Building Peace Together: The journey towards our new Strategic Plan 2021-2025

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is peace. Building peace is a long, challenging and complex journey. But what contributes to the success of the journey towards sustainable peace is the meaningful inclusion of diverse perspectives throughout the whole process, especially women and youth. Local ownership of the road towards sustainable peace is crucial to get to peace.

The journey to building peace has become increasingly difficult for three reasons in particular. First, we find ourselves in a peacebuilding landscape characterised by the scarce financial support that enables local peacebuilding work. Second, those most affected by conflict are often not included in the design and delivery of solutions for peace. And lastly, we see that climate change, which can exacerbate instability and function as a conflict multiplier, is oftentimes mitigated rather than prevented.

A road map by local peacebuilders for local peacebuilders

Our new GPPAC Strategic Plan 2021-2025 provides a road map for our global network on the journey to build peace, addressing these three particular challenges to peace and security. Our Strategic Plan was developed over two years in a truly inclusive and collaborative way, involving all of our network members. Youth peacebuilders, women peacebuilders and activists, peacebuilders from the most remote areas, all speaking a variety of languages, contributed to our Strategic Plan which aims to guide our network building peace together for the next five years.
 

‘’The world needs effective and comprehensive infrastructures for sustainability and peace more than ever as we deal with the COVID-19 and climate crises. The GPPAC network is such an already existing crucial infrastructure, amplifying voices of local communities from all over the world.’’
- Yoshioka Tatsuya, GPPAC Board Member and Director of Peace Boat -

Paving the way towards peace

With more than fifteen years of experience, we have learned that to address the most defining challenges to peace and security, we need a clear targeted strategy to guide our areas of work.

That is why we have collectively identified three themes to guide our efforts. First, we aim to magnify locally-led peacebuilding action to truly advance sustaining peace. Second, we strive to include the needs, perspectives and expertise of local peacebuilders from diverse societal backgrounds with a specific focus on women and youth peacebuilders. Third, we intend to apply and promote a conflict-sensitive and peacebuilding approach to climate-related risks and other emerging threats.
 

‘’GPPAC's new 2021-2025 Strategic Plan embraces the capacities and expertise of the world's largest network of local peacebuilders. To achieve inclusive, transformative and just peace, we need to redesign processes and ensure flexible, innovative funding so that local peacebuilders, especially women and youth are equal partners in sustaining peace."  
- Sharon Baghwan Rolls, Chair of the GPPAC Board -

While the thematic focus is new to our network, our approach to peace and security is not. We amplify our members’ expertise to ensure a greater peacebuilding impact on the ground. We mobilise collective action to stand in solidarity and act as a joint force for peace. And we influence policy and practices to advance more locally-driven and informed decision making, policies and practices.

Our Strategic Plan provides a new starting point for our collective efforts to build sustainable peace. We are confident that through globalising local voices and localising global commitments in a truly inclusive and collaborative way, we are on the right track towards lasting peace. 

Are you with us in #BuildingPeaceTogether?

Read our full Strategic Plan here.