Support Local Peace Building Organisations

Every day, there are extraordinary people working to stop violence where they live. Regardless of the circumstances, people around the world continue to strive for peace, often against incredible odds. Gulalai Ismail is one of these people.

On the 21^st of April, Gulalai Ismail, founder of Aware Girls, spoke about her experiences of building peace in Pakistan. Aware Girls is our local partner organisation based in Peshawar, northern Pakistan, and was founded by Gulalai and her sister when they were just teenagers. As young girls, Gulalai and her sister had watched countless young people be persuaded to go and fight in the name of religion. They then watched as their families were devastated by their deaths.

Where Gulalai had once been keen to go and fight herself, in search of glory, she soon realised the damage these ideas were doing. Instead, she wanted to give young people the opportunity to choose peace. Founding Aware Girls, she began encouraging women and young people to put aside their religious differences, and follow a path of peace and tolerance.

Gulalai told her riveting story in a TED Talk, broadcast to people all over the world, something which she never imaged she would be able to do.

She was only able to share her story thanks to the generosity of Peace Direct supporters who help fund Aware Girls. There are many people like Gulalai who work tirelessly in their communities, but whose stories never make it onto the international stage. We will support local people building peace until we have stopped wars, one person at a time.

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• Read more stories of incredible people building peace