Initiatives of Change (IofC) has been ‘building trust across the world’s divides’ for over 80 years and to this day, a number of IofC national bodies have trustbuilding projects that are making a difference to the communities where they work. The Trustbuilding Program is a chance to leverage our knowledge, skills, experience and contacts, to streamline our efforts and bring our global trustbuilding initiatives together in a clear, coherent and strategic way

Ethical Leadership Retreat 2021, Lagos, Nigeria

2021 Message from the International Council
This year we will celebrate 75 years of Caux as a global centre promoting the values which the world needs. Asia Plateau is beginning to resume its year-round programme of conferences and training sessions. The Trustbuilding Program will expand to Australia, Indonesia, Nepal, and South Africa. On every continent, people inspired by IofC are taking action to build values of honesty, purity, unselfishness and love into their societies and governing policies.

A new year welcome to our four new trustbuilding teams.

The Trustbuilding Program started in September 2019 with three teams in Canada, France, and Kenya. They adapted their projects in the face of the pandemic, and officially celebrated delivering their first-year implementation plan at the end of December 2020. It is now time for four more trustbuilding teams to join the program. Welcome Australia, Indonesia, Nepal and South Africa!

As issues related to trust and conflict are location specific, each team has adapted the core principles of the Program to their local context. Below are the main focus areas of the participating teams.

Creators of Peace bringing on board Cape Town Facilitators , through two collaborating organisations, Initiatives of Change and Gravitree, by delivering a training of facilitators and the first Creators of Peace (CoP) Circle in Cape Town from 30th November to 11th December. The purpose of this initiative is to grow and strengthen the Creators of Peace programme in South Africa – the aim being to help build foundations for a healed nation. Cleo Mohlaodi and Mantwa Mabe conducted a seven-day CoP facilitation training for four passionate community workers with an academic background in Social and Health work. Three of the trainees are from Gugulethu, and one from Khayelitsha, communities in Cape Town. with a huge success and action plan for 202.

iListen, formally known as 'Quiet Time', is an open invitation for us all to reflect on our lives and seek inspiration.

The corona virus (COVID 19) has come to test the true sense of responsibility of societies, governments, organizations, communities and individuals towards humanity. Like many other organizations, Moral Re-Armament/Initiatives of Change, Nigeria was faced with the challenges of cancelling planned programs and events, following the World Health Organisation (WHO) declaration of COVID 19 as a global pandemic. This was followed by the announcement of a total lockdown order on human and business activities by the Federal Government of Nigeria. Foreseeing the huge impact of such a lockdown, the Council of Management of MRA/IofC Nigeria actioned strategies (palliatives) to help reach out to members and non-members to ameliorate the burdens of fending for themselves and their families while staying at home, given our country’s economic peculiarity.

Peter Riddell, Convenor of IofC UK’s Agenda for Reconciliation programme, will introduce the films and facilitate the interactive case-studies. He has devoted several decades to working particularly with people who have suffered due to his nation’s colonial legacy.

Trust building program continues in Kenya having held two successful dialogues in both Mombasa and Garissa and the first mini workshop already complete in Garissa. 2020 started with a one-day communications skills workshop in Nairobi and later the first workshop in Garissa between January and February with follow up schedule for April 2020 supported by the input of Imam Ashafa and Pastor Wuye from Nigeria. 

Conversations that Boost Confidence in Braamfischerville from 25 -27 February 2020 was he Creators of Peace Circles main outcome between a group of 25 men and women. As painful conversations opened up and went through the gathering points of the programme namely: 'What builds and what destroys my peace' and 'What is this peace that I am searching for?' With much role play, singing, storytelling and small group discussions the group started becoming comfortable with themselves and began to open up just like a beautiful sunflower facing the sun.