On July 15, 2011 Peace Education And Development (PEAD) Foundation in collaboration with Save the Children International organized a national consultative meeting of the Peace Network Pakistan (PNP) on the “Challenge of growing radicalization and extremism in Pakistan”, at CRSS office in Islamabad.The consultation started with all the members getting acquainted with each other which was followed by an introduction of the network, its aims, objectives and structure.A special session on understanding the dynamics of radicalization and extremism in Pakistan was conducted by Mr. Harris Khalique. Towards the end of the meeting member organizations drafted a future policy, short and long term goals of the network..
Pakistan, with over 180 million inhabitants, is currently embroiled in multiple socio-political conflicts and socio-economic crisis. Religiously-wrapped militancy in FATA, Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, Baloch insurgency in Balochistan, and an increasing networking of religio-political groups have simply precipitated problems such as poor governance, insufficient education and health infrastructure and high population growth. These conditions also result not only in daily conflicts on the social level but also provide opportunities to vested interest groups to exploit them for their own objectives.
This socio-political context underscores the need for conscious effort to sensitize people at large on the nature and causes of conflict. There is also a need to empower them on how to dispassionately approach violent and conflict-ridden situations. Handling conflict situations non-violently while respecting others rights and religious beliefs represents a big challenge for us all, and therefore requires a concerted effort by all to sensitize students, teachers, youth groups, media personnel, religious leaders, women groups and civil society members on issues such as promoting and building peace.
The Peace Education And Development (PEAD) Foundation takes pride in having launched such an initiative - Peace Network Pakistan (PNP) - in collaboration with Save The Children, Sweden. The network aims to provide to all those NGO’s and civil society activists working on peace initiatives a platform to sharing their experiences and become part of an informed debate on peace-building and promotion, with the ultimate objective of creating counter narrative to tackle radicalization, religious extremism and violence in the society. The network aims to promote peace by addressing multi-faceted conflicts through peace building initiatives at every level of society, promote better understanding, as well information-sharing on conflict management, transformation and peace building.
