The GHfP Institute was delighted to join UNESCO in celebrating 30 years of the Routes of Enslaved Peoples (REP) Programme in Paris in October 2024.
At this extraordinary event, the GHfP co-organised the presentation of the UNESCO partnership initiative on Collective Healing, Just Society and Global Well-Being. The Collective Healing Initiative is committed to addressing the legacies of dehumanisation, e.g. slavery, colonialism, and indigenous genocide, and other historically rooted injustice, through facilitating and encouraging community-based Collective Healing Circles (CHCs) currently active in 14 countries globally. The initiative is co-sponsored by the UNESCO Social and Human Sciences Sector and the Guerrand-Hermès Foundation and is coordinated by the GHfP Institute.
Our presentation consisted of testimonies and narratives provided by community representatives from four continents (Brazil, Nigeria, the UK, the USA and France/Martinique) who shared their experiences of intergenerational approach to healing, dignity and well-being. They invited the high-level global leaders to consider ways to transform societies and to ensure structural justice. This event further saw UNESCO Assistant Director General (ADG), Mrs Gabriela Ramos launching the Collective Healing Circle Programme Handbook for Facilitators. The development of this Handbook was supported by grants from the Guerrand-Hermès Foundation for Peace, the Fetzer Institute, and the Pureland Foundation. The Handbook is intended to support the efforts of facilitators and other professionals who are interested in hosting Collective Healing Circles (CHCs) in their local community.
Following the presentation, community CHC practitioners and presenters engaged in a deep dialogue with high-level national leaders on the opportunities to engage other stakeholders in this joint efforts towards creating a fair, inclusive and just world for our present and future generations.