“Endless war.”
The phrase has been kicking around in our collective consciousness for decades, evoking helplessness and hopelessness. Painting a world where peace isn’t even a distant dream — it’s an impossibility. We know it’s easy to succumb to this hopelessness, especially in this moment when countries readily wage war without examining the possibility of peaceful solutions.
And that’s why we’re spotlighting Senegal in this month’s Stories of Hope.
Casamance, the southern region of Senegal, has been embroiled in armed conflict between rebel soldiers and the military for more than four decades. Thousands of lives have been uprooted by the violence, countless villages caught up in the chaos.
But a coalition of AJWS partners known as COSPAC has found a new, effective strategy to finally close this chapter of endless war: empower the combatants to become advocates for peace.
Recently, these AJWS partners succeeded in convincing an entire militia of rebel soldiers to lay down their weapons and join the peace process. Below, you’ll meet two of these ex-rebels and step inside the COSPAC movement to bring peace and prosperity back to Casamance.
May this story give us all hope that there is always a way out.
After years in the bush, ex-rebel soldiers join the peace process in Senegal
More Stories of Hope
- On April 22, we celebrated Earth Day with a sobering, but clarifying look at “greenwashing,” the sly word for the efforts of corporations and governments that divert attention from damaging industrial development through carbon credits. But AJWS grantees know better. Learn more about the fight against carbon credits, and how our partners refuse to let their futures be “greenwashed” away.
- The Casamance region of Senegal has been gripped by violent conflict between the military and separatist guerillas for more than four decades — but a full peace agreement is on the horizon. At Radio Number 1 FM, an independent station supported by AJWS, journalist Ibrahima Gassama and his young team of radio reporters are bringing diverse perspectives to the table, and helping people believe peace is possible.
- As a rabbi and disability activist, Lauren Tuchman strives to honor the mitzvah of caring for the stranger in her advocacy. That commitment guided her when she joined AJWS on Capitol Hill to lobby Congress alongside a cohort of rabbis as part of our Leadership Advocacy Convening. Learn more about that visit and Rabbi Tuchman’s efforts to call attention to the crises in Haiti and the expanded Global Gag rule, a new federal policy that will harm countless lives around the world. Then read on to see how you, too, can take action.
- From the outside, it’s easy to dismiss female genital mutilation as a harmful, dangerous practice. But AJWS partner Msichana Empowerment Kuria (MEK) knows that social change must happen slowly from the inside out. Step inside MEK’s movement to end female genital mutilation, and change how girls and young women’s lives are opening up to futures they never dreamed possible.
Speak up with the AJWS Action Network
Earlier this year, the Trump administration expanded the Global Gag rule, putting extreme and unprecedented restrictions on all U.S. foreign assistance. For decades, this rule applied only to organizations that counseled patients on abortion care. But now, it limits all U.S. funds to vulnerable populations worldwide, an effort the administration deceptively titled “Promoting Human Flourishing in Foreign Assistance.” This new version exports the Trump administration’s extremist agenda to erase LGBTQI+ people, shut down diversity, equity, and inclusion programs as well as evidence-based development, and cause deliberate harm to people and communities.
But there is hope. In late April, members of Congress introduced legislation to push back and prevent the White House from weaponizing foreign assistance. Join the thousands of AJWS community members who’ve already taken action: Click here to urge your members of Congress to cosponsor and pass this legislation today.
Each of this month’s stories — as well as the action above — represents real human beings: their lives, their dreams, their futures. The work of AJWS partners around the world, thanks to your support, is helping those humans live fuller, more dignified lives.
In moments when you may feel hopeless or helpless, remind yourself of these stories. And remember that change is coming. Slowly. Steadily. Endlessly.
In solidarity,
Your friends at AJWS
