Colette Caprara kicked off the 2023 GPW Enrichment Program quoting Mother Theresa, “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” She shared examples from her years of documenting community peacebuilding efforts that highlight the unique roles and contributions of women in uplifting and nurturing their families and communities.
The webinar was held on 29th July, and is part of a four-part series leading up to the 2023 Global Peace Convention in November and December. Each webinar examines cases of family-based approaches to issues such as mental and physical health, and community and regional peacebuilding. GPW advances values-based models that empower women and families as peacebuilders. “We say ‘Peace begins in the home’ because what we learn in the home and the family has global implications. So as we invest in our homes, let us challenge ourselves to develop a foundation for peace in the wider world,” said Hanako Ikeno, president of Global Peace Women.
Colette Caprara, is an award-winning artist and writer. She shared stories from her community to illustrate the vital role of women in community uplifting and nurturing. “Voice of Black Mothers United”, a Woodson Center driven grassroots movement, is an alliance of mothers who have lost children to gang violence. Turning their pain into a force for healing and peace, mothers are reaching across the United States to prevent more losses by teaching conflict resolution, partnering with law enforcement and providing support for victims’ families.
“Every woman has a unique ability to empathize, just as these women’s story has shown us. There's a certain power that comes with determination, having a goal and commitment to end anything that is causing damage or hurt to their own children or to other children and families in their communities,” Collette said.
Beatriz Munhoz, GPW project leader from Brazil and Bidhi Adhikar, GPWLA graduate shared their work in empowering women and families in peacebuilding. Beatriz encouraged participants to harness their unique strengths to enable them to nurture the seed of peace at home and in the world.
“We are not alone in building a world of peace,” Beatriz said while sharing about her project on non-violent communication and its impact in her local community, ‘Conversations that Connect’.
In break-out sessions, participants engaged each other in identifying the significant issues and conflicts that their communities face and how they could benefit from women-led peacebuilding initiatives. They also brainstormed on the interventions each could develop to address such community issues.
The webinar series was designed to share the knowledge , expertise of GP Women across the world and explore creative applications of GPW’s values based approach to peacebuilding. Through our programs GPW strives to strengthen families and empower women to become moral & innovative leaders and peace-builders to their local community.
Register to participate in our next webinar on August 26th. The topic will be "Mental Health and Resilience: The GPW Approach to Personal, Family, and Community Well-Being."