Search for Common Ground [1] (or SFCG) is an international non-profit organization operating in 16 countries whose mission is to transform the way the world deals with conflict – away from adversarial approaches toward cooperative solutions. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with the majority of its employees based in field offices around the world. To date, SFCG has created several independent radio stations, begun a newsletter which features articles on relations between the West and the Muslim world, and brought together numerous conflicting groups to find ways to peacefully resolve issues. John Marks, SFCG's founder and current president, recently received an award from the Skoll Foundation for social entrepreneurship.
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Brief History
SFCG was founded in 1982 by John Marks. At the time of its founding, the organization focused on facilitating cooperation between the United States and the Soviet Union. Since then, the organization has expanded its work to 15 countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and parts of Eastern Europe. Further, it now has more than 300 staff throughout the world.
SFCG’s Mission
SFCG’s mission of transforming the way the world deals with conflict is best captured by the phrase “understand the differences, act on the commonalities.” According to SFCG’s guiding philosophy, conflict is a natural part of life, and improving our ability to transform conflict into a source of growth and progress will have a profound impact on how well we are able to deal with every issue we are facing.
Work
To achieve its mission, SFCG manages projects that use innovative tools and work at different levels of society to promote cooperation and non-adversarial solutions to problems. Its “toolbox” includes media production – radio, TV, film and print – as well as mediation and facilitation, training, community organizing, sports, drama, and music. Next to the BBC, SFCG is the biggest producer of radio soap operas in the world, and in countries like Sierra Leone – which recently emerged from a civil war - its programming is listened to by over 90% of the population that has access to a radio. Common Ground Productions, the television and radio production arm of SFCG, was responsible for creating Burundi's first independent radio studio, Studio Ijambo, in 1995. Studio Ijambo has been credited with playing a key role in decentralizing the media in Burundi and building local capacity for news coverage.
Sources
Search for Common Ground official website [2] Common Ground News Service (CGNews) [3] Official website of Radio for Peacebuilding Africa [4]
