Bridge of Hope’s legacy project engages at International Transitional Justice Seminar
30/06/2014
Bridge of Hope, an EU PEACE III funded programme of Ashton Community Trust, recently met with participants from the University of Ulster’s Transitional Justice Institute Annual Summer School.
The Summer School on Transitional Justice was established in 2007. It aims to bring together academics, practitioners and postgraduate students to create a dynamic learning environment in which participants can share their experience and learning on key areas of transitional justice.
Bridge of Hope’s Legacy Co-ordinator Niall Ó Donnghaile and Legacy Outreach Worker Stephen Cooke, both met delegates at the discussion which was held to learn more about Bridge of Hope’s innovative, grassroots Transitional Justice Training Programmes.
Speaking after the very comprehensive discussion took place at the McSweeney Centre, Niall Ó Donnghaile said;
“A key theme for the Summer School was connecting with and learning from grassroots and community based/focused organisations delivering programmes on the ground.
“Delegates who participated in the discussion and who came from countries, including the USA, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, were very keen to talk to Stephen and I about the nature of our work, particularly how we engage and support individuals and working class communities impacted upon by the conflict. The broad themes of Transitional Justice very much complement the nature of our own work and we were very keen to engage and hear the views of international stakeholders.
“It was useful for our own project to build international linkages and develop contacts to discuss potential for future engagement and sharing of information.
“We were very grateful for the opportunity to present to such a prestigious group, facilitated locally by Dr. Eilish Rooney and will be keen to feed issues raised back into our participants, particularly as we move towards our planned conference on Conflict Transformation, to be held later this year.”