johngrahamspeaker.org | Giraffes in Nigeria! | Graham, World, Their, Group, Some

International Work —peace-building is the focus

Giraffes in Nigeria!

Giraffes came to Nigeria in early November, and not the four-footed kind!

Giraffe Heroes Project President John Graham spend eleven days in the country, speaking, leading workshops and meeting a wide variety of Nigerians committed to the social and political transformation of their country.

Building Bridges to the Muslim World

Sitting atop most of the world’s oil reserves, all of it in religious ferment, most of it estranged from the West, some of it a source and haven for international terrorism—the Muslim world today is one of the most powerful, and certainly the least stable, player on the world scene.

The dangerous divide between the Muslim world and the West continues to widen. Someof that is the inevitable consequence of jihadism—the ultraconservative forces now resurgent in Islam. Some of it is the war in Iraq. Some of it is Israel/Palestine. Some of it is the continuing lack of sensitivity of each side to the other.

Whatever the causes, clearly it’s important for the stability and well-being of the world that this dangerous divide be bridged as much as possible. This effort has been a focus of John Graham’s international work for the last four years. It has included:

Workingwith Initiatives of Change (IC), a major behind-the-scenes conflict-resolution group, to bring Israelis and Palestinians together in safe,private, non-blaming discussions on the issues that divide them.

Talking to anyone with the power to affect peace in the Middle East. This has included talking to the leaders of a Hamas-controlled Palestinian refugee camp in South Beirut,listening to their side of the decades-old struggle. It was this trip that may have landed Graham on this Administration’s “Watch List"

Building bridges in the UK. Graham met with leading Muslim clerics, both moderate and radical, in Oxford, and Brighton in 2006 and has kept up these contacts. The aim is to keep open lines of communication open, dispel myths and stereotypes, and coordinate any promising initiatives to dampen tensions in the UK.

Giraffes in Kyrgyzstan

November 2007 saw the launch of Giraffes Kyrgyzstan, whoses mission is to move more and more citizens of that troubled country, especially rural youth, into courageous, caring action to help solve the public problems they care about. It's initial funding includes an $18,000 grant from the U.S. Embassy. The initiative was formed after conversations between John Graham and Timur Baiserkeev, the Kyrgyz organizer. Graham continues to advise the group.

Graham in Harry Potter Land—The World Ethics Forum

In March 2006, Project President Graham was invited by the World Bank to address the World Ethics Forum, a gathering of senior leaders from all over the world in the fields of government, media, social services and academia. Former Irish President Mary Robinson opened the conference and Graham gave the final dinner speech—in the hall used as the Hogwarts dining hall in the Harry Potter movies (Graham reports no owl-mail). He inspired his listeners with stories of Giraffes fighting for good governance, then challenged them to develop visions of ethical and effective government in their respective countries and to "stick their necks out" to make those visions real. His speech set the stage for a following day of discussions which set up a Global Integrity Alliance, funded by the World Bank and other agencies.

The Young Leaders Integrity Alliance

As part of the World Ethics Forum in Oxford in March 2006, John Graham also led a "Youth Forum," working with a group of dynamic young leaders from 28 countries intent on changing the world. The role-play techniques pioneered by the Giraffe Project proved very powerful with this group. In one very emotional segment, Graham showed a young activist from a country under repressive rule how she could keep her passion, control her anger, inspire her colleagues and develop the street smarts to organize student resistance to the regime without getting thrown in jail-or worse. She's now back home, her mission underway. In another segment, Graham worked with a young Lebanese lawyer to develop a strategy for starting a new political party in Lebanon that might provide what is now so lacking in that country—common ground.

The participants in the Youth Forum refused to let the idea die. Out of their connections at Oxford has sprung the Young Leaders Integrity Alliance, a group linked by Internet technology that is pooling collective ideals and energies to fight corruption and press for good governance in their respective countries and in the world. Graham is coach and mentor to the group, which is growing rapidly.

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