Around the
world, many people live in desperate situations because of wars and armed conflicts.
Usually, conflicts happen in poor countries around rich resources or ethnic and
religious struggles for power. Like with poverty, people from very different
cultures suffer similar problems because of indiscriminate violence. Maimed
victims, refugees, child soldiers, victimized women and ex-combatants have
similar needs in different continents. Humanitarian organizations,
international institutions and grassroots organizations face those problems every
day. Many of those problems can be solved differently if creativity is allowed
to flourish in those zones. There are two different fields of action for innovation
about violence and peace, prevention of violence and mitigation of consequences.
Addressing the
causes of violence prevent conflicts to happen or can de-escalate violence. Local
innovators and mediators need support and space to prevent violence from
erupting. In addition, some patterns of global consumption and global policies
create environments for conflicts to escalate, like the militarization of the waron drugs or the consumption of conflict diamonds and conflict minerals.
The case of the “Kimberly diamonds process” campaign is one of the best examples of how fair trade and conscious
consumption can deescalate a violent ongoing conflict with creative solutions. This
was an innovative solution to a long problem and cause of violence in many African
countries.
The second field
for innovation is in mitigating the consequences of war. In refugee camps, with
victims and ex-combatants, there are many opportunities for innovative ways to
help in different forms to make their lives easier and their healing process
less difficult. Innovators have a fertile opportunity in this field, but first they
have to listen to those in need, the refugees, the victims, the ex-combatants,
etc.
Another form of
nurturing creativity is helping the local innovators. Many times, the people
that live in those situations create their own clever solutions to their
everyday problems. As the phrase says, “necessity is the mother of invention.” We
just have to keep our eyes open for what NGO workers and local people create to
help themselves, and when one of those opportunities appears, to help them with
professional support in design and implementation.
This is one example:
This is one example:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/massoudhassani/mine-kafon
This is a call to action for innovators. Peace is achieved and sustained by those who take a different approach to how things are usually done,
I think Felipe's post is especially timely considering many of us went to the Business of the Frontline presentations last week.
ReplyDeleteOne point that I wanted to add is that there is opportunity to business-nonprofits-government to interact around issues of post-conflict economic development. In college I was part of a group called Advocates for Human Rights (student organization) that partnered with the Enough Project (NGO) to lobby Congress (government) to pass the Congo Conflict Mineral Act which would restrict business ability to utilize mineral from conflict areas in Eastern Congo.
Completely agree, Marj - both in the timeliness of Felipe's post and the cooperation needed among different actors to achieve the innovations Felipe is advocating for.
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