About us
Dialogue is the path to understanding
Our Mission
Peace and Understanding
The Hague Peace projects is a concerted effort to encourage dialogue and provide a platform for the human rights and relations that grow from it.
Dialogue is the road to wisdom. It is how we learn the whole story behind our conflicts and understand different perspectives.
Through well-informed and inclusive civil debate, dialogue is the route to achieving real non-violent, political, social, and environmental transformation. It is indeed the only route to sustainable peace.
We benefit from the knowledge our diversity brings
Together we are wiser. Dialogue deepens our insight into cultural and social constructs, and broadens our understanding of humanity and truth. It empowers us to advance and change for the better.
How did we start?
The Hague Peace Projects was founded in 2014 by four human rights professionals who were worried by a quick succession of new conflicts that were emerging globally: Syria, Yemen, Central African Republic, Ukraine, and Libya. At the same time, many unsolved conflicts continued to take the lives of innocent people in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Congo, and many other places.
Having worked intensively with refugees and human rights defenders who had come to the Netherlands from conflict areas, we recognized them as powerful catalysts for positive change, and a rich source of knowledge and new perspectives on our own views and attitudes.
However, there was no infrastructure for these activists who had become victims of conflict and oppression to continue their work for peace, justice, and human rights. Rarely did they get involved in the established human rights and development efforts. Considering this omission as an enormous waste of wisdom and experience, we decided that a new organisation needed to be created in order to provide them the opportunity to continue their work from within their diaspora communities.
As a result, our organization has attracted hundreds of activists and volunteers to spend their energy on resolving conflicts and defending human rights worldwide. Over the years, we have seen our organisation complete many peace projects driven by a great diversity of communities.
Our journey and pursuit of peace and human rights has taught us to recognise different cultures and embrace new perspectives. It has lead us to evolve as an organisation that represents a diversity of standpoints to form the basis of peace and humanity.
Why is our work so important?
We live in a world where millions of people are experiencing war, violence, and oppression on a daily basis. There are more than 100 wars in the world at this current time, some of which are not wars at all but massacres and genocides.
Wars are not natural occurrences. They are not random, but a symptom with a back story. They are the least desirable outcome of a dispute or conflict that was never resolved. Any legitimate attempt towards peace requires a concerted effort to understand and accept their back story, and work towards addressing their root causes instead of stopping all thought at their symptoms.
To know the root cause of conflicts one must be willing to listen and talk. To focus solely on its symptoms requires a deaf ear to the truth and the dismissal of deviant narratives that flow from the process of truth finding.
Alas, symptom management is the predominant and preferred method of ‘achieving’ peace by the West. This entails a selective frame to consistently and conveniently disregard its own role in the birth and persistence of any conflict. Instead, it redirects any argument about the cause towards the resulting symptoms and the creation of new scapegoats and enemies to be defeated.
Such a process serves only to justify the ‘need for war’ and the deadly misconception that war is the saviour of peace. Because, war is the worst thing that can possibly happen to a society. It is the end of all norms and of all human security and rights.
The destruction and pain it creates is unimaginable. The grief for lost loved ones, the (inter)generational traumas, the rupture of the entire social fabric of a society, the continued mistrust between communities, poverty, corruption, and crime in post-conflict societies is the result of war, not peace.
Yet, while those elected to serve our best interests invest so readily in war with their budgets in the trillions, civil peace initiatives like ours receive nothing.
People who have personally experienced war say ‘never again’ to remind us of its inhumanity and cruelty – lest we forget. People tell and share their stories – lest we deny. Today alas, the West are choosing for war. They are invested in it and have abandoned understanding. The truth has, once again, been replaced with a story of fear and war.
As such, we must contend with a top-down narrative which cares little for the truth and whose amplification relies heavily on our own political, economic, and cultural biases. As has been said so often: the first victim in any war is the truth. This makes the most important ‘weapon’ for peace builders the truth itself.
Any real interest in discovering this requires that you listen and talk with a genuine intent to reflect on new information, while being exposed to different perspectives. The alternative path to conflict and war is our most inhumane investment to not understand or accept the wisdom of more stories other than just our own.
The current war fever in the West is only possible with massive propaganda. For the most part, propaganda in the sense of selective exposure and framing of information such that alternative facts and narratives are marginalized to become structurally underrepresented in an ideological mainstream. Sometimes, where journalism has been replaced by ideology and interests, it’s just outright lies and misinformation.
It is our goal, through the process of dialogue, to uncover and share truths that require representation. Without mass exposures to said truths, critical information will never form the basis of public opinion and civil and political decisions will not be just or well-informed.
Nor will conflicts ever be properly understood or resolved without the full disclosure and sufficient exposure to all pertinent information and perspectives.
The failure of mainstream media to do this has never been so clear in light of today’s ‘coverage’ of the genocide in Gaza. This is illustrative of a perpetual cultural framing and self fulfilling reward mechanism of interests and biases that has always been denied, just never so obviously. Whether it’s our institutionalized accounts of WW2, Vietnam, Iraq, or Gaza (etc., etc.), it all alludes to the same blind spot, that of war having something to do with justice and the dehumanization of an enemy to hide the conflict’s root causes.
A sustained effort is required by society itself to ensure their own leaders make the right decisions. For this to happen, sufficient access and exposure to accurate information is essential. Without it, we will never benefit from a clear analysis of world events and a true understanding of the nature of politics, economics, media, and culture.
Vital to any good decision and an understanding of the complexity of perspectives, is an active and informed engagement of all citizens in a dialogue across all sections of society: rich and poor, old and young, native and newcomer. The Hague Peace projects is a concerted effort to encourage, engage in, and share this dialogue such that a well-informed and inclusive civil society may grow and learn to properly advance towards peace.
It is our hope that through our collective efforts, real, non-violent, political, social, and environmental transformation can be achieved.
Support Dialogue - Support Humanity
Your contribution helps to facilitate a non-partisan and non-profit space for conflicting parties to share their humanity and advance towards peace
Our Team
The Hague Peace Projects consists of dedicated professionals from all over the world with a broad expertise in conflict prevention, peace building, and human rights.
A creative generalist with years of experience in the field. Steen has combined his Arts and Science skills to launch numerous companies and as a passionate peace and human rights actor oversees the form and function of The Hague Peace Projects.
Director
Steen Bentall
Former Environmental Researcher at one of Nicaragua’s largest protected areas, Chale is part of #SOSNICARAGUA, a non-violent international civil ressistance movement that works towards restablishing democracy and peace in a country torn by dictatorship and violence. Chale heads the Changemakers Program at HPP to help support and sustain the good work being done by HRDs around the world.
Head of Changemakers Program
Chale Guadamuz
As a Solution-Focused Coach Skirmante specialises in stress management and goal attainment, and leads the Emotional Support Program at HPP.
Head Emotional Support Program
Skirmante Sabataityte
Hannibal is music manager and festival artistic director at Culture Unlimited. An accomplished musician himself, Hannibal runs international cross-over projects between the Arab world and the rest of the world.
Event Consultant
Hannibal Saad
Tayfun is a historian, specialized in the modern history of Turkey. He is active for The Hague Peace Projects as coordinator of the Middle East and North Africa work group, with a main focus on the Dutch-Armenian-Kurdish-Turkish dialogue and research projects. Tayfun writes for the paper ‘De Kanttekening’ and is a member of the New Amsterdam Council.
Project Officer
Tayfun Balçik
Valentin is a Legal Practitioner and a Human Rights Activist. He holds a Master Degree (LLM) in Business Law, a Post-graduate Diploma in Legal Practice studies and a MA in Development studies with a specialization in Human Rights and Peace Studies. Currently, Valentin is a PhD candidate at International Institute of Social Studies. Valentin is an active volunteer at HPP focussing his expertise on democracy and peace-building.
Human Rights Policy Advisor
Akayezu Muhumuza Valentin
Programme counsellor for Vluchteling-Studenten UAF.
GLR Work Group
Ewing Amadi Salumu
Erick is an Industrial Engineer, passionate about data, automation of processes and continuous improvement. As a Data Science, Data Engineer and Data Analyst certification holder from Microsoft, and Tableau desktop Specialist from Tableau and AWS Cloud Practitioner from Amazon Web Services,Erick is the Tableau user group Leader for Nicaragua.
Analytics & Data Specialist
Erick Ortega
Melanie is a User Experience Researcher, a Service Designer and a Social Anthropologist. At the Hague Hacks she researches and designs help platforms and dashboards for HRDs in need.
Hague Hacks R&D
Melanie T Uy
Board Members
Chairperson and artist, Jakob is also founder of The Hague Peace Projects.
Chair
de Jonge, Jakob Hendrik
Sylvestre has many years of experience in the field of peace and human rights, and leads the charge for relief in The Republic of the Congo.
Board Member
Bwira Kyahi, Sylvestre
Margrot has been active since the beginning years The Hague Peace Projects. She is also project leader at Platform 31 and researcher at IVO.
Secretary
Leegwater, Margaretha Elizabeth
Family
Claire has many large projects at HPP and The Hague Hacks under her belt. Former founder of Xenolearn, her project management skills our now being put to good use at IamExpat.
Project Manager
Claire Leunissen
Mirko has a BA in Business Economics and a BA in Political Science at the Radboud University in Nijmegen. He is the financial secretary for the Hague Peace Projects while also co-hosting dialogue events for the Kurdish and Turkish diaspora here in the Netherlands. Mirko also provides fiscal services to other companies and organizations through his own company.
Head of Finance
Mîrko Jouamér
“Every choice we make is powerful” – Forest Steven Whitaker
Program Manager
Vittoria Malgioglio
With a strong academic background, Dalila is passionate about art and environmental sustainability, with expertise in Art History and Environmental Studies. Not to mention her social media and Japanese-to-English skills.
Social Media Manager
Dalila Cataldi
Trony helps to harness and nurture the potential of individuals, groups, and communities in Europe and Africa. She has a background in communications, international relations and business, and is a graduate of Daystar University Kenya, and Webster University Leiden.
Personnel Manager
Trony Ingati
Shucheesmita has an MA in Human Rights, Gender, and Conflict: Social Justice Perspectives from International Institute of Social Studies, Netherlands, and an MA in International Relations from South Asian University, New Delhi. Her passions include migration and gender, peace-building, inter-faith dialogues, women’s empowerment and human rights. As an active participant in India-Bangladesh-Pakistan friendship dialogues and initiatives, she is one of the Women Deliver Young Leaders of 2018.
Work Group Leader Bangladesh
Shucheesmita Simonti
Nathalia is a Nicaraguan entrepreneur and human rights activist. Her objectives are to develop relationships and collaborate with international organizations and communities to support education, communication tools, and opportunities to fight poverty in Nicaragua while raising the awareness of human rights values, sustainable development goals, and democracy. She is also representative of SOSNicaragua-Holanda and an active member of SOSNicaragua-Europa.
Work Group Leader Nicaragua
Nathalia Martinez
Marie-Cakupewa has obtained an MSc degree in Biology from the Leiden University in The Netherlands. She is an executive secretary and coordinator for the DRCongo à la Carte (DRCC) foundation. At the HPP, Marie was active in the department of the Diaspora of the Great Lakes Region (DGLR) as researcher and gender expert. She has experience in teaching, gender and peace, conflict transformation and vocational training.
Gender Expert GLR
Marie-Cakupewa Fundiko
Shafayet is an experienced Teacher and Communication Consultant with a demonstrated history of working in the professional training & content writing industry. Skilled in Lecturing, Journalism, and Business Communication he is an education professional with a Master’s Degree focused in International Relations and Global History from Erasmus University Rotterdam. His roles at HPP included workshops and content/proposal writing.
Education Advisor
Shafayet Choudhury
Irene is an accomplished and goal-oriented Administrative Assistant / Human Resource professional with over 10 years of rich experience in Program Coordination in the Non-governmental Organisation (NGO) industry.
Fundraising Officer
Irene Kyazze
As an active member of the Nicaraguan diaspora and previous consultant for the NDI, Rayid has his finger on the pulse of human rights.
Human Rights Advisor
Rayid Alvarado
Volunteers
At The Hague Peace Projects we enjoy a large and diverse community who contribute to our activities with their own specific knowledge, expertise, connections, and committment.
Special Mentions
The following volunteers that have worked at HPP deserve a special mention:
Alena Kahle, Nina Nout, Ame Trandem, Waqaas, Katrina Burch, Daniel Melo, Jaap Wallet, Lisanne Boersma, Yousif Fasher, Ewing, Benjamin, Jean-Claude, Bruno F. Salvetti, Leslie Newhall, Theo Kauffeld, Lars Michael Stockhausen Hektoe, Claudia Rodriguez Ortiz, Guido Willem Soeteman, Anook Cléonne, Alexander Medik, Niels den Daas, Jo Kroese, Jasper Kol, Berber Hidma
Secretary: de Jonge, Jakob Hendrik
Board Member: Bwira Kyahi, Sylvestre
Treasurer: Leegwater, Margaretha Elizabeth
Network
The Hague Peace Projects has an extensive network of friends and partnerships. These are just some of the national and international organisations that we work with:
ANBI Status (PBO)
With the ANBI (Algemeen Nut Beogende Instelling) status from the Dutch government, The Hague Peace Projects is recognised as a Public Benefit Organisation (PBO). This means that our organisation is committed to the public benefit and that donations made to The Hague Peace Projects are deductable from the taxable income of donators.