Jill Carr-Harris (Canada & India)

➡️ JILL CARR-HARRIS – Peace & Social Justice Advocate

Dividing her time between Toronto and India, Jill has dedicated her life to social change and grassroots activism. Her work focuses on community empowerment, sustainable development, women's rights, and rural self-determination.

With more than 35 years of experience in the field, Jill has worked as a researcher on civil society and social movements, as a peace educator and nonviolent trainer, fostered south-south cooperation, and pursued nonviolent change by mobilising countless communities.

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Jill's Career

Jill's profound dedication to peace began from an early age. She earned her PhD from the University of Toronto with a focus on nonviolent leadership. Her work with the United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service (UN NGLS) took her to India for the first time. The mission aimed to promote and develop constructive relations between the United Nations and civil society organisations.

Working with solidarity networks and international initiatives to support marginalised communities in the Philippines, Bangladesh, and India provided her with hands-on experience in working towards poverty reduction, gender equality, and development policies. She also began to understand the connection between land, nature, forests, and water and the quality of life for those living in these communities, especially women.

Jill is also an International Peace Specialist at the International Gandhi Institute for Peace and Nonviolence, a trainer on nonviolence and peace education, and a peace, human rights and social justice activist.

Her work is deeply inspired by the Gandhian philosophy of nonviolence, the interconnectedness of global issues, meaningful dialogue, and collective action. Her mission is to catalyse a shift towards inclusive governance, dismantle systematic inequalities, promote sustainable living, and nurture a harmonious coexistence between communities, cultures, religions, countries and regions.

Ekta Parishad

Alongside her partner, Jill has spent 37 years in India facilitating government support for marginalised communities with India's largest nonviolent movement for the landless and homeless.

Ekta Parishad actively works across 12,000 villages in various states of India and has helped secure land rights for nearly 500,000 families. The organisation is based on Gandhian values and promotes nonviolence and dialogue as a means to build a peaceful and just society.

In 2007, 25,000 landless Indians marched to Delhi to negotiate land rights. It culminated in the Forest Rights Act, which guarantees land to more than 2 million Indigenous families across India. It also resulted in positive amendments to the Land Acquisition Act and the introduction of new provisions, including the Social Impact Assessment and Dispute Resolution Authority, which were incorporated into the new law.

In 2012, Ekta Parishad organised a 300km march from Gwalior to Delhi. More than 100,000 landless people joined in to demand their land rights. This resulted in a new Land Reforms Policy and National Homestead Land Rights Act, which were both introduced to Indian law.

Ekta Parishad has since expanded its work into Asia, Africa, Latin America, North America, and Europe.

Jai Jagat

Jill is a managing director of Jai Jagat International, alongside her partner. Jai Jagat is a global peace campaign that brings together various groups and movements to use nonviolence as a means for positive change. The Jai Jagat is inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's principle of sarvodaya, which can be translated to universal uplift or progress for all.

The objectives of the Jai Jagat include:

• Eradicating poverty

• Ending social discrimination

• Mitigating the impacts of the climate crisis

• Peaceful resolutions to conflict and war

The organisation facilitated a global peace march in 2019-2020 from India to Armenia. The march lasted for six months and was calling for justice and equality by pressing various UN agencies to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The march was designed to foster greater engagement of people regarding their own development, providing the preconditions for peace to become a reality.

Jill's work embodies the power of collective action to bring about meaningful change. Through her leadership, advocacy and teachings, she continues to inspire people around the world to contribute to building a more equitable and just society for everyone.

Author: Rachael Mellor 26.06.25 licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

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