When imagining peacebuilding organisations, our first thought may often be of large, international groups sending aid oversees, providing food and medical care to those affected by conflict or oppression. These organisations attract media attention and engage in advertising campaigns to raise money for their causes. The work of these groups reflects a traditional understanding of peacebuilding, known more specifically as negative peace, in which peace is seen as the absence of conflict. These organisations, those such as the Red Cross, Oxfam, and Save the Children, do incredibly important work in sustainable conflict recovery. Their prominence in the minds of everyday citizens in the West, however, can encourage the thought that work in conflict recovery is the only kind of peacebuilding that exists, and that peacebuilding only happens through the work of large-scale international organisations abroad. This assumption, however, overlooks the essential work of smaller organisations that are hard at work doing peacebuilding in our own backyards. Taking into account the work of local charities and non-profit organisations provides an encouraging and more holistic view of how groups made up of individuals similar to ourselves are taking peacebuilding into their own hands to make a difference in our communities.
In St Andrews, there are numerous such organisations at work in diverse fields, but all made up of members of the community with the dedicated goal of serving their fellow St Andreans. The peacebuilding done by these groups is known as positive peacebuilding which takes place even outside the context of conflict by promoting welfare, developing relationships, and improving the quality of life for those served by these organisations.
Families First is an organisation that works to improve the inner peace of young people with disabilities, social challenges, and low self-esteem, among other challenges, to counter feelings of loneliness and isolation. Their programmes aim to help children develop healthy relationships with others and find ways to express themselves. In addition to these services specific to youth, the organisation also provides specific support to families as they strive to support their children. The One-to-One Befriending Service run by Families First is a prime example of how their work addresses the inner peace of children in St Andrews. This program matches children experiencing feelings of isolation for any number or reasons to a volunteer with similar interests. Volunteers, many from the University of St Andrews, spend quality time with the children in and around the town, helping them to feel respected and valued. Families First reports that their Befriending programme is widely beneficial for both the children and for the befrienders, saying that 84% of children participating in the program reported that they had ‘made friends’, a critical part of the inner peace of children
Home Start East Fife, another organisation based in St Andrews, similarly works with families to support them during difficult times, specifically with families with children under five years old. Their services also rely on the work of volunteers to foster peace in place and inner peace for the families of young children. These services are flexible and tailored to each family’s individuals needs. They provide an extra set of hands or a pair of listening ears to mitigate the stresses of having young children. In this way, Home Start is able to positively affect the inner peace of carers of young children and lay the foundations for a supportive environment and peace in place for the children themselves.
The Wave Project is another organisation that works with children’s mental health in St Andrews, utilising the town’s unique geographic position to run surf therapy camps. Surf Therapy is a six-week course offered by the wave project that helps children to overcome anxiety and build confidence through experience on the water. Their programs are inclusive, allowing children of all abilities the opportunity to develop a greater sense of self and inner peace as they participate in the course by setting goals and receiving encouragement from their mentors and other surfers. Not only does this program allow children a unique and exciting experience, it builds inner peace through increased confidence, the effects of which will be felt throughout the rest of their lives.
In a different vein, the St Andrews Environmental Network (StAndEN) helps to promote positive peace within the town through a community that works to protect the environment of the town for the benefit of all its residents. The wide variety of projects supported by StAndEN all focus on improving sustainability by making sustainable living more accessible to those of different financial means. These projects are community-building (another important aspect of positive peacebuilding) and focused on using their resources to build positive environmental peace in an inclusive manner in St Andrews.
Each of these organisations, in different ways, contributes to positive peace right here in St Andrews. Their work to support local children’s inner peace, strong interpersonal relationships within families, and wider community-building through environmental protection shows how civil society can contribute to positive peace in an area of the world that is often viewed as relatively peaceful. Despite these outward perceptions of peace, persistent issues affecting the inner peace of members of the community still exist and affect their interpersonal relationships and interactions in wider society. These organisations recognise the needs of their community and use the power of individuals to make positive change happen.
What do you think?
- How differently do you perceive the work of international NGOs compared with local charities? Do you see them as both engaged in peacebuilding, albeit in different ways?
- Are there civil society organisations at work in your own community? What kinds of peace are these organisations helping to build?
- Are there certain types of peace that are best addressed by civil society organisations, or should other groups like governments be more involved in promoting local peace?
- Where do you see opportunities for building more positive peace in your community? What could you do as a volunteer to contribute to this? If you volunteer already, do you see yourself as a peacebuilder?
If you liked this item in our museum…
You might also enjoy Pockets of Peace in St Andrews, The Role of Non-Governmental Organisations in Peace, and NGOs and Peacebuilding in the Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina.
Samuel Huff, May 2024
Further reading
For more on positive peace and everyday peace indicators, see: Johan Gatlung (2013) and the Everyday Peace Indicators project
Explore more about the organisations mentioned in this entry at these links: https://familiesfirststandrews.org.uk, https://www.home-start-eastfife.org.uk, https://www.waveproject.co.uk, https://www.standrewsenvironmental.org