The Hidden Peacebuilders: from ambivalence to engagement, strengthening the role of local faith actors in peace-building and reconciliation

It is not uncommon for religious and faith actors to be involved in localized peacebuilding processes. As communities often respect and trust religious and faith leaders, these actors are in a unique position to serve as influential peacebuilders.  The Hidden Peacebuilders Project is research-practitioners collaboration aimed to amplify the role of local faith actors and their methods of peacebuilding. The project is global in its scope with a focus on Philippines & Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka & South Asia and South Sudan & East Africa.  One of the key areas of the research-focused project is to produce toolkit’s that highlight cases from local faith actors and advice development and humanitarian NGO’s as well as peacebuilding (triple-nexus).

Hosted by MSU-IIT, the first meeting of the Hidden Peacebuilders Project was held in Mindanao.  Subsequent meetings will be hosted in early 2020.

This project is conducted in a consortium, including: the Network, Islamic Relief Worldwide, World Vision, Centre for Peacebuilding and Reconciliation, Joint Learning Initiative (JLI), Eastern Mennonite University, MSU-IIT and Ateneo University.  The consortium is led by Leeds University.