Play for Peace's key programmatic and structural elements are relevant in the fight against violent extremism and replicable to other youth volunteer programs around the world.
From contacts made in India in 2015, Play for Peace director Sarah Gough has been invited to speak at the Coordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service General Assembly in Morocco. The conference is being held November 22 through November 28, and is focusing on the growing divisiveness and extremism in the U.S. and around the world. The conference will address the challenge of defining an International Voluntary Service work perspective as one of the most worrying phenomena of our time. Violent extremism is manifested in very diverse forms: religion-based violence, far-right actions, xenophobia, hate speech, and hate crimes, among many other things. Such events happen in a very complex context, mixed with long-term international wars, conflicts, and social crises, and are manifested usually through violent actions of individuals, which make the whole phenomenon (or phenomena) difficult to approach. International Voluntary Service work has always been a work for peace, based on practice and promotion of life in diversity, the inclusion of all members of society in the construction of their community development, and the non-violent resolution of conflicts.
The General and Open Conference aims:
- To better understand the phenomena of rejection of migrants and refugees, of the rise of violent extremism.
- To share best practices on active participation and the decrease of violence, extremism, and marginalization.
- To analyze our position as IVS organizations in this context and define how we could better address those challenges and contribute to a more peaceful world.
- To design proposals for the CCIVS plan of action and global initiatives.
The Open Conference takes into account the current situation in the world today: war, occupation, migration, and refugee issues; rise in extremism, poverty, and marginalization, among others, and seeks to build the capacities of the IVS movement. By providing a platform for discussion to work toward a strategy for awareness-raising and common initiatives with young people, the IVS movement can foster an impulse to change, to provide an alternative, and to focus on peace-building as opposed to war, terror, and oppression.
Sarah's presentation titled, "How can we play for peace in the face of growing violent extremism and ideologies?" will begin with an overview of her journey to Play for Peace and an in-depth description of Play for Peace's work. It will propose that Play for Peace's key programmatic and structural elements are relevant in the fight against violent extremism and replicable to other youth volunteer programs around the world. The talk will conclude with steps interested participants or organizations can take to partner with Play for Peace in the future.
