10km for Peace and Reconciliation

On July 11 I am running in the British 10km race through central London. I will be raising money for the Peace and Reconciliation Movement (PRM) in Bo, Sierra Leone.

PRM, based in southern Sierra Leone, has been one of the most innovative responses to a decade-long conflict that wreaked physical and psychosocial devastation on the entire country. The declaration of peace in 2002 marked a time for broken communities to heal and conflicts to be resolved without violence. But in one of the world's poorest countries this continues to be an ongoing challenge. Building sustainable peace is a slow, painstaking process.

PRM's network of 11 organizations brings together people of different religions and all walks of life who work as volunteer peace monitors to identify, mediate and prevent conflicts at community, district and chieftaincy levels. They also help communities to participate in finding creative solutions to their conflicts rather than having others do it for them.

All the money I raise will go directly to PRM in Bo to contribute to the work of 300 volunteer peace monitors over the next eighteen months. This will enable them to work in communities that remain poor and fragile and where tensions can easily flare into violence. The efforts of groups such as PRM will be critical as Sierra Leone gears up to elections in 2012. After a decade of international support these elections will be a significant benchmark in Sierra Leone's efforts to move from violence to politics as a way to resolve conflict. The team at PRM is trying to lead the way in taking responsibility for its communities future and I think are worthy of support.

Many thanks.

Jonathan

You can read more about PRM's work:
c-r.org/our-work/west-africa/buildingpaths.php