The well-being of peacebuilders is an essential and often overlooked component of any enduring change process. At Humanity United, we believe that access to healing spaces and diverse forms of psychosocial support are necessary to sustain peacebuilders and victims of conflict through the long arc of social change.
Communities around the world build and hold spaces for healing and well-being in diverse ways such as through art, ritual, storytelling, music, and rest. At the same time, discoveries in neuroscience deepen our understanding of trauma, harm, and healing, and help rewire the brain for peace.
We know that individual and communal well-being form the foundation of sustainable peace, enabling people to relate to one another in a healthy and whole way and allowing communities to break the grip of intergenerational trauma.
We believe elevating a wide range of resources and pathways to healing creates a fuller sense of agency for peacebuilding actors, and benefits the collective wisdom of the wider peacebuilding field.
In this area of work, we support partners who:
- Work toward understanding the effects of trauma in conflict/post-conflict settings.
- Explore modalities and implement reconciliation and trauma-informed healing practices, specifically those that center grassroots approaches.
- Provide retreat, reflection, and healing spaces for proximate peace actors.
- Support narrative change, storytelling, and art as pathways for healing and transformation.
Learn more about our approach in our strategy.