March 23, 2012

The Anglican Alliance is calling for applications from young Anglican peacebuilders in Pakistan and Sri Lanka to take part in a unique workshop on conflict resolution in the UK in July.

The ten day programme, The Peacebuilders' Exchange: Transforming Conflict, Changing Lives, is designed to develop the peacebuilding skills of young Anglican leaders. Run in conjunction with the Community of the Cross of Nails, it will explore the challenge of conflict as a barrier to pro-poor development and allow participants to share examples of best practice in conflict transformation across the Anglican Communion.

It's the first workshop of its type to bring together young people from across the developing world and Europe.

The initiative will allow young people to develop peacebuilding leadership skills and ask them to identify how they can be resourced, sustained and affirmed in their current roles. Participants will be challenged to consider the influence of the past on understanding conflict in the present, ways of building peace in multicultural and interfaith contexts, and the role of the church in building sustainable peace. They will also examine the roll of woman as mediators and sustainers of peace and help take forward plans for an Anglican model of conflict early warning.

It takes forward the commitment from the Anglican Alliance's global consultation to put peace and reconciliation at the heart of its work. The programme will involve work in London and Coventry, and will also involve visits to some of the communities damaged last year's riots in the UK.

To be eligible, applicants must be under 30 years old when they apply and able to demonstrate a commitment to peacebuilding. If they are successful, participants will be asked to complete pre-arrival work and consider how they will use the Exchange to continue their work in peace and reconciliation afterwards.

There are four fully funded places available in the Asia region and applications are invited from Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The event will involve Anglicans from all regions of the Communion, including Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Pacific. Applications for Africa have now closed and applications for Latin America will open very soon.

To apply, please complete the application form and return it to anglicanalliance@aco.org.

Anglican Communion News Service