(AGENPARL) – PARIS ven 01 luglio 2022

You are mainly known as an actor, but you are also the UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation, a member of the United Nations Advocacy Group for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the President of the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative (WPDI). Created in 2012, this NGO mainly acts as a peacemaker in countries affected by violence and poverty. Why did you create this NGO?

Forest Whitaker: I grew up in South Central, in Los Angeles, a very disadvantaged black neighbourhood, where I saw too many young people caught up in gangs, prison and sometimes death. My family pushed me to focus on my studies, and I was able to escape such a fate. But some questions I wondered about in my youth have never left me.

I ended up having a revelation on the set of “The Last King of Scotland” in Uganda. I met former child soldiers who told me about their pasts and notably the ideas they had to make their communities more peaceful. I was struck by this because I recognised my stories in theirs and, at the same time, these young people told me that they wanted to be seen as more than just victims or perpetrators of violence. They wanted to be seen as agents for peace and change. 

The idea for WPDI started from there: to provide young people from difficult backgrounds with the tools and resources they themselves can use to develop sustainable solutions.

Fonte/Source: https://group.bnpparibas/en/news/promoting-inclusion-and-equal-opportunities-interview-with-forest-whitaker