European Peacemaking I have recently come back from Geneva where I had some very good meetings with Frank O'Donnell and others at UN Volunteers. Inspired by the work of Peace Brigades International (PBI) and some of the rest of us who have been doing nonviolent peacemaking in conflict areas the last few years, UNV is developing several pilot projects in nonviolent peacemaking and conflict resolution in conflict areas - in the Caucasus in the former Soviet Union, in Burundi and in former Yugoslavia. In Frank O'Donnell's words, they want to "develop a highly relevant peace service in the UN drawing on the resources of willing NGOs and institutions that have been active in various aspects of proactive peace promotion at the community-level, and blend these resources with those being applied by the UN at the highest political levels, to foster a more comprehensive and nonviolent approach to peace-building." He adds, "The UN Volunteers could be a practical experiment with the concept of International Nonviolent Peacemaking Teams." UNV is inviting an active alliance with NGOs experienced in nonviolent peacemaking and conflict resolution in conflict areas to develop these pilot projects in peacebuilding which, if successful, could be multiplied many times over. Specifically, they would like: * success stories about where nonviolent peacemaking and conflict resolution have worked in conflict areas * help in recruiting experienced volunteers in nonviolent peacemaking and conflict resolution to be UN Volunteers for one-year assignments. They hope these volunteers will have training in conflict resolution or peace/conflict studies and several years' experience in inter-communal reconciliation, mediation/facilitation and a good understanding of the area or country in which they will be working. An additional plus would be good language skills - French, Russian, or Serbo-Croatian - depending on which area of conflict in which they will be working, but this is not an absolute requirement except in Burundi. * assistance in training for these volunteers * help in finding exprienced trainers in conflict resolution who could train trainers in these conflict areas. (These would be short-term assignments.) I believe this is a unique and very special opportunity and am writing to you because of your experience in doing this kind of work and hope you can help identify possible experienced people who might work with UNV for a year in one of these projects or otherwise support these pilot projects. If these UNV pilot projects can make a significant contribution to the process of peace-building, they have the potential of being multiplied many fold and helping the UN and the rest of the world "discover" the potential of nonviolent peacemaking. If you would like to make comments or suggestions, offer assisstance, or get further information, contact Rob Burrowes, PO Box 167, Carlton North, Victoria 3053. David Hartsough Peaceworkers, 721 Shrader St., San Francisco, CA 94117.