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Shanghai, October 29, 2005

Peace Counts photo exhibition opens

Ideal location: The photo exhibition “Peace Counts” is being shown directly on Shanghai’s main boulevard, the Bund, in space belonging to the municipal archives. The finest photographs from the book The Peacemakers are on display, arranged as a tour of eleven conflict regions worldwide. Renowned photographers Frieder Blickle (bilderberg), Paul Hahn (laif), and Uli Reinhardt (zeitenspeigel) contributed to the show. The exhibition is part of the Shanghai International Arts Festival. Dr. Wolfgang Schuster, the mayor of Stuttgart, opened the exhibition. He remarked that the photos illustrate in an impressive way “that individual people can make important contributions to peace.” He emphasized the important role played by civilians in peace processes and announced his intention to bring the show to Stuttgart and assist in its placement in New York.
Berlin, October 17, 2005

"The Peacemakers" – Praise from Reinhard Höppner

“If many citizens in many different places take many little steps in the right direction, they can change the face of the world.” With this statement Reinhard Höppner, ex-minister-president of Saxony and president of the upcoming German Protestant Kirchentag, began his speech at the book party for The Peacemakers in Berlin. “The book conveys a feeling for how committed individuals can change the world. The pictures and stories that move us in the book can’t make the world’s problems any smaller. On the contrary, one could say that the book draws our attention to issues we had long struck from our lists of the world’s most pressing problems. But the stories succeed in removing the bitter aura of inevitability from war and armed conflict. Its message is that human beings are not powerless.” To conclude his remarks, Höppner offered a “user manual” for the book. “Keep it next to the television set. When you can’t stand the horror on the evening news, read one of the stories. You won’t have any choice but to think about how you might be able, in your little sphere of influence, to make some small step for peace.”
Munich, October 6, 2005

Peace Counts book published

Every day news programs report from the world’s powder kegs – war, death, forced exile. Yet each of these conflict zones also contains people who stand for the opposite. They work on behalf of peace, creatively and effectively. But because their work can be tedious and time-consuming, they are mostly ignored by the media. The Peacemakers is an expedition to the world’s finest peacemakers. Renowned writers and photographers tell of ex-terrorists in Northern Ireland who convince at-risk youth to renounce violence; a priest who takes a stand between farmers and guerrillas; a gynecologist – half Muslim, half Christian – who mediates between the two sides in the Balkans; the miracle of the Jordan valley, where environmentalists from three nations fight for clean water. It tells of doctors, development helpers, businessmen, and human rights activists who keep finding ways out of seemingly hopeless situations. We get to know role models who give us hope and encouragement. Their collective wisdom about how peace is made can help us in our daily lives as well. Conflict is never absent from families, schools, or businesses. Constructive solutions are always in demand. The authors and photographers donated their time and efforts. Royalties from the book exclusively benefit small-scale peace projects.



Peace Boat, Summer 2005

German students on the Peace Boat for the first time

The friendship between Peace Boat and Peace Counts has again borne fruit. For the first time, a German student group boarded the Peace Boat in June. The team consisted of the leadership of the Institute for Peace Education in Tübingen as well as students from the masters program in International Politics and Peace Studies. The group spent ten days on the “floating peace university” between Le Havre, Bergen, and Dublin. Presentations by the Tübingen group were the object of great interest on board. Shared workshops with students from Israel and Palestine opened new perspectives on the Middle East conflict. Topics addressed included constructive engagement with a violent past and current challenges to security and peace policy. A visit to the Peace Boat is planned to become a permanent feature of its masters program.
Tübingen, September 2005

Release of a New CD-Rom

A new CD-ROM, “Peace Counts. Erfolge der Friedensmacher,” is now available. It introduces ten peace projects in Northern Ireland, the Middle East, Sri Lanka, Macedonia, Afghanistan, Colombia, Japan, the Philippines, South Africa, and Mali. Additional content includes introductions to the principles of peace journalism and peace photography, as well as the background, methods, and goals of the Peace Counts project. Another sequence addresses the theme of “How to Make Peace.” The CD is available from the Institute for Peace Education in Tübingen. The online shop is located at http://www.friedenspaedagogik.de.



Berlin, July 2005

Joschka Fischer: “Convincing and fascinating”

German foreign minister Joschka Fischer expressed delight at the success of Peace Counts. In a letter to the national security spokesperson of Bündnis 90/die Grünen, he writes: “I am pleased with the success of the project initiated by Mr. Gleich and supported by the foreign office for the past three years. The positive echo in the media and public opinion makes impressively clear how convincingly and fascinatingly peace work can be conveyed through media. I regard the publication of a book on this important theme as an excellent idea, and I hope that the book will find a large audience.”



Munich, June 2005

Petra Gerster presents The Peacemakers

The Peace Counts book is scheduled to by published in early October by the publishing house of Carl Hanser, Munich. The prospect announces the book as a “top title” and promises an intensive publicity campaign. Two aspects draw especial attention to the book. It is presented by the ZDF journalist Petra Gerster, known both for her work anchoring “Mona Lisa” and as a book author in her own right. In addition, all royalties will go straight into local peace work, more specifically, into the projects of the Colombian priest Father Giovani Presiga. The book includes eleven features, a Peace Counts “Best Of” in the form of a visually opulent interplay of photo-essays and text. Two essays provide a framework: “How to Make Peace” sketches the experiential wisdom gained by the journalistic teams in 24 conflict zones worldwide, while “Peace Pays” depicts the link between security and prosperity. The book is aimed at the general public, combining visual and reading pleasure with concrete involvement. We would of course be happy to see not only private citizens, but also companies and organizations give this book as a holiday gift.



Berlin, January 31, 2005

Patience and Empathy

Photographers who accompany and record peace processes need a special sensibility – and the willingness to wait. Peace Counts has been facing this journalistic challenge for two years now. For the first time, the results of its work can be seen in a public exhibit. The pictures are on display starting January 31 in the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Berlin (17 Hiroshima St.) with the formal opening at 8 p.m.
On display are works by the photographers Frieder Blickle (bilderberg), Paul Hahn (laif), and Uli Reinhardt (Zeitenspiegel). The photographs were taken in the course of reporting on Northern Ireland, Brazil, and Israel, among others. The show is part of a conference on reconciliation sponsored by the FES and our partner GTZ.