About Never Again

Mission
Never Again International connects young people from around the world to generate ideas and action for peace.

History
Never Again International was founded in 2001 at the Institute for International Mediation and Conflict Resolution Symposium in the Hague, Netherlands. In response to the international community's failure to prevent or end the 1994 Rwandan genocide, five students participating in the Symposium initiated a movement to ensure the fulfillment of the post-World War II commitment: "Never Again."

In 2002, members of Never Again from Great Britain, the United States and Japan visited their partners in Rwanda to learn about the causes and effects of genocide. Inspired by connections that confirmed our common humanity, the participants were united by a desire to challenge the dehumanization and apathy that allows genocide and mass violence to occur.

Since our foundation, Never Again International has grown to include members in Burundi, Canada, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Great Britain, Rwanda, and the United States. Our members work in collaborative partnership to create and carry out youth-led peacebuilding projects. Connecting the local and global, expertise and experience, these projects provoke critical thinking about the past to inspire ideas and action for peace.

Need for Change
Dehumanization and prejudice are among the root causes of genocide and violent conflict. Apathy allows these crimes against humanity to continue unheeded.

For Never Again to become a reality every member of our global society must take action. Because we understand that it is personal connection that motivates us to act and our beliefs and ideas that inspire our actions, Never Again International aims to:

Build connections among young people through personal interactions, which reinforce our common humanity.

Provoke critical thinking by creating space for independent thought and analysis.

The combination of personal connections and critical thinking in all our programs produces a strong sense of hope among participants. This hope defeats apathy and prejudice by reinforcing our sense of humanity.

Our Approach
Never Again International enables a network of individuals to work together from around the world through our dynamic and experimental method of international peacebuilding and conflict prevention.

Clustered by location and theme, Never Again members design programs that meet local needs and address causes of conflict globally through:

Facilitating conversations, workshops, debates, retreats, conferences and global exchanges.

Providing forums for the sharing of academic research and personal reflection.

Building bridges between grassroots activism and high-level international decision-making.

Leveraging Internet technology and social networking tools to communicate globally.

These programs bring people together and allow them to develop personal passions, cultivate skills and build friendship to generate ideas and action for peace. Our flexible approach allows members to discover ways of collaborating effectively and creatively while remaining independent. Members seek to understand each other through ongoing conversations and apply that understanding to reform injustices that lie at the heart of global power structures.