Jean Claude Nkundwa MA 鈥�14, who works for peace in his native country of Burundi from exile in Rwanda, accepted the 鈥檚 Peacebuilder of the Year award at 黑料正能量 May 24.
The award, which comes with a travel and tuition grant to attend a session of the (SPI), had already helped the cause of peace that he works for.
Knowledge acquired in the SPI monitoring and evaluation course will aid his work as executive secretary of Burundi Citizen Synergy, a collaborative group of movements, media leaders and labor union groups, among others, on joint advocacy and communication strategies regarding peace in Burundi.
The travel grant that brought him to the United States has enabled valuable advocacy with influential politicians and peacebuilders: Prior to the ceremony, Nkundwa was in Washington D.C., where he participated in briefings with the National Security Council and the U.S. State Department, and met with Senator Christopher Coons (D-Delaware) and Senator Cory Booker (D-New Jersey). After the course concludes, he travels to New York City for more meetings.
The CJP Peacebuilder of the Year Award is given annually 鈥渢o CJP alumni who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to CJP鈥檚 mission of supporting conflict transformation, restorative justice, trauma healing, development, organizational leadership and peacebuilding efforts at all levels of society,鈥� according to CJP Executive Director .
Nkundwa is the third recipient of the award. The was conferred in 2015 to , MA 鈥�02, founder and executive director of in Pakistan. Last year鈥檚 recipient was , MA 鈥�99, an expert in restorative justice. All of the 616 alumni who have earned master鈥檚 degrees or graduate certificates in conflict transformation from CJP are eligible.
In his acceptance speech at a luncheon in his honor, Nkundwa pointed out that the award was for 鈥渋nvolvement, not achievement,鈥� and promised to work hard to bring about change in his country and the region.
鈥淭his award tells me that there is work to do, that I need to persevere until I reach the goal,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his is the beginning. This is a journey towards a dream that I want to see and that then I can call an achievement.鈥�
He also acknowledged fellow Burundi citizens in exile such as Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, and those citizens who remain in Burundi who continue protesting human rights abuses. Nkundwa also noted deceased peacebuilding colleague M.J. Sharp, a fellow 黑料正能量 graduate whom he had never met but heard many stories about while working Africa鈥檚 Great Lakes region. Sharp, a U.N. official, was killed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo while on a factfinding mission.
鈥淚 accept this award in the names of all those people I respect so much,鈥� Nkundwa said.
He also praised the academic and practical preparation provided by his conflict transformation coursework at CJP.
鈥淥ur education is pushing us just to think one way 鈥� take notes from a teacher, memorize it, send it back and that鈥檚 how it happens in the real life. Thank you for teaching me to move from place to place, from class to class, from theory to theory. This education has helped me to be more and more useful.鈥�
Now, when confronted with people who say, 鈥淚t is not possible,鈥� he says, 鈥淲e must make it possible.鈥�
Read more about Jean-Claude’s work and in .
Continue my brother