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Rev Ian Stehbens from Australia (kneeling far right) was one of 180 international peacebuilders who gathered at Eastern Mennonite University in Virginia, USA May-June 2002. It was a remarkable time of networking, learning and dreaming new strategies. In 1995, Ian contributed to the ending of nuclear testing in the Pacific through training of French Polynesians to lead their nation in calling the French to repentance from their commitment to violence. He has also implemented strategies to rehabilitate the people of Bougainville and from this flowed the demilitarisation of Bougainville and the autonomy bill in the Papua New Guinea parliament. Behind Ian, in the photo, is John Paul Lederach a distinguished scholar and renowned builder of peace. Subsequently, Rev. Stehbens has led the formation of Pacific PeaceBuilding Initiatives Ltd, for which he is the founding Director. See related file: Peacebuilders gather in Virginia, 2002 to identify those participants who are in this photo. See also the website for Pacific PeaceBuilding Initiatives www.ct.gs/ppbi.
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