Dear friends,

As we honor Human Rights Day, we recall Dr. King's statement that humanity MUST choose between nonviolence or nonexistence. We need to build global movements that use the tools and values of nonviolence now more than ever.

Below are 17 leading groups that inspire, train or mobilize nonviolent resistance and social change. Most work multi-nationally and across multiple social movements. Given the rise of dictatorship in the US, this year we are emphasizing US groups. Please consider becoming a consistent donor and ask yourself if you can devote 1% of your income to the global nonviolence movement. Please also contact or visit them and see how you can volunteer.

The groups are listed in no particular order.

Backbone Campaign - 150 Solidarity Brigades nationwide doing overpass banner actions almost weekly, along with light projections and other artful activism. They deployed giant We the People banners to major cities for the No Kings marches.

Africans Rising - envisions Africa-wide activism, solidarity and unity and that the Peoples of Africa will build the future they want, with a right to justice, peace, dignity and shared prosperity.

Nonviolent Peace Force - Does unarmed civilian protection in Ukraine, Sudan, Philippines, and performs much training in conflict de-escalation.

CANVAS - with an HQ in Belgrade, Serbia, they operate a network of international trainers and consultants with expertise in building and running successful nonviolent movements. They work to build a more just, democratic, and responsible society.” Srda Popovich and Slobodan Djinovic are brilliant people-power coaches.

DC Peace Team - Provides some of the best and most affordable and frequent online trainings. Led by Eli McCarthy, and operated on a modest budget.

Beautiful Trouble - great online resource center for creative nonviolent action and training, and a leader in support of artistic activism and social change. It's co-led by the extraordinary Nadine Bloch.

Metta Center & Nonviolence Radio - wonderful podcasts and many Gandhian inspired resources. Michael Nagler and Stephanie Van Hook are a treasure.

Pace e Bene - founded in 1989, the name is an Italian greeting from St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi meaning “Peace and all Good.” The organization coordinates Campaign Nonviolence with the help of the indefatigable Ken Butigan and many others.

Acción Noviolenta en las Américas - provide education, training, leadership development and research in the Americas in Spanish, French and Portuguese.

Nonviolence News - each week, this newsletter brings 30-50 stories of nonviolence in action to readers, illuminating the scope of how nonviolence is actively shaping our world. It is the best site for nonviolent action news and movements, thanks to the superstar Rivera Sun.

Waging Nonviolence - is a nonprofit media organization dedicated to providing original reporting and expert analysis of social movements around the world. NVI fiscally sponsored WN for years before they spun off under the inspired leadership of Eric Stoner and others.

Detention Watch Network - immigrant rights group in the USA doing nonviolent action and training.

Training For Change - training and capacity building organization for activists and organizers. They believe strong training and group facilitation is vital to movement building for social justice and radical change. Founded by none other than our dear friend George Lakey.

Nonviolence Education and Research Center in Turkey - primary resource center for Turkish language speakers supporting all kinds of marginalized communities. Training, research, activism in a challenging environment, based in Istanbul.

Federal Workers For Democracy - a newly formed coalition of federal workers and allies, mobilizing the federal workforce to directly defy dangerous, illegal orders. They are building networks across every federal agency, from executive to frontline worker, in every state and across the globe. They provide training and support resources to federal workers to equip them to resist, together, and mobilize the public to have their backs.

International Peace Bureau - global non‑governmental network founded in 1891 that works for disarmament, non‑violent conflict resolution and a “world without war.” 400 member organisations in 100 countries, together with individual members, form a global network, bringing together knowledge and campaigning experience. They do great work with a small staff, led by Sean Conner.

Rete Pace e Disarmo - coalition of numerous civil‑society associations, trade unions and movements in Italy united since 2020 to promote peace, nuclear and conventional disarmament, restrict arms exports and oppose military escalation.

In peace,
Sami Awad & Michael Beer,
Co-Directors

P.S. Please let us know of more groups that we could highlight next year. If you are really wanting to focus on Palestine, please look at NVI's remarkable partners who are supporting Israelis and Palestinians who seek to build a shared future together.

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From Darkness to Dignity: What Cuba Taught Us

Dear Friends,

From March 20 to 23, NVI Co-Directors, Michael Beer, Sami Awad, and board member Mohammed Abunimer, joined the Nuestra América Delegation to Cuba as part of a much larger international convoy of more than 600 people from around the world. We came as activists, artists, influencers, faith leaders, and community organizers, united by a simple conviction: the Cuban people should not be left alone under an embargo that continues to punish ordinary life.

The delegation was supported by CODEPINK, Progressive International, Global Health Partners, and Busboys and Poets, alongside a wider network that included The People’s Forum, Cuban Americans for Cuba, and Global Exchange.

It was our first time in Cuba! What we witnessed was not theoretical, was not news reports, was not propaganda.

Havana looks like a movie set from the 1950s! The cars and buildings are stunning -- but so run down. During our time there, Cuba continued to experience major electrical outages, part of a broader energy crisis that has left entire neighborhoods in darkness and placed immense strain on daily life. The blackouts are tied to the suffocating impact of the U.S. embargo, including restrictions on oil and essential resources.

In Cuba, this is not an abstract policy debate. It means hospitals under pressure, food and medicine at risk, transportation disrupted, garbage piled in streets, markets shut, restaurants closed, and families forced to survive with less and less.

And yet what we encountered was not defeatism. It was resilience. Generosity. Dignity.

People gathered in the dark. They shared what they had. They played music and sang in the streets. We played spirited mixed-gender ultimate with them (with donated frisbees that Michael brought). That spirit stays with us.

For those of us Palestinians, this was deeply personal. We met with and were inspired by Cuban students and others from around the world including Palestinians. We know what it means to live under systems designed to isolate, weaken, and break a people. We know what it feels like when your suffering is discussed from a distance while you are still living inside it. In Cuba, we recognized something painfully familiar: a people being made to pay the price for refusing to submit.

That is why this trip was not only a solidarity visit with medical relief and aid but also an act of nonviolent defiance.

This said, the convoy defied the embargo and carried real material support. Around 20 tons of aid were delivered, including food, medicine, solar panels, and bicycles. The delegation we were part of brought thousands of pounds of medical supplies and over a hundred suitcases and boxes of humanitarian aid, all going directly to hospitals and health workers facing severe shortages.

After we returned, the delegation faced attacks and accusations meant to discredit the trip and turn solidarity into suspicion. We reject that. People can debate politics from afar, but we know what we saw. The US has no problem engaging and trading with the communist parties of Vietnam, China, Nepal, and Laos. We saw a country under enormous pressure. We saw communities enduring blackouts and shortages. We saw doctors, families, churches, and neighbors doing their best to hold life together. And we saw hundreds of people from across the world choosing not to look away.

The embargo is not just policy, it is collective punishment.

What we carried back from Cuba was more than memory, it was clarity.

The Palestine and Cuba siege are connected, and so must be our response.

What can you do?

Learn. Stay informed. Support organizations like the ones mentioned above.
Refuse the narratives that justify collective punishment and oppose US unilateral sanctions on Palestine, Cuba and many other countries.
Use your voice—in your communities, your platforms, your spaces.
And find ways—big or small—to stand in real solidarity, including joining future delegations. Visit CUBA!

With Nonviolent Defiance,
Mohammed Abunimer, Michael Beer & Sami Awad

P.S. Please remember to attend our round table Field Testing Israeli Occupation Tech: The Palestine Lab on Sunday, April 19, 2026 3pm ET and see films in advance. This Round Table centers the human impact of this experimentation, examining how Palestinian lives are used as testing grounds for weapons, AI platforms, and policing tactics later exported worldwide. Join the Q&A discussion with: Omar Zahzah, Jeff Halper, Antony Loewenstein, Hassan El-Tayyab

You must register to join the discussion & receive access to the films

Stop Escalating the War on Iran Now!

Stop Escalating the War on Iran Now

By World BEYOND War, March 22, 2026

Already the rule of law has been shattered, millions have been displaced, tens of thousands have been injured and traumatized, thousands have been killed, many billions of dollars of property has been destroyed, and many billions of dollars have been spent on this criminal enterprise — with much more lost through economic impacts and the failure to spend those resources usefully. Millions of tons of C02 has been emitted, and huge areas of land, water, and air poisoned. Urban areas and cultural treasures have been obliterated, and oil rained down on people and their homes. Many millions of people have been given deep reasons to resent and hate and seek revenge, and not a single person taught the value of nonviolent action or reconciliation. The obsessive fueling of the addiction to fossil fuels has been given precedence over everything, not just human rights, but even the dedication to cruelly violating human rights — with sanctions lifted to quickly obtain and burn more oil.

It gets worse. Trump is threatening to attack Iranian power plants. The Iranian government is threatening to attack oil infrastructure in the gulf dictatorships. The human and environmental costs could soar. The precedents of Gaza and Cuba could be repeated. Or it could be even worse. On January 3, Trump’s troops nearly destroyed a nuclear reactor and storage facility in Caracas. The U.S./Israel have already attacked the Bushehr nuclear power plant and the Natanz nuclear facility. Iran has already attacked Dimona, where Israel has a nuclear plant. The risk here is of catastrophic slaughter on a whole new scale. The joy Trump publicly takes when an individual he was annoyed by dies would be multiplied a million-fold. The capacity for rational thought, not just in Trump’s head, but in the so-called U.S. government that sits by and lets him play with the fate of the world, would be virtually eliminated. All blame for U.S./Israeli horrors would be placed on Iran, and escalation would follow escalation. The kingdoms that have sat by while U.S. bases were attacked in their countries will not sit by forever, and have very little capacity for creative nonviolent action, for any means of not sitting by other than escalating the war.

The madmen in the U.S. military who think the worse things get the sooner Jesus will appear can only be encouraged by the worsening of events. The madmen running the nation of Israel have very different fantasies, and those running Iran believe they have no choice and are justified in all things by the vicious attack on Iran. If a sensible solution is to be found, the decent people of the world who wish for life to continue will have to compel the governments of the world to reject militarism and hold accountable those engaged in it. The governments of Spain and Switzerland inching away from the war machine, the individuals transporting solar panels to Cuba, the flotilla being planned to Gaza — these movements will have to grow at a Pentagon-budget-like pace. Standing up for peace will have to soon become the typical path to power for those seeking to represent others, or there will be none of us left to represent.

NVI Directors, Sami Awad and Michael Beer, were part of an international convoy that brought solary panels and humanitarian aid to Cuba in March 2026. NVI is also supporting the flotilla planned for Gaza. Please read our now slightly outdated open letter to de-escalate the war on Iran elsewhere in our NVI blog.

Sami Awad Visiting DC (Thurs & Fri) - Rethinking Resistance

Dear friends,

Nonviolence International warmly invites you to join us for two special evenings in Washington DC with Sami Awad, Palestinian activist, author, and NVI Co-Director.

For activists, Palestine has become a powerful lens for understanding injustice in the world. But today it reveals something deeper: the United States is not simply supporting Israel, it sits at the heart of a global system of empire. The same forces shaping domination abroad are also shaping power, repression, and inequality within the United States itself. This means the struggle is not just about changing policy. In these talks and based on his own journey, Sami invites us to expand our resistance, from a liberation struggle focused on one place to confronting the empire itself.

Event 1 - March 12, Thursday
From Occupation to Empire: Rethinking Resistance
All Souls Church Unitarian
Hosted by Souls 4 Palestine
6:30 – 8:30 PM (with Iftar observance)
1500 Harvard Street NW
RSVP here!

Event 2 - March 13, Friday
From Palestine to Empire: Reframing Resistance
Busboys & Poets
7:00 – 9:00 PM
450 K St NW, Mount Vernon Square
RSVP here!

These gatherings are an opportunity for community members, advocates, and anyone interested in nonviolent change to hear directly from a leading voice in Palestinian civil resistance and to explore pathways toward a more just and peaceful future.

We hope you can join us and help spread the word.

With appreciation,
Michael Beer, Co-Director

P.S. These are free events. If you want, please make a donation to Souls 4 Palestine and generously order food and drinks at Busboys and Poets to help them thrive.

Nonviolence International
https://www.nonviolenceinternational.net/

17 Worldwide Nonviolence Groups to Support

Latest posts

From Darkness to Dignity: What Cuba Taught Us

Stop Escalating the War on Iran Now!

Stop Escalating the War on Iran Now

Sami Awad Visiting DC (Thurs & Fri) - Rethinking Resistance

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