About
Welcome to the WIMPS Peace Channel!
This is a new addition to the WIMPS website. In spite of all the progress made since the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, Northern Ireland remains a divided and contested society. Young people continue to be divided in terms of where they live, go to school and socialise. Many young people still experience a lot of violence - including so-called 'punishment beatings' at the hands of violent thugs and paramilitary groups. This is a space for young people to talk about these issues, and a tool to support groups of young people in different areas to work on peace issues in their communities.
In particular we want to look at so-called 'peace lines' and 'interfaces' in Belfast, Portadown and elsewhere - and the impact that these physical divisions have on the lives of the young people who live next to them. We want to support young people to talk to elected representatives and to hold them accountable for the ongoing divisions in our society - but we also want them to work with young people to bring change to our society and to build together a shared future.
We also want to look at peace issues around the world and to get young people discussing some of the key issues we face globally and that other young people face in different parts of the world.
The Peace Channel has come about thanks to a grant from
Belfast City Council under the
EU Peace III programme - and we begin life with four very exciting short films made by young people living in Belfast's 'interface' communities. Groups from
Ballymurphy,
Springmartin,
Greencastle and
White City have been making films about how peace lines impact on their lives.
The Peace Channel was launched on Monday 9 November in the historic surroundings of the
Crumlin Road Gaol in Belfast, by the City's Lord Mayor, Councillor Naomi Long, MLA. This is extremely fitting as her theme for the year is 'Belfast Without Barriers'.
The 9 November was chosen deliberately as it is the 20th Anniversary of the breach of the Berlin Wall. Our event is part of the wider 'Up Against the Walls' project - through which a group of young people and youth workers in interface areas across the city have been working to highlight the impact of 'peace walls' on the lives of young people, and to begin the process of thinking about how we can move toward the removal of these blights on our city landscape.
At a time when we celebrate the historic collapse of the post-world war two divisions in Europe, we live in a city which is continuing to divide, in spite of political agreements and the creation of shared institutions.
Are we to condem another generation of young people to living in a sectarian and divided society - or are will we have the courage to create a shared and just society for all its citizens? This is your space to discuss these issues, and to work with others to create solutions. We hope you will enjoy the Peace Channel.
If you were at the launch, you will have one of our new 'Peace Channel' T-Shirts, which were kindly funded by the
Youth Council for Northern Ireland.