Breaking the Cycle of Violence

Survivor Corps helps survivors of war and violence to heal and transform communities.

In 2008, Survivor Corps grew from Landmine Survivors Network. The organization has expanded its mission to help all survivors of war. Landmine Survivors Network was co-founded in 1997 by two landmine survivors, Jerry White and Ken Rutherford. From the late Diana, Princess of Wales to Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, the organization received support, praise and partnerships at the highest levels.

Survivor Corps focuses on the unique contribution and leadership of conflict survivors because we believe no one is better positioned to break cycles of violence than those who have survived war.

Our programs currently help survivors in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Burundi, Colombia,  El Salvador, Ethiopia, Jordan, Uganda, Rwanda, the United States and Vietnam.

Our signature peer support program connects survivors with survivor role models to offer encouragement and motivation. This is crucial to helping new survivors find hope, get jobs, and get on with their lives.

Through our community building programs, survivors rebuild communities broken by war by connecting diverse survivor groups and former enemies through collective action.

By training and organizing survivor advocates to campaign for their rights, survivors change the world by raising their voices together and addressing the challenges they face in life after war and conflict.

Our Campaigns Make History:

•    We were leaders in the Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which resulted in the creation of the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty.  The Mine Ban Treaty was the first arms control agreement in history to include provisions to help victims of the weapon.  This was achieved by an unprecedented level of participation by survivors in the treaty process.
 
•    The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities  entered into force on May 3, 2008.  The most significant human rights treaty of the 21st century, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was put forth to end discrimination and bring equal opportunity to 650 million people with disabilities around the world.  

•    The Convention on Cluster Munitions entered into force on December 3, 2008 to end the use of cluster bombs due to the indiscriminate harm they cause to civilians.  As a leader on the steering committee of the Cluster Munitions Coalition, we used our past experience with the Mine Ban Treaty to help ensure that the Convention on Cluster Munitions included the strongest possible requirements to provide assistance to victims of the weapon, their families and communities.