- Leaders in the field of conflict transformation and peacebuilding met in Dubai recently to mark the 40th anniversary of Search for Common Ground.
- The anniversary marked the launch of the 40 Campaign which set out 40 Calls to Action that the public can undertake to find common ground in their communities.
- 10 initial actions were launched as part of the 40 campaign, with 30 more actions to be rolled out throughout 2022.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, April 28, 2022 — Search for Common Ground, the world’s largest peacebuilding organization, recently marked its 40th anniversary in Dubai by bringing together leaders in the field of conflict transformation and peacebuilding to discuss how to implement their strategy over the next few years. To celebrate its anniversary, the organisation has launched a series of 40 calls-to-action as part of its campaign to engage the public in promoting peace.
Operating in 31 countries across the Middle East, Asia, Europe, Africa, and North America, the organization works to end conflict and to build healthy, safe, and just societies all over the world.
Assembling in Dubai last week among dozens of Search for Common Ground’s peacebuilding leaders for a meeting to explore the organization’s strategy for the next few years were Shamil Idriss, CEO of Search for Common Ground; Zuhra Bahman, Afghanistan Country Director; Allassane Drabo, Regional Director in West Africa; and Joseph Mariampillai, Country Director in Myanmar, who are all working on the frontlines of violent conflict zones.
To recognize 40 years of Search for Common Ground the organization will be recommending 40 actions that people can take to find common ground in their lives, communities, and countries. The first ten actions are now released and include the key themes of:
- Giving Back: through providing financial support to Search for Common Ground’s local peacebuilders and other organizations working to promote peace in conflict zones.
- Getting Involved: which outlines how individuals can partake in the larger movement by spreading the word on Search for Common Ground’s work and by supporting young common-ground activists through the Youth, Peace, & Security Fund. The fund works to support young people, the excluded and overlooked majority, who are reducing violence in conflict settings through their efforts.
- Learning New Skills: which includes a number of recommendations to equip individuals with the ability to identify and prevent the spread of fake news, as well as providing them with virtual dialogue facilitation trainings.
- Getting inspired: through listening to Breakthroughs, Search for Common Ground’s podcast about supposed enemies tackling tough problems.
On the occasion of it’s 40th anniversary, Shamil Idriss, CEO of Search for Common Ground stated: “We are happy to be uniting leaders from our offices around the world in the UAE to celebrate our 40th anniversary and to commemorate decades of building trust between enemies through finding a common ground. These breakthroughs for peace over the last 40 years prove that the Common Ground Approach works. With the 40 Campaign, we are inaugurating our next 40 years of work to transform conflict into cooperation, and calling everyone — from ordinary citizens to world leaders — to focus on and find common ground. It’s the most effective way to face the challenges of the 21st century, from the climate crisis to the specter of nuclear war.
“Hope for a more peaceful world is real and actionable, we know this from having been on the frontlines of conflict for 40 years – the Cold War in the 80s, the Balkans in the 90s, Sierra Leone and Liberia in the 00’s, and conflict zones such asMyanmar today – common ground paves the pathway to lasting peace. That is possible today, too, if we all take effective individual actions to find common ground.”
Search for Common Ground’s methodology, the Common Ground Approach, builds trust between supposed enemies, triggers collaboration towards shared goals, and generates breakthroughs for peace.
Sign up to join the 40 Campaign and discover actions to find common ground [sfcg.org/forty]. For more information about Search for Common Ground, please visit [https://www.sfcg.org/].
Shamil Idriss
Chief Executive Officer
Shamil Idriss is a noted leader in the field of conflict transformation and peacebuilding. He is an expert in the dynamics of peace and conflict, citizen diplomacy, combating the threat of violent extremism, and how broadcast and social media can both fuel violence and foster reconciliation and peace. Idriss is CEO of Search for Common Ground, whose mission is to transform the way the world deals with conflict, away from adversarial approaches toward cooperative solutions. With over 1,000 staff working in 30 countries, the Nobel Peace Prize-nominated organization is the world’s largest dedicated peacebuilding non-profit.
Zuhra Bahman
Country Director, Afghanistan
Zuhra Bahman is the Country Director of Search for Common Ground in Afghanistan. She has worked in the peacebuilding and human rights field for twenty years. She has been actively involved in the peace process in Afghanistan and was a youth delegate in the first Bonn Conference in 2001. Zuhra previously served as the Senior Advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Women, Peace and Security and prior to that worked for UN Women in Afghanistan.
Allassane Drabo
Regional Director, West Africa
Allassane Drabo is Search’s Regional Director for West Africa. A national of Burkina Faso, Allassane has worked in his home country, as well as in Senegal, Canada, Guinea-Bissau, and Haiti with PLAN International. In his career, he has championed programming with children and youth, innovative economic empowerment initiatives in Niger, Senegal, and Sierra Leone, and programs on gender equality and peacebuilding. He has led fundraising efforts with institutions, foundations, and private sector stakeholders and has supported organizational transformation and partnership strategies. Allassane completed the Oxford University Business Economics Program and has a Ph.D. in Civilization Studies from Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis, France. Allassane speaks English, French, and Portuguese.
Joseph Mariampillai
Country Director, Myanmar
Mr. Mariampillai is a seasoned humanitarian and international development professional with more than 15 years of experience in program design and management, organizational capacity building and development, peacebuilding and conflict resolution, advocacy, policy research and development, monitoring and evaluation, resource mobilization, and grant management. Mr. Mariampillai has extensive international experience in South and Southeast Asia and a long history of working in politically sensitive and complex contexts such as Sri Lanka, Myanmar, India, China, Thailand–Myanmar border, Northern Cyprus, and Bangladesh.