2007 Goldin Institute Event
Reintegration & Prevention: Breaking the Cycle of Violence for Ex-Combatants and Vulnerable Children and Youth
The use of child soldiers and young combatants in armed insurgencies, militias and resistance movements is a staggering and growing problem in regions as diverse as The DR Congo, Sri Lanka and Colombia. Well over 300,000 young people under the age of 18 are currently fighting in wars or have recently been demobilized. At the same time, the number of children emerging from these traumatic circumstances has dramatically increased.
How can our communities help young combatants leave the fighting? How can former child soldiers receive the services and support they need to reintegrate into society? What are the roles and responsibilities of different sectors – education, business, government, religious communities, NGO's and others -- in providing these services? How can we work together to make sure our society is ready to welcome home these former combatants? How can we work together at home and around the world to break this cycle of violence and prevent the exploitation of young people by armed groups and militias?
To explore and answer these questions, the Goldin Institute partnered with the Centro Mundial de Investigacion y Capacitacion para la Solucion de Conflictos (Centro Mundial) to convene a global forum on the theme of Reintegration & Prevention: Breaking the Cycle of Violence for Ex-Combatants and Vulnerable Children and Youth. This unique gathering brought together teams of engaged leaders struggling to address these issues from over twenty cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Cuba, Colombia, DR Congo, El Salvador, Haiti, Israel, Kenya, Liberia, the Philippines, Rwanda, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda and the United States.
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Goldin Institute Board of Advisors
The Goldin Institute is governed by a diverse group of talented and committed individuals working towards a common goal of creating real local and global change rooted in the power of communities determining their own futures.
2004 Goldin Institute Event: Taipei, Taiwan
Providing Access to Safe Drinking Water
Today 1.1 billion people, one-sixth of the world's population, live without access to safe drinking water. This humanitarian crisis has staggering costs. Eighty percent of the illnesses and deaths in the developing world are attributable to water-borne diseases.
This issue is intertwined with many other social ills plaguing the planet. Making an impact on poverty, hunger, illiteracy, disease, water scarcity aggravated conflicts and many other issues are all significantly dependant on solving the word's water crisis. Ensuring reliable access to safe drinking water (ASDW) and repairing damaged water systems are crucial components of creating a just, peaceful and sustainable world.
Thankfully, there is a growing awareness that ASDW is an urgent and acute need around the world. The United Nations, Governments, NGO's, religious and spiritual communities, businesses and leaders from civil society have begun to understand the nature and dynamics of the crisis, create effective strategies and take meaningful actions. How can we reverse the trend of growing water scarcity? How can sustainable projects be created to provide reliable access to safe drinking water? How can cross-city and multi-sector efforts most effectively address the crisis at the local and global levels?
To explore these questions, teams of grassroots leaders and experts from twenty-six cities in Argentina, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, India, Israel, Kenya, the Philippines, Rwanda, Spain, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, the United Kingdom, the United States and Uganda convened in Taipei, Taiwan from November 6 – 12, 2004 to focus on the theme of Spirituality and Sustainability — Water: the Common Element.
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The venue for the week was the impressive Museum of World's Religions located near Taipei. The Museum, founded by visionary Buddhist leader Dharma Master Hsin Tao, proved to be an inspiring meeting ground for the 2004 Goldin Institute proceedings. The location of Taipei proved to be a meaningful place as well, given that sixty-five percent of the people without ASDW live in Asia.
The Goldin Institute is an annual forum started in 2002 to bring together local leaders from the emerging international Partner Cities Network to provide mutual support and share the methodologies and tools needed to build peaceful, just and sustainable communities.
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Reconstructing Haiti: Presentation by Malya Villard
We are pleased to share this broadcast of Malya Villard-Appolon's lecture in Chicago on April 22, 2014 at Loyola University. In this public lecture, Malya spoke about her advocacy work from the courtrooms and IDP camps in Haiti to venues around the world including the UN Commission on Human Rights, the U.S. State Department and the IAHRC. Malya was awarded the 2012 CNN Hero of the Year for her work as co-founder of KOFAVIV (Commission of Women Victims for Victims).
KOFAVIV is a Haitian grassroots organization that provides social and legal support in an effort to combat sexual violence against women and girls. Based on our partnership with KOFAVIV to fight gender-based violence in Port au Prince after the earthquake, we know first-hand the power and effectiveness of Malya and her team in Haiti.