November 15, 2019 – Yesterday, our Founder/CEO Forest Whitaker spoke at a press conference in Cape Town about the progress that the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative’s (WPDI) new Youth Peacemaker Network branch – launched in August – is making in Athlone. Also at the event was the Executive Mayor of Cape Town, Dan Plato and Ambassador of France to South Africa, H.E Aurélien Le Chevalier.
The five-year program, which is currently being rolled out in the Cape Flats neighborhood of Cape Town in partnership with BNP Paribas Group South Africa, and local innovative consumer finance business RCS – a subsidiary of BNP Paribas – seeks to bring about transformative change in areas deeply affected by gang violence.
WPDI’s mission is to empower young men and women living in vulnerable areas with the skills they need to become leaders, peacemakers and entrepreneurs in their communities and to bring about peace and stability. We are successfully working and positively impacting communities impacted by conflict in places including South Sudan, Uganda, the United States, and Mexico. At the event, Mr. Whitaker mentioned that we will do the same in Cape Town. “The success of the WPDI Youth Peacemaker Network lies in the trust that the program creates in the community. The youths we train are from the community and work for it. Our program becomes what they make of it. Our approach will be the same on the Cape Flats, where we will be providing young women and men with tools and resources that they can put to use in their daily lives,” said Whitaker.
Over the past three months, 45 people from areas most impacted by gang violence in Cape Town were chosen based on their personal experiences and capabilities to be trained as agents of change in their communities. This group of young people referred to as “Trainers of Trainees”, are in the process of educating 360 additional young people from communities across Cape Town to become social development ambassadors by learning how to engage with local residents to mediate conflicts and foster peace. As Sesethu Tyali, a young woman from Khayelitsha currently being trained to become a Trainer of Trainees mentioned, “I’m from a community impacted by violence, and to be selected as an agent of change, and someone that my community can look to is exciting. The WPDI equips us with skills that include peacekeeping and conflict resolution. This is important as we share the message within our community that there is an alternative to joining gangs.”
WPDI’s Program Director in South Africa, Dr. Chance Chagunda, also emphasized what this program can do for Cape Flats right now: “the young people on the Cape Flats face violence every day and when you are in these conditions all the time it’s almost impossible to change without support.” Antoine Sire, Head of Engagement at BNP Paribas, believes that the current situation in very many countries around the world illustrates that concerns surrounding inequality and regional issues are widely shared. “Whether in emerging countries or developed countries young people, women and populations in disadvantaged areas and regions do not all enjoy the place in society they deserve. This is why BNP Paribas has been working for many years on youth inclusion to ensure that young people have access to what they need to put their ideas into action.”
Over the next three years, the program will help empower approximately 2,400 young people to become leaders and champions to address problems in their schools and communities.
