CORE VALUE

Harmony and Cooperation beyond Boundaries
The CPS encourages all efforts to overcome Human barriers such as Race, Religion, Politics and Ethnicity and works to build bridges of reconciliation, cooperation and Peace.

Human Responsibility
The realization of peace requires principled, human effort. Peace does not emerge automatically. Each human being must take responsibility to initiate their own personal, spiritual and moral transformation and contribute to the well-being of others.

Living for the Sake of others.
The essence of good character is true love, an unselfish heart of love for others that translates into unselfish action, living for the sake of others. Living for the sake of others is not the teaching of any particular religion but can be found in the essential teachings of all religions.

Cooperative Give and Take Action

The universe is relational in nature. Give and take action leads to peace when the action is guided by the principle of living for the sake of others. Lasting human development has its foundation in unselfish give and take action. Conflict, abuse and corruption have their foundation in selfish give and take action.

Partnership
All things are created to co-exist in harmonious, cooperative and mutually fulfilling partnership. No entity’s purpose is to exist in isolation as an individual. Successful partnership has its foundation in unselfish give and take action.

Collaborative Action

Goal: Initiate, Develop and Support collaborative action among governmental, nongovernmental, and intergovernmental organizations to prevent and resolve destructive conflicts.

The primary function of the CPS is to facilitate collaborative action to help prevent violent conflicts throughout the world.  The CPS sponsors frequent meetings, symposia and workshops to bring people and organizations together to develop the capacity for collaboration.  The CPS helped create and continues to support the International Peace and Prosperity Project.

The Collaborative Action to Prevent Violent Conflicts is built on these basic concepts:

1. Disputes and conflicts need not deteriorate into violence.
2. Preventing violence is far better than trying to end wars after they start.
3. Nongovernmental organizations have the flexibility to be innovative and act quickly.    
4. All conflicts are complex, and a multifaceted approach is needed.
5. Local civil society and government officials in conflict areas must own and lead the peace building process for it to be effective and sustainable.
6. Peace building takes time, and it must be sustained for as long as necessary—usually over a period of several years.
7. Collaboration among all participants in the peace building process is essential.

The Collaborative Action to Prevent Violent Conflict process includes:

1. Identification of the most appropriate places for collaborative action.
2. Identification of and assembly of the most appropriate agencies and organizations.
3. Collective assessment of the dynamics and drivers of the conflict.
4. Development of a plan.
5. Generation of resources to support implementation of the plan.
6. Sustained action to prevent the outbreak of violence.
7. Ongoing evaluation.    

Network Developers

Goal: Increase the effectiveness of the peace building field by developing networks, disseminating best practices, and enhancing organizational capacities and professional skills.

The CPS increases the effectiveness of the peace building field by developing networks, disseminating best practices, and enhancing organizational capacities and professional skills.  Since the peace building field is relatively young, every new skill, strategy or technique is important.  We are all in this together, and every practitioner has an obligation to share his or her ideas and information with others in order to enhance the capacity of the entire field to more effectively help prevent and mitigate violent conflicts.  The CPS is building networks for sharing information, ideas, best practices, and lessons learned.  As each member of CPS grows stronger, the peace building field becomes more effective.  Use of the network to share best practices and increase organizational and professional skill levels will help build peace worldwide.

We seek to broaden and increase the peace building network to include organizations from all parts of the world.  We also welcome many superb multi-purpose organizations that include peace building within a mandate. 

The annual meeting is the primary opportunity for members to gather and share information and ideas.  It includes presentations by recognized experts, workshops and discussions of issues. 

These sessions feature experts in the field and normally focus on particular conflict environments or current issues.  In addition, CPS sponsors forums, symposia and workshops on topics such as collaboration among development, democracy and conflict resolution, communications strategies, evaluation of program effectiveness, etc. 

Thank you to one and all. And a special thank you to all our visitors who make our endeavors worthwhile. If you find our information useful, please share it with others.

 * Peace in Sri Lanka