In this episode, our host Raaval Singh Bains is joined by Chernor Bah and Gunjan Veda, two experts and activists whose work is rooted in the Global South. They highlight the problems with common attitudes in our sector, and vital work needed to decolonise our minds. They emphasise the ways local activists and communities can reclaim power and the ways Global North power-holders must shift their thinking. Shownotes: Put the lessons from this episode into action now with our action pack: https://www.peacedirect.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Action-pack-Episode-2-It-starts-in-your-mind-2.pdf Download the transcript: https://www.peacedirect.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/PD-TPWP-Ep2-Mindsets-transcript.pdf Speaker biographies: Gunjan Veda: Gunjan’s the Executive Director of the Movement for Community-Led Development, or MCLD. It’s a network that works to shift power so that low-income communities can achieve their own visions and goals.   Chernor Bah: Chernor recently became the Minister of Information and Civic Education in Sierra Leone. He’s also the Co-founder of Purposeful, a feminist hub for girls’ activism, rooted in Africa and working all around the world. Purposeful’s mission is to ensure that girl activists and their allies have access to the resources, networks, and platforms they need to power their activism and remake the world for themselves. Raaval Singh Bains: As Research Officer at Peace Direct, Raaval is responsible for supporting Peace Direct’s research work on Decolonising the System. He facilitates online Platform4Dialogue discussions, conducts qualitative data analysis and drafts research reports. His work currently focuses on the “Decolonising Peacebuilding Practice” research project as well as supporting on the “Local Voices for Peace” and USAID funded “Stopping As Success” projects. Raaval has previously worked on research projects that advocate for the decolonisation of secondary school education in the UK.

In the first episode of The Problem with Partnerships, we go back to basics, exploring the journey to decolonise international development and the foundational values of transformative partnerships. Shownotes: Transforming Partnerships in International Cooperation (2023): https://www.peacedirect.org/transforming-partnerships/ Time to Decolonise Aid (2021): https://www.peacedirect.org/time-to-decolonise-aid/ Race, Power and Peacebuilding (2022): https://www.peacedirect.org/race-power-and-peacebuilding/  “Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.” ― Chinua Achebe Speaker biographies: Raaval Singh Bains: As Research Officer at Peace Direct, Raaval is responsible for supporting Peace Direct’s research work on Decolonising the System. He facilitates online Platform4Dialogue discussions, conducts qualitative data analysis and drafts research reports. His work currently focuses on the “Decolonising Peacebuilding Practice” research project as well as supporting on the “Local Voices for Peace” and USAID funded “Stopping As Success” projects. Raaval has previously worked on research projects that advocate for the decolonisation of secondary school education in the U.K. Dylan Mathews: Dylan is CEO of Peace Direct, having joined the organisation in 2015. His commitment to supporting local organisations in the Global South spans almost 20 years, during which time he has worked for a range of peacebuilding, international development and humanitarian organisations. While working for the peacebuilding think tank Oxford Research Group, he authored ‘War Prevention Works’ which profiled the role of non-state actors in conflict prevention and resolution – a publication that helped launch Peace Direct in 2004. He is the editor of ‘Working with Conflict 2’ a practical toolkit for local peacebuilders, published in 2020. Dylan is also the Vice Chair of the Alliance for Peacebuilding, a global peacebuilding network based in Washington DC. Ruby Quantson Davis: Ruby is the Senior Learning and Impact Advisor at Peace Direct. She has almost 20 years of global experience on public policy, research and advocacy, deliberate conversations, community engagement and institutional development. She has worked extensively within Africa and the South Pacific, as well as in Israel and the United States, where she uses innovative ways of reflecting, learning, documenting and sharing knowledge. Dr Prince Charles Dickson: Prince Charles is a peace practitioner and Policy Analyst with decades of experience in media, public policy, psychology and development practice based on Plateau State, Nigeria. Dr Prince Charles is currently team lead for the Nigerian-based Tattaaunawa Roundtable Initiative (TRICentre), a non-profit, non-partisan and non-allied community-centred organisation that brings people together and connects people of all ages and backgrounds to bridge the gaps in the community needs.