Terre des Hommes NGO invited Daphrose Ntarataze, a Burundian now living in Geneva, Switzerland, for an exploratory visit to her country to get to know the Terre des Hommes team and to explore the possibility of leading Peace Circles there together with them. She was joined by Christiane Garin Al-Azhari, President of the Creators of Peace Association, who also had the opportunity to present the history and methodology of the Creators of Peace network to the staff at Terre des Hommes.

A new website has joined the IofC family of websites, the Initiatives of Change Africa website. The website can be accessed at http://www.iofcafrica.org, where you can view news, events, commentaries and much more from the African continent. The site contains details of and application form for the next Harambee Leadership Programme, taking place in Nigeria in October 2011.

Ann Njeri, a young Kenyan woman who is active with Initiatives of Change programmes, including Creators of Peace, ‘Kenya I Care’, ‘Clean Elections Campaign’ and ‘Sustainable peace and reconciliation', has been awarded the International Women's Day Outstanding Service Award for Kenya. The award was presented to her on 8 March by the President of Rotary club Mombasa, President Jean Baptiste Gasangwa.

“Information is the key to life. Without information, people do not have an agenda and simply accept what is said at the discussion table.” These were the challenging words of Mr Kennedy Walusala, President of the Regional Multifunctional Youth Forum at the opening of the 1st Eastern Africa Youth Conference (EAYC).

Nagwa Raouf has written a message, following the massacre in front of the Coptic church on New Year's Eve in Egypt, and sent it by email to her Christian friends in Egypt and Lebanon. In its original Arabic form, it was published by the Lebanese newspaper Al-Nahar (probably the most important Lebanese daily) on 3 January.

Over 600 people filled the room at the eighth Annual Celebration Gala of the We Are Family Foundation on October 26, 2010 in New York. Among the honourees were Imam Muhammad Ashafa and Pastor James Wuye for their work of peacemaking in Nigeria and other parts of Africa.

Portia Mosia, who has been running Peace Circle workshops together with Jackie Euvrard and others throughout this past year in South Africa, writes: “I am so grateful for the opportunity to follow my conviction through working with the Peace Circles programme. It has been an uplifting journey for my own healing after an awful experience that I had to overcome.”

From November 15 to 18, 2010 Lesotho Minister Mathabiso Lepono, Ministry of Gender and Youth, Sports and Recreation invited Alice Cardel, IofC International Training Director to pilot test a programme: 'Women in Leadership' especially for Lesotho. This took place at Victoria Hotel in Maseru. It is specifically designed for women Members of Parliament and those who are on the 20 District Councils of Lesotho. The aim of the training is to increase women's leadership competencies and capabilities.

Portia Mosia, who has been running Peace Circle workshops together with Jackie Euvrard and others throughout this past year writes: 'I am so grateful for the opportunity to follow my conviction through working with the Peace Circles programme. It has been an uplifting journey for my own healing after an awful experience that I had to overcome.'

Eritrean-born General Mercorios Haile, who rose to become Deputy-Commander of the Ethiopian Air Force in the era when Eritrea was still a province of Ethiopia, died on 16 November on a visit to Addis Ababa.