Global Peace is an initiative of the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD). ACCORD is a civil society institution with 34 years of experience working closely with the United Nations (UN), African Union (AU), European Union (EU), and Regional Economic Communities (RECs) to mitigate conflict. ACCORD has influenced policy, trained over 25,000 individuals in Africa, and assisted in the mediation of almost all of Africa’s protracted conflicts.
From this rich experience, ACCORD learned a fundamental lesson that shapes Global Peace:
“Peace is more than the absence of war, it is also the absence of poverty, inequality and unemployment.”
Global Peace was conceived to bridge the gap between peace and development. Its vision is to be a catalyst for collaborative efforts that create social compacts between governments, multilateral agencies, the private sector and civil society, towards generating innovative solutions to ongoing challenges to peace and development.
Global Peace adopted as its logo the ancient Adinkra symbol _Mpatapo_ from Ghana. The Mpatapo Knot is a symbol of reconciliation, peace-making and pacification. It represents the bond or knot that binds disputing parties to a peaceful, harmonious reconciliation — a perfect embodiment of the movement.
Global Peace’s motto, “WORKING TOGETHER FOR A BETTER WORLD,” operates on four foundational principles:
1. Building Cooperation, Tolerance and Shared Values
2. Building Inclusive Economies
3. Protecting and Sustaining our Environment
4. Sharing Knowledge for Human Progress
The ambition of Global Peace is to become an ecosystem for Ideas, Innovators, Influencers, Investors and Implementers (5Is) to find practical, implementable, cost-effective solutions to global challenges.
KEY MILESTONES OF GLOBAL PEACE
MILESTONE 1: The Global Launch — July 2018 @ the BRICS Plus Summit
The journey of Global Peace culminated in its official logo launch on 27 July 2018 at the BRICS Outreach and BRICS Plus Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. The launch was hosted at a luncheon by President Cyril Ramaphosa for twenty-two Heads of State and their delegations, effectively representing half of the global populace.
This was a strategic and symbolic launch from the Global South, placing the initiative on the world stage from day one with unprecedented political capital and global network support from ACCORD.
MILESTONE 2: Introduction to the World – September 2018, Nelson Mandela Peace Summit
Thereafter, the Chair of Global Peace, Mrs. Graça Machel, internationally respected humanitarian, former First Lady of South Africa and Mozambique, and member of The Elders, introduced the Global Peace initiative at the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit, held by the UN General Assembly in New York on 24 September 2018.
Speaking at the summit, Mrs. Graça Machel dedicated Global Peace to honour the centenary of Nelson Mandela, and positioned Global Peace as a people-centered movement to continue Madiba’s legacy of peace, justice and equality.
MILESTONE 3: First Host Country Announced (December 2018) Ghana
A defining moment came on 2 December 2018 at the Global Citizen Mandela @100 Festival in Johannesburg. During the festival’s top announcements on Digital Peace linked to UN SDG 16, President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana announced that Ghana will host the first ever Global Peace event.
While citizens worldwide took 5.6 million actions to fulfil Mandela’s vision to end poverty, this announcement marked Global Peace’s transition from idea to action. The commitment by the President of the Republic of Ghana, H.E. Nana Akufo-Addo, gave the movement its first national home in Africa.
MILESTONE 4: The First Inter-Generational Dialogue (IGD), May 2019 – Accra, Ghana
On Monday, 6 May 2019, history was made. President Nana Akufo-Addo and Mrs. Graça Machel jointly launched the first Global Peace Inter-Generational Dialogue (IGD) in Accra.
More than 500 delegates were drawn from different sectors: university and school students, traditional leaders, civil society organisations, international organisations, media, government ministries, security services and the diplomatic corps. This established the core methodology of Global Peace: The Inter-Generational Dialogues (IGDs).
The IGDs are a pioneering platform where young future leaders’ dialogue with current leaders on their aspirations for what a better world should look like and offer inputs on how to shape it. Young people steer the conversation.
During 2019 alone, Global Peace coordinated 25 IGDs as part of its ambitious 100 Cities, 100 Dialogues initiative. The findings from these dialogues, covering common aspirations, challenges and concerns related to climate change, health, employment, gender, inequality, conflict, technology, and population, were synthesized and collated into an intended Global Peace Charter to be presented to the UN through Mr. Fabrizio Hochschild (then UN Assistant Secretary-General for Strategic Coordination) during the 6th World Summit of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) Congress from 11 to 15 November 2019 hosted in Durban, South Africa.
MILESTONE 5: Signing Memoranda of Understanding with International Partners
Global Peace signed MoUs with international organizations to support the implementation of the Inter-Generational Dialogues globally. These organizations included United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), Junior Chamber International (JCI), Global Citizen, SDG Action Campaign, UN Global Compact and the World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA). Others include the All African Students Union (AASU), the European Students Union (ESU), Commonwealth Youth Council (CYC) and the Millennial Movement (MM). Global Peace also engaged the Association of African Universities (AAU) in a consultation to train academics in peacebuilding.
MILESTONE 6: Scaling to 100 Cities in 100 Countries (2020-2021) in Partnership with UN75
In 2020, Global Peace aligned its work with the United Nations’ 75th Anniversary (UN75) initiative. UN75 recognized that in a world of dramatic challenges: climate crisis, population shifts, and technology disruption; collective action was more needed than ever.
In collaboration with UN75, Global Peace committed to convene 75 additional IGDs in cities across the world. The format was standardized: 2-3 hour dialogues, minimum 50 attendees, locally sponsored, live-streamed where possible, with MY World Survey (an initiative from the UN SDG Action Campaign) and facilitated discussions.
By February 2021, Global Peace announced a historic achievement: “We’ve delivered Global Peace in 100 cities in 100 countries.” It became one of the few civil society initiatives to achieve such a truly global footprint within just two years of its first dialogue.
MILESTONE 7: Launch of the Global Peace Futures Forum, February 2021
On 5 February 2021, Global Peace hosted a virtual Global Inter-Generational Dialogue and officially launched the Global Peace Futures Forum.
This was a landmark event moderated by Dr. Okito Wedi, featuring a distinguished international panel of young leaders in dialogue with H.E. Ms. Amina J. Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General, and H.E. Mrs. Graça Machel.
At the launch, H.E. Ms. Amina J. Mohammed made a powerful statement that now guides the Forum:
“The UN Charter states ‘We the people’ but it is the faces of young people that we need to see, youth need to define who is the WE! We need young people’s energy, commitment and leadership. Today we have a cohort of young people who have never been better connected; we have leadership now! We can better define what partnership means. Individually and collectively, we can make the change.”
The Futures Forum was designed to amplify youth voices, allowing youth who participated in the IGDs to work with like-minded peers from five continents to evolve ideas, policies, and innovations for collective action. The Global Peace Futures Forum Thematic Working Group on the Future of Education was launched on 28 July 2023 to explore the future of education with youth leaders.
MILESTONE 8: Expansion into Thematic Global Programmes (2021-2023)
Building on the IGDs, Global Peace transitioned into deeper thematic work. During 2021-2023, Global Peace facilitated over 60 hybrid global programmes across the world.
Key programmes included: Women, Peace & Security Summit, Global Peace Climate Summit, Global Peace Children’s Forum, World Water Forum, International Youth Day Forum, and other UN Day commemorations celebrated annually since 2022. These programmes established Global Peace as no just a dialogue platform, but an action-oriented hub for Ideas and Implementers.
A Virtual Honours Ceremony for 350 Global Peace Citizens was held on 6 May 2021 to recognize young leaders who had completed the programme.
MILESTONE 9: Building a Global Coordination Network (2024 and Beyond)
A major milestone in institutionalization was the appointment of Country Coordinators across the world. As published in October 2024, Global Peace appointed initial coordinators for Albania, Australia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Cameroon, Congo (Brazzaville), Mexico, Panama, Switzerland, Taiwan, The Gambia, Timor-Leste, Tunisia and Zimbabwe.
This created a permanent global infrastructure coordinated by a Secretariat based in ACCORD HOUSE, Durban, South Africa.
Today, Global Peace continues its mission from the Global South to the world, proving that peacebuilding is not just about stopping wars, but about building inclusive economies, protecting our shared environment, fostering tolerance, and sharing knowledge for human progress.
CONCLUSION
From a logo launch before 22 Heads of State in 2018 to dialogues in 100 countries, from an idea in Durban to a global ecosystem of youth leaders in partnership with the UN, the milestones of Global Peace reflect a unique model. It is a model that believes young people are not the leaders of tomorrow, but the leaders of today, and that by working together through harmony with nature and sustainable development we can truly build a better world.
With Country Coordinators now in place, Global Peace enters its next chapter: from dialogue to delivery implementing youth-led solutions in host countries.
