Locally and around the world, new strategies to protect human rights and promote peaceful conflict transformation are in action.
Trained Peace Professionals
Unarmed Civilian Peacekeeping (UCP) involves the use of trained peace professionals who use the principles of nonviolence to provide direct physical protection to civilians in a variety of contexts. Some of the strategies used include protective accompaniment, creation of safe spaces, proactive presencing, interpositioning, monitoring and reporting, and relationship building.
Background
Since 2017, Selkirk College has offered UCP training in collaboration with Nonviolent Peaceforce, a major global organization that employs UCP strategies in several areas, including the Philippines, South Sudan, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Iraq.
In 2019, Selkirk College's UCP course was offered concurrently in Nelson and in Burundi (Central Africa). In the fall of 2022, we hired instructors in Burundi—including graduates of our previous trainings—to deliver a follow-up course to participants who are now acting as trainers, spreading the skills of UCP across Burundi and beyond.
Parfaite Ntahuba, Unarmed Civilian Peacekeeping Graduate
A project coordinator in Burundi, Parfaite Ntahuba shares her narrative report on bringing unarmed civilian peacekeeping to her community of Bujumbura, Burundi, where she works with the Quaker Peace Network.
