In 1999, during a desert journey to the funeral of a Libyan friend, the idea arose to promote international understanding by bringing together people from all over the world to demonstrate the feasibility of cultural dialogue during a caravan. In our mind, Tripoli, „Gateway to Africa“, should be the starting point, and Kampala/Lake Victoria, the „Heart of Africa“, the destination. We named it Qafilat-as-Salam (Arabic), Caravan of Peace.
1999
The idea is born, and Caravan is immediately brought to life.
2000
Discussions with the German politicians Federal President Johannes Rau (who agreed to be patron), Minister of Justice Herta Däubler-Gmelin, and Minister of Economics and Finance Wolfgang Clement.
2001
Organizational meeting of 12 experts at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation conference center in Bad Münstereifel (Germany). The meeting was financed by the Social Democratic Party.
2002
Presentation of the initiative at the Goethe Institute headquarters in Berlin to 120 journalists from around the world. No response: The search for support was unsuccessful.
Minister Wolfgang Clement drafted a plan to collect €100 Mio. from German industry. He wrote to his counterpart Joseph Fischer (Alliance 90/The Greens) and asked for support. Fischer refused. He is arguing that Sudan needs „peace“ soldiers, not a peace caravan. This marked the failure of efforts to obtain money from German industry.
Federal President Johannes Rau declared: „The world is not ready for this idea yet; it is too early!“
2003
Relocation of the initiative to Bamako, the capital of Mali.
Change of itinerary: Timbuktu (symbol of African knowledge and wealth) to Kampala, because the initiative’s independence could not be guaranteed in Libya.
2008
The Caravan Initiative Office gets a permanent location in Bamako.
2011
In the wake of the Arab Spring, Libya’s head of state, Muammar al-Gaddafi was overthrown. Civil war breaks out. The original Caravan of Peace (arab.: Qafilat-as-Salam), which should have started in Tripoli, was finally history.
2012
The weapons supplied to Gaddafi by European governments were stolen by terrorists, who used them to occupy northern Mali and stage a coup.
2019
Thanks to a network of artists, politicians, journalists, and doctors, built up over the years, a new start is made under the name CARAVAN.
2024
Initial contacts with the Malian Minister of Culture, Andogoli Guindo, and other prominent figures.
2025
The Caravan Initiative is launching the ‘First Step Campaign’ to raise the funds needed to build the necessary structures.
2026
The initiative is launching the Caravan Constitutional Conference. The CCC 2026 on October 18th in Bamako is a call for people to see themselves as a global society and to draft their constitution.
