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Adult Forum, March 4

Unarmed Peacekeeping—Protecting Civilians, Preventing
Violence, Promoting Peace
Mel Duncan

"People try nonviolence for a week, and when it doesn’t work, they go back to violence, which hasn’t worked for centuries." –Theodore Roszak
With new violence erupting daily, people around the world are seeking alternatives to war-as-usual to solve major conflicts. They want people-centered security and solutions that lead to a durable peace. In 1999, Mel Duncan attended the Hague Appeal for Peace to launch his vision: a paid, trained, international, unarmed civilian peacekeeping force that resulted in the Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) with headquarters in Brussels and Minneapolis. NP works with local groups to foster dialogue among parties in conflict, provides for a proactive presence and safe spaces for civilians, and develops local capacities to respond to and prevent violence in such places as Sri Lanka, Mindanao Philippines, Guatemala, South Sudan, the South Caucasus and Kyrgyzstan.Forty organizations from around the world are associated with NP, and local chapters provide support.

The professionally trained field staff is largely selected from the Global South, and genders are balanced so that the needs of women and children are specifically protected as NP does the work of “unarmed civilian peacekeeping.”

In 2010, Presbyterian Church-USA honored Mel Duncan with their Peace Seeker award. In 2008, The Utne Reader named him as one of “50 Visionaries Who are Changing Our World.” In addition to a degree from Macalester College, Mel is also a graduate of the Center for Creation-Centered Spirituality.