The Sant’Egidio Foundation for Peace and Dialogue is an emergent working and learning laboratory, created to study and support the peacemaking work of the Community of Sant’Egidio and of friends. Informally known as SFPD, the foundation engages persons of all paths of life seeking and pursuing peace.

Depart from evil and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
Psalm 31:14

The foundation was founded in 2019. It seeks what unites, which it carries out in gratuity, compassion, and openness. It thrives to establish all of its operations in friendship. It encourages cooperative efforts through personal and shared discernment. It is committed to inclusion and accountability.

Seeking What Unites

First and foremost, SFPD works constantly to facilitate peace in every aspect of its existence. Its members take care of their internal support, and it encourages peace in its various communities and across the world.

The foundation is mainly volunteer, and its work operates on a principle of gratuitousness, but it serves to raise funds for important projects, both for the Community and its own endeavors.

SFPD is a vocal supporter of the work of the Community and a vessel for its message and teachings. Its academic involvement includes presentations which outline peacemaking with a basis in friendship.

Serving as a place to inspire and embody constant learning, the foundation encourages both reflection and conversation in order to make all experiences into opportunities to learn.

The above four aims of the foundation frame all of its operations and projects.

Our History

The Community of Sant’Egidio launched the Sant’Egidio Foundation for Peace and Dialogue in October 2019. At its core is Sant’Egidio’s longstanding commitment to work for peace in the world (here). Based in New York, the Foundation aims at,

Encouraging a culture of peace emerging from the peace work of the Community of Sant’Egidio
Securing financial resources to support the peace work of the Community of Sant’Egidio
Developing academic offerings about our work in Rome, online and in other locations, in collaboration with academic institutions worldwide
Functioning as a learning laboratory for relevant insights emerging from the peace work of the Community of Sant’Egidio

Particular emphasis is given to the formulation of insights, relevant for all in their serach for peace, stemming from the peace work of the Community of Sant’Egidio as an international subject recognized by many countries and global organizations. Sant’Egidio is recognized as a Public Lay Association by the Holy See. As an NGO, the Community of Sant’Egidio has consultative status with the UN-ECOSOC. On June 9, 2017, it signed a letter of intent with the United Nations Department of Political Affairs. On July 15, 2019, the Community of Sant’Egidio signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the USAID.

The Community of Sant’Egidio has been involved in peace work in many countries including Mozambique, and more recently its crisis in the North (here), Guatemala, Albania, Algeria, Burundi, Togo, Niger, DRC, Senegal (Casamance), Uganda, Libya, Cameroon, North Korea (DPKR), South Sudan, Central African Republic Colombia, Iraq, Syria, Ukraine, Ivory Coast, Liberia, and Yemen. The Community of Sant’Egidio has been active in health diplomacy against HIV AIDS through its DREAM progect (here) and on humanitarian diplomacy against the death penalty (here)

Many of the peace activities of the Community of Sant’Egidio are inspired and follow the ecumenical commitment made of friendship, prayer and search for worldwide Christian unity. Sant’Egidio was particularly touched by the Papal invitation on the first International Day of Prayer for Peace, called by Pope John Paul II in 1986, to “keep spreading the message of Peace flourished from the Spirit of Assisi”. Since then, the Community promoted a yearly Pilgrimage of Peace in different cities of Europe and across the Mediterranean, while building friendly relationships among representatives of different faiths and cultures (here)

These gatherings illustrate the ubiquitous and all-inclusive character of peacemaking through the Community of Sant’Egidio. The Sant’Egidio Foundation for Peace and Dialogue, therefore, studies and supports this work, reemphasizing its mission in more academic and secular spaces. Our work is annually framed by the Prayer for Peace and our members (both believers and non-believers) are uniquely inspired to live the Gospel.

Our Projects

Peace in South Sudan

For the last decades, members of Sant’Egidio have been faithfully following the crisis in South Sudan. For the most up to date news on South Sudan please visit

South Sudan News

Our Team

Andrea Bartoli

Andrea Bartoli is an international conflict resolution expert who has served in key positions for more than three decades. He is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Columbia University’s Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict and Complexity (AC4) and a member of the Steering Group of the Global Action Against Mass Atrocity Crimes (GAAMAC).

Mauro Garofalo

Mauro Garofalo has served as head of international relations for the Community of Sant’Egidio since 2012. Garofalo served as a Conflict Resolutions Unit officer from 2008, supporting international rescue operations in Afghanistan and Senegal. He participated in and contributed to various peace processes across Africa, the Middle East, and Far East Asia, as well as emergency response actions and development projects.

Paolo Impagliazzo

Paolo Impagliazzo is Secretary General of the Community of Sant’Egidio, and has been working for decades in the facilitation of peace dialogues and conferences for Sant’Egidio. Paolo has been the key driver and leader in Peace Negotiations and talks with South Sudan over the last decades.

Elizabeth Boyle

Elizabeth has previously worked in Religions for Peace, the US Commission on Civil Rights, USAID, and the US Department of State and is currently working as the South Sudan Project Director at the Foundation for Peace and Dialogue full-time.

Laurie Johnston

Laurie Johnston is a social ethicist who serves as Professor of Theology at Emmanuel College in Boston. She is the author and editor of multiple articles and books about the ethics of war and peace, public theology, and reconciliation. She is responsible for academic programs and partnerships for the SFPD, and represents the SFPD on the Steering Committee of the Catholic Peacebuilding Network.

Wendpoulemde Andre Dakoala

Wendpoulemde Andre Dakoala is a member of the Community of Sant’Egidio USA who joined the Sant’Egidio Foundation for Peace and Dialogue in 2020. Wendpoulemde serves as the SFPD Administrator and the Burkina Faso Diaspora peace project Director.

The Foundation for Peace and Dialogue also involves an extensive network of individuals, high school and college students as well as professionals working in and out of diplomacy, who collaborate and facilitate peace. If you are interested in participating in this network please contact Andrea Bartoli at andrea.bartoli@santegidio.org