he automatically joined up with other boys from Nazi families. 

When the school tried to counter their extremist opinions, it only resulted in more radicalization. The school invited a survivor of the Holocaust to speak. Sundin’s brother warned him that she was a fraud. The school ordered Sundin and his friends to sit in the front rows. He could feel the other children staring at him. After that day he decided to create a local movement of National Youth, a national violent Nazi movement. ‘As I felt backed up by this organization, we became more confrontational at school.’

Later he took part in a violent attack on a foreigner. ‘When you join the movement, part of the training is to learn to justify what you do. So you justify the violence: this man was a threat for our country, so it’s self-defence. It’s a good thing.’ When the attack was on the news the next day, he felt a heavy lump in his stomach. ‘I realized I needed to free myself from this destructive context.’ It was the start of a five-year process to cut himself loose from his Nazi environment.

‘It is not a straight process,’ he explains. ‘I needed to reinvent myself, build up new values, a new worldview. Sometimes I had relapses. I would buy a Nazi newspaper again, or listen to the old music. It was easier to be a Nazi, I knew how to do that.’ Most of all, he needed to meet new people. ‘The most important thing was to get new narratives. I had always believed that the Jews controlled everything, the government, the media. People outside our movement were blind to that, it was our crusade to tell them the truth.’ 

During this period the support of a local policeman was of great importance to him. ‘He helped me to take the next steps. He took me to McDonald’s, where I never had been because I thought it was controlled by the Jews. But he also said: “You are the Nazi, you are the one who has to change”.’

His own process has helped him to see how important it is to see the human being behind the extremist opinion. ‘I was always Nazi Peter, never just Peter. In a conversation you can show that you respect someone, but disagree with their opinions.’ Sundin is convinced that it is only when you reach the human being that the change process can start. ‘I can never change another person’s opinion, that is something that only that person is capable of. But I can ask questions that stimulate reflection.’

By Irene de Pous

Oana Dinea is a concert pianist from Romania, currently based in Geneva. She took part in the Caux Peace and Leadership Programme 2018.

Caux is about relationships. About people. About how you can relate and learn from people of approximately 40 nationalities. And what is so surprising is that these people unlock doors in yourself. Your new friends can be also the ones that you didn’t see around you in your own community. A sense of presence almost like a natural revelation arrives slowly in your life.

For example, every September, at the beginning of the academic year, I organize a private meeting for the parents of my students at the Conservatory of Music in Geneva, where I teach piano.

This year, to my surprise, I didn’t want to have another official meeting, focused on organization, where the parents take notes and write down the dates of the exams and auditions. Although these things are important, this time I wanted to do something different: to share my story, my childhood in Romania and the choices that have led me to this life of mine.

So, I talked about my parents, my culture, my teachers and so many things that they didn’t know about me. I have never felt so connected to the parents of my students as in that instant. We saw each other’s humanity. And, after having this bond, they delivered themselves. They shared their stories and their fears regarding the education of their children. The fulfillment that we all felt was pure joy!

The idea of telling my story came after being at Caux. I had never before thought of sharing something meaningful with the parents of my students. It had never occurred to me that a small action could have this impact. Since that moment, our relationship has changed. The confidence that came from listening to each others’ stories will define the way their children come to the Conservatory each week, the way they see music, work and give priority to their time at the piano. I don’t feel any more that I have to convince them or that we are in battle camp. I feel that we share the same desire for progress.

At Caux I learnt something which is still very difficult for me. Planting a seed is not always about telling people what to do, but having the patience to trust their own process.

People don’t act because you tell them to; they act when your actions inspire them. When they admire you and feel that you trust them, they feel empowered. It can be very easy with some people and difficult with others. But I am confident that I am always learning new skills of communication.

Because of my job, self-discipline and setting priorities have always been part of my life. I realize that one of my priorities has changed: I give more time to people around me –not only to my friends, but to people in general. A big part of that has to do with listening and smiling.

I realize that our loneliness comes from our common addiction to media. So my next priority is to take one day per week when I am off social media and even call people. At the beginning it is very difficult. But after a while you use your creativity and sometimes you do what children do: play and wonder. Our great tool is the imagination. When you allow yourself to create your life, rather than just allowing habit to control your actions, then you feel that you are not only existing – you are living!

My concerts are related to humans and art. All the things described above – the sense of presence, sharing stories, inspiring with confidence and trusting the process, setting priorities – make me more aware of the oportunities I have to connect people and ideas. My actions are focused on creating a bridge between my work and the need that I see in the world.

This September, leaders and people from around the world have joined together in San Francisco at the Global Climate Action Summit and in New York City at Climate Week to celebrate achievements, discuss solutions, and ignite action for climate change.

The Initiatives of Land Lives and Peace network (ILLP) was present in San Francisco and worked together to take forward the agenda and conclusions of the 2018 Caux Dialogue on Land and Security (CDLS). The questions of raising capital for global scale landscape restoration and technological solutions to the issues of land degradation have been proposed by CDLS participants. 

Many of CDLS participants attended the side event organised by the World Economic Forum, where the 4th Industrial Revolution has been discussed. It has been established that a collaboration between private sector investors and the governments is necessary to create a viable model of blended finance in order to have a chance in restoring large enough areas to reverse Climate Change. 

The co-founder of BioCarbon Engineering has proposed tree-planting drones as one tool to scale-up land restoration, while The Nature Conservancy has highlighted the need for a multi-stakeholder approach. 

More CDLS participants have been speaking at the IXO event. This new innovative company has partnered with SDG Futures to co-host a series of events  to bring leaders in sustainability, natural capital, impact financing, media and technology together to discuss how solutions and actions towards the Sustainable Development Goals can be deployed and accelerated through innovative coalitions and financing to shape a more transparent Sustainable Impact Economy.

The event was attended by many delegates of CDLS, including strategic partners as Global Mangrove Trust, Regen Network, Natural Capital Alliance, Green World Campaign and others. 

The participants discussed new financial models for landscape restoration, the possibilities of tokenisation of such investments and the new tech solutions to the challenges of land degradation.  The need for continuing dialogue and the call to action has been emphasized and a lot of time has been spent planning the day of alternative finance during the next CDLS. 

Cornelio Sommaruga, Honorary President of Initiatives of Change International writes about his old friend Mohamed Sahnoun.

Mohamed Sahnoun is gone. Former ambassador of Algeria in Bonn, Washington, at the United Nations in New York, in Paris and in Rabat, he passed away on 20th September, at the age of 86, after a long illness. A political prisoner during Algeria’s war of independence, in 1957, he talked about his experiences in an autobiographical memoir, ‘Wounded Memory’, where he described the suffering of many like himself and their experiences of torture. I had the honour of writing a preface for this fascinating book, deeply shaking for its descriptions of the gratuitous and indescribable suffering that humans are capable of inflicting on their fellow men. 

But his book also describes the support of men and women from various backgrounds (civilians, soldiers and religious people) who, at risk to their own lives, worked in solidarity with those in the independence struggle.  When he came out of prison, Mohamed Sahnoun was helped by a Catholic priest, hidden in different places in France, always threatened with re-arrest, and finally was smuggled over the border into Switzerland, where Charles-Henri Favrod put him in touch with the new Algerian leaders in Evian. 

After independence he quickly became a delegate to the Organization of African Unity (OAU), then deputy secretary general of the Arab League, before ‘starting’ on his diplomatic career. In New York, and the UN, the then Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali nominated him as Special Envoy for Somalia in 1992. He strongly criticized the actions of the United Nations there, and discovered at first hand the importance of the work of the International Red Cross. Thereafter, he became an international advisor to the ICRC, before being nominated, with Gareth Evans, to be co-chair of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS), whose report was entitled ‘The Responsibility to Protect’. As a fellow-member of the Commission, I saw first-hand his skill in finding consensus and the major contributions he made to the report that Kofi Annan received on 20th December 2001. 

He was also a member of the Brundtland Commission on environment and development and co-author of the ‘Brundtland report’, which coined the expression ‘sustainable development’ and its definition. Thereafter, Kofi Annan made him a special advisor for Africa, and he held a number of mandates, for example as a mediator in the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea, and he was special envoy to the African Great Lakes region. There was a deep friendship between these two great personalities, who died within a month of each other.

During the last 20 years, Mohamed Sahnoun was very active in Caux, the Initiatives of Change conference centre (formerly Moral Re-Armament), where he founded the Forum for Human Security, which brought to Caux diplomats, international civil servants, politicians and academics. His work here brought the gratitude of people from all over the world. At that time, I was President of Initiatives of Change International. At the end of my second term, Mohamed Sahnoun replaced me for three years.

He leaves with us memories of a great human being, a humble servant of the human family, with his qualities as a diplomat and a mediator at the service of peace. He had the capacity to bring people together from different backgrounds and opinions, notably across the North-South divide. A man of great wisdom: there are not many of this ilk. His memory will live on with all who knew him as a source of inspiration and encouragement.

Cornelio Sommaruga
Honorary President 
Initiatives of Change International

• Read more about Mohamed Sahnoun on IofC International's website. 
• Read Mohameds Sahnoun's book "Mémoire Bléssée" (only in French), published in 2007 by Presses de la Renaissance.
• Read the Daily Telegraph's obituary, published on 6 December 2018.