| Posted: April 06 2005,19:59 |
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PROGRESS: Has your organization seen
progress toward a culture of peace and nonviolence in your domain of
action and in your constituency during the first half of the Decade? |
The
Institute for Victims of Trauma (IVT) has seen progress toward a
culture of peace and non-violence in its domain of action.
Interest in the IVT approach is slowly growing. Requests
come in weekly to IVT asking for assistance and training in both victim
recovery techniques and aiding traumatized individuals. Last
week’s request came from an English speaking Camerounian Pastor.
He wanted IVT to provide training for his assistants who are
starting a trauma recovery program which we assume is for released
prisoners who have been tortured. These last five years, many
more community leaders, professionals, and political leaders have grown
to understand the interface between trauma, mental health, and the
capacity to maintain a civil society; the example of the Camerounian
Pastor reflects the growing need for services much as IVT offers.
IVT has no constituency, if membership is what you
call constituency. This is a tiny, under funded, NGO. We
have not developed indicators to measure progress because if we tried,
we wouldn’t have time to create the progress the organization is
striving to achieve. IVT continues to focus internationally on
victims of political violence and works to meet their needs as
individuals. In addition, in 2004 I received an award from the
International Center for Psycho-Social trauma in acknowledgement of
several services of pro-bono training of Palestinian psychotherapists.
This represents the first acknowledgement of the advancement in
trauma therapy in the Middle East region of the world.
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OBSTACLES: What are the most important obstacles that have prevented progress?
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As
the war on terrorism continues and more innocent people across the
globe are affected, the duty before IVT will become quite more than a
tiny, non-profit can take on. With limited funding, limited time,
and limited staff, choices have to be made concerning what IVT can take
on successfully.
There is no longer time to focus on the
mundane, now we must prioritize. IVT often chooses effective work
over administrative work. As the demand for peace, understanding,
and reconciliation for trauma victims increases annually, the job
before IVT will grow exponentially.
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ACTIONS: What actions have been
undertaken by your organization to promote a culture of peace and
nonviolence during the first half of the Decade?
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Over
time, Americans will come to realize that more happens outside our
borders resulting from current foreign policy than what the
administration and news media leads them to believe. The job of
IVT is one with lasting implications. Beginning with
international activities, one of the significant actions undertaken by
IVT was sharing with the mental health community in Yemen in 2000.
I traveled to this small country to lecture on “Prevention of
Violence and Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence.” I wanted to
express that through interface, more and more individuals will become
traumatized unless action is taken to prevent this.
A second
international action was a lecture in the Ukraine in May of 2001,
entitled “Trauma and Identity.” It was funded through the U.S.
Institute of Peace due to my collaboration with the director. The
trip was successful in bringing awareness of the integration of
clinical and social psychology to the community. Also in 2001 I
presented Johan Galtung with the Morton Deutsch Conflict Resolution
Award in Switzerland. The event was held in the old town hall in Geneva
next-door to the room heralded as the first International Conflict
Resolution Room (Alabama Room). In the Alabama room the first
International Conflict Resolution Accord took place in 1868. I
went to Geneva and presented the award at this location to call
attention to their own history of conflict resolution.
This April marks my second trip to Rwanda, a tiny
country the size of the State of Maryland which was divided along
ethnic lines in 1994. I lectured and trained people there on how
to deal with grief and psychosocial trauma, to come to terms with what
occurred. I encouraged Rwandans to face the past and continue,
moving on but not forgetting. I am returning to Rwanda this year
to continue my efforts to encourage those Rwandans who have maintained
contact with me over the year to take more initiative on their own to
work towards establishing lasting peace.
Regarding
efforts to spread knowledge and awareness of trauma, peace, and
reconciliation to Americans, IVT has worked diligently throughout the
past decade to inform all Americans, beginning at the academic level
but also speaking on my community. At this time in American
history, waging peace in time of war, is a major effort. The
focus on peace must be maintained and at the university level,
peacemakers are finding ways to keep speaking out to counteract the
President’s apparent need to have the U.S. dominate.
I lectured the
students of the Yale School of Medicine in May of 2000, talking on “The
Human Side of Terror.” I trained individuals in peace education,
crisis management, and violence prevention at the Brook Army Medical
Center in Texas in January of 2001. I lectured in 2001 to the
students of Howard University on “The Globalization of Violence and
Fear: the Psycho-Social Effects of Terrorism and Political Violence on
Communities.” I led a panel discussion on “Constructing a
Response to the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks” at Yale Law
School Policy Science Annual Institute in October of 2001. I
addressed the 110th American Psychological Association’s Convention
twice in August of 2003, first focusing on “Waging Peace in Times of
War” and then on “Transcending the Religious
Need’ for Violence.”
In 2003 I contributed a chapter to the Stanley Krippner book
Impact of War Trauma on Civilian Population; my chapter is entitled
“Change Agentry in an Islamic Context.”
In addition to
promoting trauma and reconciliation education within America’s
universities and various academic settings, the Executive Director
occasionally assists asylum seekers suffering greatly from the effects
of intense trauma in his or her past. IVT does not have adequate
time to address the issues of every individual asylum seeker, and
instead reviews the few cases that come before it with careful
consideration, choosing perhaps one case every two or three years
depending on the circumstances.
Leila
Dane, director of the Institute for Victims of Trauma, at the Stairway
to Heaven, stained glass window in the Kigali Genocide Memorial Center
at the 10th anniversary commemoration opening of the center, April
2004, Kigali, Rwanda
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ADVICE: What advice would you like to
give to the Secretary-General and the General Assembly to promote a
culture of peace and nonviolence during the second half of the Decade? |
I
would like the Secretary to promote programs that bring together the
education of trauma and world politics so that the evolving philosophy
will lead to goals that more clearly focus on non-violent resolution of
conflicts. A steady flow of information covering both topics will
lead to an understanding that it is not only financial and material
resources that are diminished by violence, but good will and the
resilience of human beings are diminished.
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PARTNERSHIPS: What partnerships and
networks does your organization participate in, thus strengthening the
global movement for a culture of peace? |
World
Islamic Accosication for Mental Health, Cairo, Egypt; Joint Program on
Conflict Resoultion, Cairo, Egypt; Kinyamateka, Kigali, Rwanda;
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PLANS: What new engagements are
planned by your organization to promote a culture of peace and
nonviolence in the second half of the Decade (2005-2010)? |
With
the help of graduate student interns and consulting organizations, IVT
will continue to focus on training programs to rebuild resilience among
people in war-torn communities and programs promoting training in
trauma among professionals, especially in the Middle East.
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Postal address of organization
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6801 Market Square Drive, McLean, VA 22101
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E-mail address of organization
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ivt@microneil.com
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Website address of organization
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http://www.microneil.com/ivt/
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Highest priority action domain of a culture of peace
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Human Rights
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Second priority action domain of a culture of peace
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International Peace and Security
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Highest priority country of action (or international)
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Rwanda
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Second priority country of action (or international)
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Egypt and Palestine
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