Peace Psychology In Asia

 How Asia can contribute to world peace psychology

 Future of peace psychology in Asia with reference to Pakistan

Peace Psychology in Asia: Research, Practice, and Teaching

A recent landmark paper on peace psychology punctuates the need to anchor the discipline in
geohistorical settings (Christie, Tint, Wagner, & Winter, 2008). This presents peace psychology
in a regional context that includes East, South, and Southeast Asia.
 The Nature of Peace Psychology in Asia
 In order to understand the social landscape that plays into the psychology of peace in
Asia, one may need to view peace-related subjectivities through telescopic rather than
microscopic lenses. This chapter is divided into three sections, each corresponding to a
proposition about peace psychology in Asia.
 First, social peace and violence are embedded in more macro-layers beyond the
individual, like politics, history, and culture. Second, direct and structural peace interact
contingently with each other.
 Further, the discipline takes an ethical position to pursue nonviolence (direct peace) on
all layers and to stand on the side of more equal structural configurations (structural
peace). Third, despite its emphasis on macro-social phenomena, peace psychology
remains attendant to that which is subjective, addressing not only the nature of
subjectivities at the individual and group levels but also cultural narratives that support
peaceful processes and egalitarian structures.
 Embeddedness of Peace and Violence in Macro-layers
 Peace psychology sees violence and peace embedded in layered analytical units that may
vary in size from individuals, groups, social movements, states, and global systems.
These layered human processes continuously interact with each other (Montiel &
Christie, 2008). But even beyond providing a multi-layered and dynamic lens, peace
psychology provides an ethical position to transform all layers toward peace.
 Political history comes to fore not only as a source of collective memories that press on
present-day subjectivities, but also as a shaper of context conditions that impinge on
contemporary peace and conflict situations. Culture, provide indigenous ways of
 peacemaking. The first section of this chapter addresses political history and culture as
they affect peace and social justice in the Asian context.
 Political history and peace psychology in Asia. To understand peace in Asia, one needs to
understand the nature of its history (Noor, Chapter 17, this volume). Asian history is
characterized by foreign occupations, a devastating World War II, domestic dictatorships
during the Cold War, and present-day transitions to democracy usually marked by active
nonviolent power shifts and social destabilizations during a volatile transition period.
Centuries of foreign colonization continue to impact on contemporary conflicts. For
example, in India, Hindu–Muslim conflicts date back to British rule, as Hinduizing India
became identified with nationalist aspirations, and the Muslim League organized in 1906
to strengthen Muslim influence in British India (Khan & Sen, this volume).
 The British likewise employed the divide and rule policy that prepared the grounds for
communal divisions in Malaysia, as the colonizers encouraged unregulated labor
immigrations of Chinese and Indians to harvest local mineral resources and cultivate
rubber estates (Noor, Chapter 9, this volume). An account of the Ambon conflict in
Indonesia (Muluk & Malik, this volume) details how Muslim–Christian divisions can be
traced back to Dutch policies of divide et impera (divide and rule) in an attempt to control
the thriving Maluku spice trade.
 The history of World War II in Asia is a narrative of Japanese invasions. The impact
ofWorldWar II on today’s peace psychology has to do with issues revolving around
remembering and forgiving such invasions. Ohbuchi & Takada (this volume) not only
examine the dynamics of forgiveness in a laboratory, but also look into implications of
forgiveness in Japan–Korea tensions traceable to the PacificWar. On the other hand,
Atsumi & Suwa (this volume) raise issues of forgiveness in relation to China–Japan
relations and how peaceful relations between China and Japan may necessitate
remembering World War II events like the Nanjing Massacre. Because of its history of
colonial subjugations, Asian populations tend to be wary of presentday foreign political
intrusions in the name of peace or democracy.
 Asian history took on another form as the Cold War intensified. During this period, many
parts of Asia bore the yoke of authoritarian dictatorships backed by military forces. The
dominant story of peace and conflict in Asia during the Cold War is not a story of nuclear
 fear and disarmament as in theWest, but rather a narrative of dictatorships that oppressed
their local populations. A parallel discontinuity can be mirrored between Western and
Asian contemporary peace discourses. As the West grows more interested in international
terrorism and religiously over toned conflict narratives, Asian peace psychologists are
concerned about intrastate peace and conflict and hesitate to tag intergroup conflicts as
religiously triggered.
 In the post–Cold War context, memories about large-scale dictatorial abuses needed to be
dealt with by Asian societies. Further, the very processes of grappling with historical
abuses can turn into a present-day community peace issue, an example of which is the
survivors of the Tanjung Priok massacre under the Soeharto dictatorship (Muluk, this
volume). Dictatorships muffled free speech.Without any open space to ventilate social
contestations, centuries-old group conflicts dug into underground armed struggles. In the
cradle of dictatorships, armed conflicts were born. The Moro National Liberation Front in
the Philippines started in 1969 as Marcos’ stronghold intensified on the civilian
populations. Likewise, intergroup animosity in Ambon found little public space to
ventilate ethnic issues, because Soeharto’s politics of SARA (Suku, Agama, Ras, Antar-
Golongan) suppressed public expressions of ethnicity and religion (Muluk & Malik, this
volume).
 And then dictatorships fell and went rather peacefully through different versions of
People’s Power in the Philippines (1986), Taiwan (1987), South Korea (1987), Indonesia
(1998), East Timor (2002), Thailand (1992), Nepal (2006), and Pakistan (2008).
Relatively peaceful democratic transitions in Asia enriched the field of peace psychology
by demonstrating that rigid political structures can be reconfigured through peaceful
means (Estuar & Montiel, this volume). In Asia, religion tends to be part of public space
rather than a private affair.
 Because religious narratives are part of the local culture, cultural scripts place religious
leaders in positions of social influence where they can participate effectively in mediation
and peaceful mobilizations. For example, Indonesia’s Kiai Fawa’id, an Islamic religious
teacher, involved his pesantran students in rebuilding destroyed Christian churches after
the October 1998 Muslim–Christian violence outbreak (Pohl, this volume). In Cambodia,
the Buddhist monk Venerable Maha Ghosananda led Walks for Peace, while in
 predominantly Catholic Philippines, Cardinal Sin’s public call for People’s Power played
a key role in the 1986 nonviolent revolution against the Marcos dictatorship.
 Peace psychology in Asia sees a subjectivity that is dynamic. Psychological phenomenon
is time embedded. Psychological conditions change from moment to moment – the data
one collected yesterday may be far from the truth today. This is particularly true in
volatile societies undergoing political and economic transitions in a rapidly unfolding
pace. Hence, narrative sequence (Batistiana; Khan & Sen; Muluk & Malik; this volume)
and the timing of data collection should be factored into presentations and explanations
of one’s results. In terms of peace psychology in Asia, all Asian (and Pacific) peoples
with the possible exception of Japan were on the victim side rather than the benefactor
side of Western colonization. Japan suffered initially, with its national sovereignty
compromised by American gunboat diplomacy in the 19th century, but adapted quickly
during the Meiji restoration to bring in Western technology and bureaucratic systems to
strengthen national unity.
 The most important premise of symbolic theory of history and identity that affects this
peacemaking process is the idea that while historical representations constrain the range
of political action, political actions and political agenda equally may reconfigure
narratives of the past. Because there are no serious realistic conflicts between them today,
political elites in Japan and China could decide to take actions described in Liu and
Atsumi (2008) and Atsumi and Suwa (this volume) to resolve the historical conflict
between them and heal the wounds of the past (just as they have been healed in large part
in Western Europe). With “good” leadership, it can be political agenda that drives
collective remembering, not vice versa (Paez & Liu, in press).
 The separation of Taiwan from China as a consequence of the first Sino-Japanese War
and its 50 years as first a Japanese colony and then an anti-Communist Chinese society in
opposition to the mainland is another enduring legacy of history that peace psychology
confronts. Taiwanese, like many other Asian people living under democratic rule,
configure their narrative of history as a movement from external, authoritarian, and unjust
rule to freedom and self-determination (Huang et al., 2004; Huang, this volume).
Ironically, the mainland Chinese narrative of history follows a similar path that brings it
into direct representational conflict with Taiwan. Gries (2004) notes that contemporary
 Chinese narratives of history focus on not only the greatness of its ancient civilization,
but the extent of the unjust humiliations inflicted on China in recent centuries by Western
societies and Japan.
 Interconnectedness of Direct and Structural Peace
 Christie et al. (2008) emphasized the need for peace psychology to seek structural peace
alongside social processes marked by direct peace. Galtung (1996) enunciated a similar
call for simultaneous attendance to both structural and direct violence in his book Peace
by Peaceful Means. These voices come in the midst of a discursive world about peace,
where too often academic and social movements and state utterances tend to emphasize
either too much of direct peace or too much of structural peace, instead of attending to
both levels of peace in a balanced way.
 A peace psychology model identifies three states of a relationship – conflictual, violent,
and post violent (Christie et al., 2008). In each state, expressions of direct peace are
identified as conflict management, violence de-escalation, and post violence
peacebuilding, respectively.
 Peace psychology in Asia as context saturated and time embedded.
 Context saturation implies that the nature of subjectivities about peace in Asia is
relational and defined by what is going on around the individual/collective actor at the
moment the psychological phenomenon occurs. For example, the psychological
experience of a person is defined by one’s relation to the collective, the state, and
perhaps even the global conditions at a particular moment.
 Hence, this brings to the forefront the need to theorize about interaction patterns rather
than main effects across the different layers of individual/collective actors.
Psychological theorizing about peace and conflict in Asia may need to illuminate
questions about subjective conditions on varying layers of analyses, as each layer
interacts with the other layers in a context saturated manner.
 Concluding Remarks: Institutionalizing Peace Psychology in Asian Academic Settings
 Peace psychology in Asia has grown significantly over the past decade. In fact, the region
has already hosted two sets of the International Symposium on the Contributions of
Psychology to Peace, first in Ateneo de Manila in 2001 and then in Indonesia’s
Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta and Universitas Gadjah Mada in 2007.
 The endurance of a geohistorically sensitive peace psychology may be ensured as the
discipline becomes institutionalized as a regular part of academic programs in the region.
Progress has been made along this track, in terms of establishing graduate programs in
peace psychology and teaching courses on peace psychology in undergraduate and
graduate programs. The University of Indonesia will offer an MA in Peace Psychology
by 2009. At the International Islamic University Malaysia, plans are underway to
establish an MA program in Peace and Conflict Studies that will include a two-course
sequence in Peace Psychology and a related practicum. Likewise, the University of
Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, is piloting a peace psychology course as part of a
curriculum that will have a strong bend toward the Asian region and other parts of the
world as well.
 A number of other universities do not offer a master’s program in the field but offer
peace psychology as a course at the undergraduate or graduate levels. These academic
institutions are the A teneo de Manila University, Wako University in Japan, and
Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta in Solo, Indonesia. In 2008, Ateneo de Manila
offered a course in peace psychology as part of a dual campus MA program in Peace
Studies of the University for Peace in Costa Rica. The Ateneo course had 28 peace-
practitioner students from Asian countries like Vietnam, China, Japan, Bangladesh, Sri
Lanka, Nepal, Indonesia, South Korea, and Kyrgyzstan. At the time of this writing,
courses in peace psychology are being developed at the University of the Punjab in
Pakistan and elsewhere in Asia. Moreover, ongoing efforts are being made to conduct
research and develop the literature in the field.
 The Future of Peace Psychology in Asia
Noraini M. Noor
 The theories and practices of peace psychology in Asia are conditioned by a host of
cultural, historical, and social-political factors in this part of the world. Christie, Wagner,
andWinter (2001), Christie (2006), and Christie, Tint, Wagner, and Winter (2008) claim
that violence and peace are expressions of the interactions among these macro factors.
Montiel, in the introductory chapter of this volume, likewise stresses the embeddedness
of social violence and peace in multiple macro-layers and the interconnectedness of
social violence and peace. She succinctly argues that due to Asia’s rich history of peace
 and conflict, peace psychology in the region will likewise negotiate its course in
reference to the legacies of its political history.
 Christie (2006) emphasizes the 2 × 2 systems perspective that violence and peace are
expressed in both direct and structural forms. In Asia, both direct and structural violence
exist, but direct forms of violence are dramatic and easier to grasp than the subtle,
entrenched, and normalized character of structural violence that kills people slowly
through the deprivation of human need satisfaction. Even though structural violence is
subtle, a number of chapters in this volume provide evidence that structural
peacebuilding is taking place, albeit at a slow pace. Due to the ingrained and structural
roots of social violence in Asia, emphasis on structural peacebuilding is crucial. The
chapters also indicate that structural peacebuilding will be an uphill battle because it
typically represents a “threat” to the status quo or the prevailing authoritarian regimes.
However, for social justice to prevail, structural peacebuilding is imperative.
 Recognizing this importance, the first part of this closing chapter discusses peace
psychology in Asia taking into account its geohistorical legacies, notably colonialism,
collective culture, and religion. The second section elucidates the future directions of
peace psychology in Asia along three themes, tradition visavis modernity, peacebuilding
across social layers, and governance-related matters.
Peace Psychology or Peace Psychologies in Asia?
 If there is to be an Asian peace psychology, what should be its nature and its relevance?
What can we take to be the distinguishing mark of peace psychology of so vast a region,
with so much diversity? Are there quintessential values that can be the bases of Asian
peace psychology and somehow distinguish Asians from other people in the world, and
can such distinctions apply to all parts of Asia’s immensely large and heterogeneous
population?
 we likewise need to realize is that Asian countries are in different stages of economic
and sociopolitical developments that have bearings on the nature of the country’s social
conflicts and the practice of peace psychology. Three tiers of developmental transition
can be discerned: (1) we have the most economically and technologically advanced
countries that include Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan; (2) in the
next tier, we have Mainland China, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, and
 the Philippines; and (3) in the least developed we have Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar,
and those in central Asia. Thus, the nature of peace psychology in Asia will to a large
extent reflect the concerns of the people at that particular juncture, and this can clearly be
seen in the chapters of this volume.
 According to Christie (2006), three themes can be discerned in post-Cold War peace
psychology, and these are “. . . (1) greater sensitivity to geohistorical context, (2) a more
differentiated perspective on the meanings and types of violence and peace, and (3) a
systems view of the nature of violence and peace” (p. 3). themes are even more evident in
Asian countries due to their varied legacies (Montiel, this volume). The current volume is
organized by regions (i.e., South Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia) because the nature
of social conflicts and peace in Asia vary by regions. There also is variation within each
specific country. For example, South Asia as represented by India is defined by conflict
about group relations and identities, with religion adding another layer to the conflict.
 The countries of East Asia made up of Japan, Taiwan, and China talk of forgiveness,
collective memories, current intergroup relations, and psychological aspectsof economic
gaps. The chapters on Southeast Asia, in contrast, strongly resonate on the theme of
reconciliation, particularly peacemaking and peacebuilding processes. Examining each of
the regions more closely, there are again differences in the nature of the conflicts. For
example, while the chapter by Khan examines violence in Kashmir that started as a
dispute between India and Pakistan, Khan and Sen look at communal tensions between
Hindus and Muslims in India. In both chapters, identity (national, ethnic, and religious) is
crucial, and it is this question of identity that lies at the root of much of the conflict and
violence. Thus, there are conflicts within the country (religious
Structural Violence and the Vestiges of Colonialism in Asia
 Histories of Asian countries are marked by colonial occupations. These colonial powers
dominated and exploited territories to enrich their motherlands. To ensure their continued
domination and control, these colonial powers imposed certain structures that were meant
to keep the locals in their place or pit them against one another to prevent uprisings
against their rule. The British, for example, perfected and implemented the system of
“divide and rule” in the countries under their control, favoring a particular group and
neglecting the concerns of other groups.
  After World War II, these colonies gained independence, but postwar regimes continued
with the various forms of authoritarian state interventions not much different from that of
their colonial masters. Why? The structures imposed during colonial rule had become too
deeply entrenched in the society over the centuries and were the only viable governing
system familiar to the people. In addition, those who held power realized that they could
use the existing system to their advantage to ensure their grip on power.
Collectivist Values, Social Violence, and Peace in Asia
 While traditions vary across Asia, there are some common characteristics. For example, it
is often said that Asian societies are collectivist, based on a group orientation where the
interests of the group are felt to come before those of the individual (Hofstede, 1980;
Oyserman, Koon, & Kemmelmeier, 2002; Triandis, 1995). The consequence of this, it is
argued, is that Asians are more group conscious than people in the West, who are seen as
more individualistic; they work for the good of the group, are less selfish, and accept that
cohesion and stability of the group are more important than the personal interests of
individuals. Group orientation is also associated with values such as self-effacement,
selfdiscipline, and personal sacrifice to the greater good.
 This is integral to perceptions of public morality, harmony, and social dynamism.
Respect for family ties and the elderly, frugality, filial piety, hard work, and teamwork
are further elements of this matrix (Koh, 1993). These much-hyped characteristics have
popularly been known as “Asian values.” This concept of “Asian values,” however, has
serious methodological problems and limitations because it implies that all Asian
countries share a value system that is identifiable and distinct, transcending national,
religious, and ideological differences (Khong, 1997). In addition, the advocates of “Asian
values” have tended to look primarily at East Asia (Korea,
Peacebuilding Across Social Layers: Individual, Group, and Society
 There are three levels of peacebuilding that should be addressed in Asia: the individual
(personal), group (relational), and society (structural). Most of the peacebuilding efforts
in Asian countries are still situated at the individual and group levels. However, if the
long-term goal of peace psychology is for fairness and justice to prevail in society, or
peacebuilding as referred to by Christie and colleagues (2001), then increasingly the next
course of action is to strive for structural peacebuilding.
  The next level of peacebuilding activities focuses on repairing damaged relationship
between conflicting parties via communication and dialogue with the goal of
reconciliation, forgiveness, and trust building. As shown by several chapters in the
volume (Muluk; Muluk & Malik; Noor), dialogue between parties can increase their
awareness of their own role in the conflict and develop a more accurate perception of
their own and the other group’s identity. Such dialogue can lead to a deeper
understanding and can help to change the image of the other. At this level, the goal of
peacebuilding is to achieve some sort of a working relationship between the conflicting
groups. A shared future vision with the groups working together in joint projects should
be envisaged, if possible.
 Muluk shows that while reconciliation can pave the way for the past to be acknowledged
and wrongdoings redressed, the groups somehow failed to envision a common, connected
future. Indeed, this is not an easy task but repeated endorsements and outreach via a
variety of mass communication tools (Internet, TV, radio, and print media) as well as
educational and community activities such as peace-education projects, conflict-
resolution training, and community-outreach projects can help the groups to see the
possibility of together for a shared future (Lund, 2001). At both the individual and group
levels, in the societies where religion is still central, aspects of religious peacebuilding
can be integrated into the local, traditional, or indigenous approach to make it more
meaningful for the people.
 In many cases, due to Asia’s strong collective culture, peace psychology in Asia will
need to look beyond individual psychology phenomena and consider the larger shared
units. Peace psychology in Asia also will be defined by a great diversity of issues and
approaches that allow for the past to be remembered and the future incorporating
narratives that have yet to be defined. In short, while some peacebuilding approaches
may share similarities with the West, others may be distinctly Asian.

 Future of peace psychology in Asia with reference to Pakistan

1) CAVISH DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION (CDF)
CDF aims to play a major role in enhancing support for ending violence against women in
Pakistan, and, in early 2010, started a two-year project focusing on this issue. The project is
funded by European Union, and in partnership with Bedari – a women and children’s rights
organisation. The project takes a holistic approach towards addressing the issue of domestic
violence, working on policy advocacy, capacity building and mass awareness building.

PEWO wants to create a culture of peace in their learning environment. Rather than focusing
solely on curriculum or teaching resources, the guide follows PSI’s holistic approach to creating
a culture of peace through school-wide activities and initiatives that involve teachers and staff,
students, parents, and the community at large.
2) THE UNITED RELIGIONS INITIATIVE (URI)
The United Religions Initiative (URI) was founded in 1988 in Lahore, Pakistan. The URI is a
global initiative to promote inter-religious harmony across the world, and therefore its local
chapter in Pakistan works towards achieving the same objective at the national level. Since its
establishment in Pakistan, the URI has been actively engaged in numerous activities to create a
culture of peace, reconciliation and justice. In over 10 years, the URI has managed to reach
people at the grassroots level through 30 URI Cooperation Circles in different parts of the
country. The URI Cooperation Circles are aimed at initiating inter-faith dialogues at local levels.
In addition, the URI in Pakistan has also been participating in the global campaign to create a
global day of peace and non-violence. In this regard, the URI has also been organising activities
to raise awareness of peace on the international day of peace78.
3) COMMUNITY AWARENESS AND TRAINING ON HUMAN-RIGHTS AND
EDUCATION (CATHE)
Cathe (Community Awareness and Training on Human-rights and Education) Foundation
Pakistan (CFP) was established in 1999 by a group of development practitioners, medical
specialists and educationists, and covers a range of issues in the areas of health care, education
and development. Since its establishment, CFP has worked with women, young adults and
children so as to improve their socio-economic and education status. CFP exclusively works in
the three districts of Faisalabad, Kasur and Lahore in Punjab. CFP advocates the cause of the
victims of blasphemy laws in Pakistan and has recently managed to secure the release of ten
people who were falsely accused of breaking the laws.
 4) THE CENTRE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE PAKISTAN (CPJP)
The Centre for Peace and Justice Pakistan (CPJP) was established in Karachi in 1995, and is an
initiative of a group of lawyers, scholars and practitioners with the aim of promoting peace and
justice in Pakistan by working with student unions, labour organizations, NGOs, political parties
and media. The work of CPJP is directed towards traditionally vulnerable communities and
groups.
‘Advocacy on Peace and Justice’ is one of the main projects of CPJP in the area of peace
building. Through this project, the organization has been advocating the rights of detained
fishermen in India and Pakistan. There are roughly 800 fishermen imprisoned in either India or
Pakistan. According to CPJP, “fishermen suffer the brunt of the neighborly hostility, being
ignorant, poor and marginalised communities unaware of the maritime border and protocols”. In
violation of maritime borders, innocent fishermen are detained in India and Pakistan. CPJP is
lobbying and advocating at different levels through seminars and workshops. CPJP also work in
the areas of environmental justice, human rights and governance. Activities include provision of
legal aid and support, training and skills development, and research and analysis into Pakistani
society.
5) CENTRE FOR PEACE, SECURITY & DEVELOPMENT (CPSD)
Centre for Peace, Security & Development (CPSD) is a think-tank based in Karachi, Pakistan. It
is an initiative of the Dadabhoy Institute of Higher Education. CPSD’s major objective is to
organize seminars, conferences and workshops on the themes of peace, democracy, security and
development, with particular reference to Pakistan and South Asia.
In February 2011, CPSD organised its First International Conference on ‘Peace, Security &
Governance’ in collaboration with Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.46

6) THE CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION (CHRE)

The Centre for Human Rights Education (CHRE) is a Lahore-based organisation working to
promote the awareness of human rights through education and training. In addition, under
capacity building programmes, CHRE aims at religious tolerance and harmony in Pakistan. The
Centre has encouraged and promoted inter-faith harmony through awareness and dialogue. In
this regard, CHRE initiated its programme “Religious Tolerance and Social Harmony Week” in
2010, which brought together leaders and common people of different faiths in the country. The
centre has been active in peace movements in the country and also participated in the 2011 peace
rally organised by the AmanIttehad in Lahore.

7) CHANAN DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION (CDA)

Chanan Development Association (CDA) is a non-profit, non-governmental, secular youth
organisation in Pakistan. It was formed by a group of young professional activists in 2004 as a
theatre group and registered in 2006. The mission of CDA is to “improve the status of youth,
particularly young women, enabling them to equally and actively participate in all spheres of life
without any biases of gender, religion, class etc for the creation of a healthy, just, democratic,
non-violent and peaceful society”. Chanan Development Association (CDA), has many different
initiatives for promoting peace in Pakistan, including: Interfaith Dialogues for PEACE, Cricket
for PEACE, Youth & Culture of PEACE, and using Composite Heritage as an instrument of
PEACE. CDA has also initiated a campaign named National YOUTH-PEACE (Youth Peer
Education and Awareness Campaign to reduce Extremism). The mission of the Youth-PEACE
campaign is to create a culture of equality, acceptability and tolerance among young people in
order to help establish a just, democratic, non-violent, peaceful and harmonious society. As per
strategy, CDA has reached more than 2,000 young peer educators (Peacebuilders) directly and
some 10,000 young people indirectly from all the five provincial capitals: Lahore, Karachi,
Peshawar, Quetta and Gilgit. CDA also provided opportunities for these young people to interact
and explore other’s religion/culture values, beliefs and concepts of peace through exposure visits
of their own provinces as well as inter-provincial exchange visits. This pilot phase is going to be
concluded in September 2010 with the first ever National Youth PEACE Festival which will be
Pakistan’s largest gathering of young people in support of peace. In the next phase, CDA plans to
expand this campaign to 25 more districts of Pakistan.

8) FRIEDRICH-EBERT-STIFTUNG (FES)
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) is a private German political foundation, committed to promoting
social democracy around the world. The main work of FES in Pakistan focuses on cooperating
with local partners in the fields of conflict management, promotion of democracy, youth
development, industrial relations and regional dialogue. Under its core theme of ‘Creating Peace
and Security’, the FES office in Pakistan has set up a ‘ Topic Centre for Civil Conflict
Management’ where experiences relating to conflict sensitive programme management and civil
conflict transformation are being processed and shared with relevant actors in South Asia. The
centre has developed tools and guidelines on ‘Peace and Conflict Impact Assessment (PCIA)’ to
ensure sensitivity in conflicts and conflict-prone regions. The FES Pakistan office has also been
implementing projects to promote understanding and peace between India and Pakistan.
At the national level in Pakistan, FES has developed a youth leadership programme, Young
Professionals’ Network (YPN), to encourage young people to play active roles in society. YPN
participants are exposed to various training programmes, including a workshop on ‘interpersonal
conflict management’ which teaches important skills on resolving conflicts in their immediate
environments.

9) INTERNATIONAL PEACE COMMISSION (IPC)

International Peace Commission (IPC) is registered in the US with its secretariat office in
Karachi, Pakistan. IPC’s work is based on upholding the values of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, therefore their main projects focus on human rights with the aims of peace
building and disarmament, social development, education, environmental security, development
and democratisation. The commission has produced reports on peace in South Asia and problems
in Pakistan. The report on Pakistan highlights the issues of women’s rights, open drug markets,
corrupt welfare organizations’ and general human rights violations. In November 2009, IPC
organised a peace walk and seminar against terrorism in Karachi, Pakistan. The events attracted
people from all walks of life, particularly young people62.

10) PAKISTAN INSTITUTE FOR PEACE STUDIES (PIPS)

The Pak Institute of Peace Studies (PIPS) is an independent think-tank based in Islamabad and
committed to providing an in-depth analysis of regional and global issues relating to peace
building. PIPS engages in research to understand the ongoing conflicts (such as militancy,
religious extremism, radicalisation and national insurgency) with the help of leading academics,
scholars and thinkers on these issues in their local, regional and global context with a view to
creating knowledge that will foster peace building.
PIPS is currently pursuing two comprehensive and multi-layered programmes for peace building:
the PIPS De-radicalization Plan (2007-2013) and the PIPS Media Interventions to Promote
Democratic Values and Conflict Resolution (2008-2012) Plan. These programmes are not limited
to mere empirical understanding of issues relating to peace building, but to fully implement
developed strategies for countering radicalisation and to spread the message of peace.

11) TEHRIK-E-NISWAN (THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT)

Tehrik-e-Niswan (The Women’s Movement) emerged as a result of its first All Women’s
Conference, held in Karachi in 1989. Tehrik-e-Niswan’s initial focus was to organize seminars
and workshops on issues relating to domestic violence, as the movement felt that both men and
women needed to be made more aware of the low status of women, as a result of the socio-
economic, political and cultural discrimination that women face in Pakistan. Tehrik-e-Niswan
soon felt the need to spread its message through theatre and dance. One of the most famous
dance artists and actors from Pakistan, Sheema Kermani, founded Tehrik-e-Niswan. She is an
active member in the Women’s Movement and the other peace movements in Pakistan and South
Asia. Early in 2010, a Tehrik-e-Niswan group travelled to India to carry a message of peace and
disarmament at the South Asian Women’s Theatre Festival, held in India.
Tehrik-e-Niswan is active in the area of peace building and has organised two theatre and dance
festivals for peace and disarmament under its project called ‘Tlism’.

12) AMAN ITTEHAD

Representatives of 35 organizations, belonging to trade unions, media, youth organizations’,
minority groups, NGOs, academia, business, and the legal profession, and from across Pakistan,
gathered in Murree from 9-11 October 2009 to deliberate over the current state of affairs in the
country and to discuss pathways to peace. The event was successful because they unanimously
agreed on the indivisibility of peace for all citizens by avoiding any discrimination of gender,
class, nationality, religion, occupation, or age. Out of that conference, the group AmanIttehad
(‘Peace and Unity’) was formed. Based around the statement that “Pakistan is a country where
relations matter. Thousands of people have sacrificed their lives for peace. We are a nation that
needs peace. As a part of this petition I promise to do everything needed for peace process”,
AmanIttehad has been producing inspiring videos and valuable surveys to motivate the people of
Pakistan towards establishing peace in the country and beyond. The group has identified
pathways to peace with emphasis on the recognition of a shared identity as South Asians, which
includes the people of Afghanistan. This shared identity is crucial for peace in the region, and
also to make regional forums like the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
(SAARC) effective.