Forest Whitaker will invest in Seine-Saint-Denis to help young people learn “mediation and conflict resolution techniques and entrepreneurship,” AFP learned on Thursday from his NGO, on the sidelines of the Forum of Paris on Peace. Unesco Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation since 2014, Forest Whitaker is also the founder and chairman of the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative (WPDI).
It is an NGO created in 2012 which is involved in educational projects for young people living in regions affected by violence or conflict (South Sudan, Uganda, Mexico, United States, South Africa) and now in France.
A trip to La Courneuve on Saturday
It was during a trip to Paris, where the NGO is based, last spring, that the Oscar winner for The Last King of Scotland, has decided to invest in Seine-Saint-Denis. The 60-year-old African-American actor was “marked” by poverty during his visit to the Chêne Pointu district in Clichy-sous-Bois, the setting for the Miserable of Ladj Ly, explained a spokesperson for the WPDI. The NGO in partnership with BNP Paribas will commit to two lines of action: training young people in mediation to resolve conflicts and reduce violence with institutional actors and offer training in future professions, give keys to building a business. The American producer considers that “the young is not a problem but a solution to his own problems”, according to the spokesperson.
The NGO is working in this direction in the poor neighborhoods of Los Angeles, where the actor grew up and will transpose the model to New York.
Saturday, Forest Whitaker will travel to La Courneuve to meet the president of the department of Seine-Saint-Denis, Stéphane Troussel (PS), and local actors to understand the needs of the poorest department in France.