The Effectiveness of the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative on Conflict Ridden

Communities

Daniel Reichert

Muma College of Business, University of South Florida

LDR 4230: Global Leadership

Dr. Arthur Ray McCrory

December 11, 2020

 The Effectiveness of the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative on Conflict Ridden

Communities

Throughout the course of this paper we will discuss the effectiveness of the Whitaker

Peace and Development Initiative(WPDI) in conflict ridden communities globally. By analyzing

through the context of Bird’s nested framework of global leadership competencies, we aim to

evaluate how well the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative tackles community

development, and whether or not they address the issue in such a way that considers global and

cultural context and allows for continued growth rather than just a quick fix. For the purpose of

this paper we will address the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative’s particularly in South

Sudan and their active focus on education and conflict resolution there.

About the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative

The Whitaker Peace and Development initiative was established in 2012 by Forest

Whitaker as a means to “promote the values of peace, reconciliation, and social development

within communities impacted by conflict and violence.”(About) Their focus is on developing

youth peacemakers as a way to combat the ever-present violence that plagues our world on a

daily basis. With programs in South Sudan, Uganda, Mexico, South Africa, and the United States

the Whitaker Peace Initiative welcomes hundreds of thousands of individuals each year to

progress in their leadership and conflict development programs such as their Youth Leadership

Program, Business Bootcamp, Peace through Sports, Cinema for Peace, and the Refugee peace

project just to name a few. The primary goal is to “empower [youths] to become conflict

mediators and community builders who are local partners in the pursuit of peace and sustainable

development.”(Our Vision) The initiative is focused on pursue these four goals: empower

youths, strengthen communities, promote education and connectivity, and disseminate peace.
 Most, if not all of their programs were developed as constructive outlets for those that

spent time in UN Protection of Civilian sites or as developmental methods for readjustment back

into society after being in one such camp. The WPDI provides classes, lectures, team-building

exercises, seminars, for individuals living in communities that have faced extreme adversity.

Many of the youths in the programs have grown up as child soldiers or have had to leave their

homes due to the devastation of war to their livelihood either physically or economically. This

initiative helps them to develop the skills necessary to heal and grow from their pain rather than

create continuous destructive habits.

In South Sudan, the WPDI developed their Peace through Sports and Cinema for Peace

programs. Within the Peace through Sports program youths are given the opportunity for

personal development through the sports medium by learning the value of teamwork and good

sportsmanship, but the practices are also coupled with workshops focusing on peace, tolerance,

conflict resolution, and trauma healing. This has enabled the organization to host Peace

Engagement days that act both as a tournament for the sports teams to engage in friendly

competition but also engaging in community dialogue and cultural celebrations. These Peace

Engagement days can draw over 10,000 people and have been crucial in redeveloping

communities as they begin to see the potential for their own growth once again.(Peace through

Sports) Their Cinema for Peace program welcomes community members into workshops that

focus on trauma healing through the concepts of reconciliation, tolerance, and forgiveness. They

use films that address these concepts as a medium to understand the possibilities for peace in

even the most adverse situations. Cinema offers captivating stories that engage the audiences,

shift paradigms and open minds to the potentials of peace and is a catalyst to starting these hard

conversations. After the movie, the workshop focuses on expressing ones feelings about the film
in the context of each attendees personal experience, with the older students and adults engaging

in discussions with one another and the children often making art to express their emotions.

(Cinema for peace) These programs along with their general Youth Leadership development

program offer a diverse method of personal reconstruction in response to external conflict and

allow members to be educated on ways to handle their conflicts peacefully and share these

strategies with the people around them.

The South Sudan Situation

Over the last few years South Sudan has been one of the most conflict-stricken places in

the world. In 2011 the South Sudanese people elected for independence from Sudan. Though it

was an overwhelming majority, conflict still stirred and political unrest was apparent from the

beginning of their independence.( Johnson, 2016) And in 2013 South Sudan had a Civil War on

their hands. Between 2013 and the cease fire in 2018 the war left an estimated 383,000 people

dead and displaced over 4 million. After five years the stop to the war was initiated by the United

States’ targeted sanctions and the UN establishing an arms embargo with the country. After this

the UN helped mediate terms for a cease fire and peace agreement. The peace agreements have

been violated multiple times by both sides and no action has been taken by the United Nations in

response, the appearance of peace seems to be enough despite the widespread displacement of

citizens of South Sudan.(Civil War in South Sudan) Despite the Civil War being more recent,

South Sudan has been plagued with heavy conflict and fragility in their government for nearly

sixty years. This has caused an extreme lack in solid government systems for healthcare,

education, and many other basic amenities. With over fifty percent of the population of South

Sudan being under the age of twenty -five and only twenty seven percent of the population

knowing how to read or write, the population of Sudan is struggling greatly. The situation in
South Sudan mandates change for the country and only through the education of its citizens and

development of its individuals to pursue peace will it achieve peace. (WPDI: South Sudan,

Africa)

Discussion

When studying global leadership a common analogy is that of the iceberg method. This

metaphor of a situation in relation to an iceberg is that though what may appear on the surface as

small and concise, underneath is a large mass and mess of problems and other social implications

that would never be known if you don’t care to look under the surface. In the case of the situation

in South Sudan the tip of the iceberg is that there was a civil war in the country that caused mass

displacement and death for the citizens. The solution to this, if it was the whole problem would

be to stop the war and ‘make peace’ by calling for a cease fire or taking away the weapons

throughout the country. While those that would tend to look deeper into the problem would try to

ask questions such as why are they fighting? Is it over simple conflicts? Is it a fundamental

difference in beliefs? So on and so forth. In regard to the Whitaker Peace and Development

Initiative, rather than focus on the why of the fighting they are trying to solve the larger problem

by introducing strategies to better resolve conflicts. They are teaching the youth of South Sudan

to settle their conflicts with tolerance, forgiveness and through the use of their words rather than

through a gun or a show of mere force as many of the children of South Sudan were raised as

child soldiers. It’s an interesting parallel in the fact that the United Nations and the United States

essentially just called an end to the war by forcing a weapons embargo on South Sudan and

encouraging peace by having the two sides in the country sign a peace agreement that both have

since broken. The problem was ‘solved’ as far as outsiders see as they only care that there is not

a war. The iceberg has now completely receded to being underwater, but it is still there. The
conflict in the country never truly resolved, and that is essentially where organizations like

WPDI come in. They have come into the country and built various centers for community

development and growth in order to teach conflict resolution and heal the tensions in the country

through education and business development.

As students of global leadership this case is particularly interesting as it is a direct

representation of the iceberg method. Where the problem is ‘solved’ but only the surface is even

addressed, and the root of the problem is totally ignored. But we have hope in programs such as

the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative, as they are taking the displaced persons and

other members of the South Sudanese community and educating them in ways to resolve the

community conflicts through discussions at Peace Engagement Days, workshops focusing on

forgiveness and tolerance, and providing resources for trauma healing. By providing education

on how to influence the lives of others in conflict resolution they are changing the culture of

South Sudan and are empowering the youth to make the changes they want to see in their

community. Their method isn’t just one quick thing and then they are done addressing the

problem, they are putting in countless hours of work into the education of the community but the

solution will be lasting as these ideals will become passed down through the generations of

people that come through there and will only spread as time passes. It is truly a synergistic

solution.

The programs presented by the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative also present

similar parallels to the Global Leadership Development Method presented in Effective Global

Leadership requires a Global Mindset by Cohen. Here Cohen describes that effective global

leadership is developed in a combination of these four main methods: Examination, Education,

Experience, and Exposure. (Cohen, 2010) In regards to the Whitaker Peace and Development
initiative we look at some of their individual programs. Each workshop is focused on an

introspective examination of addressing conflict resolution examples from various mediums.

They focus on how it made the individuals feel and educating them on the importance of

diversity. They continue by providing the youths with experience and exposure addressing

conflict resolution on teams or as a part of a developing business partner in their area where the

youth will play an active role. It truly is amazing how much thought was put into these programs

in empowering the youths to lead change for their communities future.

Analysis

The Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative has had a substantial impact in South

Sudan as they promote education and growth in conflict resolution. As they progress in their

development of youth leadership development through various programs the similarities between

the principles they educated and Bird’s nested framework of global leadership competencies. Not

only is the organization using various competencies but they are simultaneously educating them

in the various competencies in order to live a better life. The primary goal of the Whitaker Peace

and Development Initiative, as stated earlier is to “empower [youths] to become conflict

mediators and community builders”.(Our Vision) In terms of Bird’s competencies it sounds as if

the goal is to lead change through empowering others to value people due to an increased

education in the need for cross-culture communication, resilience, interpersonal skills and

flexibility.

In response to his trip to the UN Protection of Civilians(PoC) site in Juba, South Sudan,

Whitaker developed both the Peace through Sports and Cinema for Peace programs. When we

has there he recognize the stirring tensions and untapped energy of the youths there and rather

than allow them to use that energy for harm he created these programs as a way to constructively
use it. He saw the problem and used vision and strategic thinking to truly develop these

programs. The lack of parental influence due to the war left many children without role models,

without structure and without a sense of character. The were left at this PoC disheveled and

probably hating the world for the adversity that they had to face at such a young age. By

providing these programs Whitaker is empowering these people to make active changes in their

life. Through the use of the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative, Whitaker is teaching the

youths of South Sudan about resilience and flexibility in their education towards conflict

resolution through tolerance and forgiveness in the face of adversity. This education teaches

them interpersonal skills and ultimately will shift the behavior of these young people towards

being more constructive and give them the ability to effectively communicate in any situation.

As a lot of the conflict in South Sudan is due to the cultural differences between ethnic groups,

the importance of cross-cultural communication is high. This is the reason that so much of their

education is focused on the competencies in the Managing People and Relationships section of

Bird’s Competencies. By teaching the youths to “recognize the value of people as individuals”

and “respect people for their differences” the WPDI is empowering the youth of South Sudan to

have a foundation of understanding in addressing their conflicts rather than a foundation of

disregard towards people of differing beliefs.(Bird, 2013, p. 91)

Conclusion

As an organization the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative does effectively

promote community development in conflict ridden communities. With their focus on youth

leadership development through conflict resolution they foster an environment of safety and

empowerment that allow students to grow substantially. Their work in globally and particularly

in South Sudan offers synergistic solutions to community issues at more than just surface level.
By focusing on the why and the how, rather than just the what, the WPDI promotes peace and

social development and empowers future generations to continue leading change in their

community. As they continue to promote solutions through education and empowerment, rather

than violence, they are changing the paradigms of youth globally. They instill in their students

the value of every individual on this planet and educate them on the importance of respect. By

providing them the opportunity to heal from the traumatic adversity of their youth and enabling

them to grow into strong leaders that understand the importance of effective and peaceful

conflict resolution, the WPDI provides their students a second chance at a normal life where they

can move on from the detrimental adversity of their past and lead a life that could prevent those

hardships from happening to others. The main limitation of this analysis is the absence of any

refuting claims against the effectiveness of WPDI, and the absence of them could either be a

testimony to their consistent quality of education across all of their locations or they have just

been limited to word of mouth. Overall all of the information presented leads to the belief that

the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative is very effective at leading change in conflict

ridden communities and is extremely capable at promoting peace.

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