Virginia Swain's Page

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Favorite website: http://www.global-leader.org; www.centerglobalcommunitylaw.org

When it comes to peace, how would you describe yourself?: I am a pacifist

What do you believe are the 'burning issues' today?: War, Hunger, Poverty, Education, Our Planet, Violence, Inflation, Human Rights, Our Shrinking Freedom, Other

So what is it?: Reconciling the cycle of violence

What must we overcome to achieve peace?: Fear

More: Recent events in a post 9/11 world and continued conflict in many parts of the world underscore the need for parties to break the cycle of violence and humiliation that otherwise may be perpetual. In our view, the increased call for United Nations reform requires new competencies to handle the high levels of conflict and emotions so prevalent at this time from the local to the global. A multilateral approach is needed to reconcile the divisions of society, as well as sharing power differently. This paper recommends that reconciliation be considered as a policy option under the oversight of the Good Offices of the Secretary General. It suggests training in Reconciliation Leadership™, a new approach to peace and development based on personal transformation, vocational service beyond self-interest, new competencies in conflict and emotional challenges, and decision making based on a “200-year present” (Boulding). As a result of the training, emerging and seasoned leaders in the Secretariat, international civil servants, and diplomats will improve their ability to share power, address, root causes of conflicts and underlying emotional imbalances. Trained leaders will also be invited to join a Global Mediation and Reconciliation Service (GMRS) that would help actualize General Assembly Resolution 39/11, “The peoples of our planet having a sacred right to peace.” We present the previous success of reconciliation approaches, such as Ackerman’s discussion of post-war relations between France and Germany, as well as current applications. Reconciliation Leadership™ has been taught in the United Nations since 1992 under the patronage of Anwarul K. Chowdhury, Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States. We also evoke Dag Hammarskjold’s 100th birthday year commemoration as a fitting occasion to further integrate this work into the United Nations.

Can we change the world?: Definitely

More about me: Virginia Swain, MA, Director, Institute for Global Leadership, is a trainer, consultant and coach with experience on five continents and 18 years in the United Nations community in New York.. Virginia is the founder of The Global Mediation and Reconciliation Service, Reconciliation Leadership™, co-founder of the Center for Global Community and World Law, and author of A Mantle of Roses: A Woman’s Journey Home to Peace (XLibris 2004). Websites are www.global-leader.org and www.centerglobalcommunitylaw.org, She is writing a book on leadership for our times.