Preview
Creation Date
3-30-2015
Description
Peace. It is something that we all want, something we all speak about, and something we generally all consider to be a positive thing, but do we really understand what peace means and how it is achieved? In post conflict nations peace is the goal but you cannot have peace without meaningful political forgiveness. Political forgiveness plays a vital role in the building of peace in societies that have been decimated by violence, for without forgiveness the cycle of violence will only continue. We will be describing what is meant by political forgiveness, how it relates to individual and community forgiveness processes and how it applies to national healing peace processes such as in the case of Colombia and other societies that have been involved in long-running conflicts that have taken a significant toll on the country but also its population.
Dr. Eileen Borris is the president of Forgiveness International, whose mission is to advance individual and societal transformation through the practice of forgiveness in order to create sustainable peace. A clinical and political psychologist with over 25 years of experience, Dr. Borris also served as director of training and program development for the Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy (IMTD) and has extensive consulting experience, having worked in Indonesia for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), and with trauma healing programs throughout Liberia through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Dr. Borris is a frequent speaker at the United Nations.