The Hague Peace Projects was founded in 2014 by four human rights professionals who were worried by a quick succession of new conflicts emerging globally at the time: 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 in them a powerful catalyst for social change. However, there was no infrastructure for these activists who had become victims of conflict and oppression to continue their work for peace and justice. 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 organization needed to be created in order to provide them with the opportunity to continue their work from within their diaspora communities.

Ever since, our organization has been growing and flourishing, attracting hundreds of activists and volunteers to spend their energy on resolving conflicts and defending human rights worldwide.

At The Hague Peace Projects we build communities of trust in places where division and fear between people is the norm. Creating safe and brave spaces for dialogue helps to establish new and unlikely connections, ultimately generating common ground between communities across all lines that keep people divided: religious, ethnic, national, or political.

Starting with diaspora communities, we empower groups to reconstruct their motivations and skills to deal with conflicts peacefully, using a wide range of tools such as dialogue, research, advocacy, education, cultural events, and media.

Together we aim to contribute to well-informed, resilient, vocal, globally connected & inclusive civil societies in areas affected by conflict and oppression, capable of realizing nonviolent social and political transformation.

We believe that respectful dialogue is the beginning of a path to building understanding, trust, and cooperation.

The tools and resources of The Hague Peace Projects offer a sustainable and decentralized human rights-minded work-flow. Together with local communities we embrace inclusiveness and utilize the knowledge, expertise, and creativity that this diversity has to offer.

Without being exhaustive, our intended outputs are:

Human Rights Defender support
HRD practical and emergency support
Problem discovery and definition
Dialogue and conflict resolution
Peace building
Capacity building
Community building
Advocacy and Lobbying
Education and awareness
Research
Activism
Networking

By representing the changemakers of society and supporting them with the tools and resources of The Hague Peace Projects, we support cultural change from the bottom-up and drive a long-term positive impact on global human rights challenges.

Over the past decades, instability, insecurity and oppression have spread globally.

The events of 9/11 and the violent response afterwards have rapidly worsened this trend. Many societies are facing similar challenges: refugee crises, nationalist and religious extremism, a clampdown of freedoms and a spread of violent conflict.

In the process, entire states have collapsed into chaos or succumbed to totalitarian regimes. Competing geopolitical interests, lack of leadership, and self-centered economic and political elites are actively undermining the lives and human dignity of millions. Unequal distribution of wealth and power and polarization along religious, ethnic, tribal or political lines keep people divided. Innocent people everywhere have become victims of war and left in situations of oppression, lawlessness and despair. Their voices have been neglected and their interests disregarded.

Worldwide, countless individuals are already working day-by-day to alleviate suffering and promote peace and justice within their own communities. These unnamed heroes often risk their own life and well-being in the process. Understanding their own history, culture, languages and politics like no one else, they are the ones to determine realistic ways towards justice, democracy and peace. However, the same civil society actors are often also weakened themselves by polarization, oppression, disinformation, trauma and a lack of power.

These are society’s Changemakers. Human rights defenders and diaspora communities from conflict areas are our most powerful catalysts for both conflict resolution and peace building.

It is only through a concerted effort by an inclusive civil society, that real political, social, and environmental transformation be achieved.

These Changemakers need your support!