Mission
Afri’s goal is the promotion of global justice and peace, and the reduction of poverty; this includes, but is not limited to, the progressive reduction of global militarisation, and responding to the threat of climate change, corporate control of resources and water, and interference with food sovereignty.
The question of how this organisational goal may be achieved is obviously a complicated one. Issues of how the policies of the ‘great powers’ might be altered and of how global institutions might be reformed arise.
As Irish citizens and as members of Irish civil society, Afri believes that our primary responsibility and our chief opportunity for action lie with matters Irish, not least ensuring the inclusion of a Southern perspective in Irish discourse.
This refers to how the policies of the Irish state and activities taking place within the Irish economy impact on the people of the global South.
Ensuring that Ireland contributes to the promotion of global justice and peace, the reduction of global poverty, and the progressive reduction of global militarisation, and the promotion of sustainable solutions, is Afri’s strategic objective
Our work
- Campaigns, events, publications and solidarity work on issues such as poverty, climate change, war and militarisation, natural resources, democracy, corporate accountability, and food sovereignty.
- Féile Bríde in Kildare each February, and a Brigid’s Peace Cross campaign in schools.
- The Louisburgh ‘Famine Walk’ each May in Co. Mayo. Past walk leaders have included Desmond Tutu, Owens Wiwa, Christy Moore, Denis Halliday, Damien Dempsey, Sharon Shannon, Andy Irvine, & Choctaw artist Gary White Deer.
- The Afri Hedge School includes workshops and talks from grassroots activists and guests who have included former President Mary Robinson. Afri also co-organised the POSSIBILITIES summit, which welcomed the Dalai Lama to Ireland in 2011.
- Development education in schools, colleges and the community.
- Partnerships with the global south that include the Kenya Pastoralist Journalist Network and the Niger Delta communities.
- Partnerships with the global south that include the Kenya Pastoralist Journalist Network and the Niger Delta communities. We also work in the north of Ireland with Children in Crossfire.
Afri is a member of the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition, Dochas, Act Now on 2015, IDEA (Irish Development Education Association) and the International Peace Bureau. Our Patrons include Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former UN Assistant Secretary General Denis Halliday.
I want to express my solidarity with, and support for, Afri on the occasion of their 35th anniversary. I am proud that Leah and I have been Afri’s International Patrons for more than 25 years.