Engendering hope

Hope can be described as a positive expectation of the future which energises the individual - and communities - to confront the challenges in their daily life. Hope in people can be the motivating force which produces courage, vision and the will to move forward.

The Right to Hope project was initiated as a commemoration of the 50th anniversaries of the United Nations in 1995 and of UNESCO in 1996. The project involves artists, writers, leaders, scholars and organisations from around the world dedicated to the realisation of a better future. The Right to Hope project has an overriding message: in a time of environmental destruction and entrenched poverty, we need to emphasise the importance of social, cultural and spiritual values if humanity is to live together sustainably. The long-term work of the project is now co-ordinated by the Right to Hope Trust, established in South Africa in 1995.

The Centre for A Science of Hope in New York is helping to facilitate a systematic, interdisciplinary study into the nature and dynamics of hope, as well as the ways in which hope can be engendered and sustained as a constructive force in human affairs.