Richard Moore

Richard has set a vision and an example which has become intrinsic to the peace process in Northern Ireland – truth, reconciliation and integration achieved primarily through practical projects involving children world wide.

In 1972, aged 10, Richard Moore, Founder and Director of Children in Crossfire, was blinded by a rubber bullet fired at point blank range into his face. Amazingly, from childhood to the present day, he has never allowed bitterness to stunt his development. .

Just over a decade ago he felt the need to harness all he had learned and put it at the service of humanity, particularly children around the world who have been caught in the crossfire of poverty. Children in Crossfire has its roots in what began as tragedy and ended in triumph of the human spirit to overcome adversity. Under Richard’s leadership, it has become an international organisation with an expanding outreach to Africa, Asia and South America. .

Dedicated to helping children and families affected by illness, domestic violence, war, and poverty, its projects aim to build capacity within communities and families to nurture hope, self belief and strength. Recognising that gross material inequality in today’s world represents an extreme form of violence against those who suffer its effects, Children in Crossfire aims to challenge our blindness on this issue and on many issues affecting the poor in today’s world. .

Working in partnership with many organisations worldwide, Children in Crossfire are: In Ethiopia, providing food for 450 people, the majority children, who are living in a graveyard. They are also in the process of re-housing this community who are living in makeshift houses with no access to clean water or proper sanitation; Building a youth centre in one of the poorest regions in Ethiopia, to provide a focal point for youths to participate in education programmes and civic empowerment initiatives, offering peer support; In Tanzania one of their objectives is to ensure access to social services for the most vulnerable children and young people particularly those with disabilities; Providing much needed medical equipment and educational resources for 50 children at a cancer institute in Tanzania; Supporting a Training College training young people in vocational skills for the labour market encouraging them to set up their own businesses ensuring income for themselves and their families; Providing a secondary education for over 500 young people in Moshi Tanzania, who otherwise would be denied this opportunity; In Bangladesh, training 1,070 peer educators from 100 schools, sensitizing 12,000 students on anti-trafficking issues; In Kenya, working with local community organisations on water and sanitation projects by building latrines, forming water committees and managing livestock; In Brazil and Colombia helped people to understand their rights (such as rights to education, healthcare, water and sanitation) and how to claim them. .

“Richard’s life and his work serve as illustrations of the active, living hope that I with many others, strived to hold on to during many bleak and heartbreaking years of violence and destruction in Ireland. His is a vision which is deeper, wider and infinitely wiser than much of the prevailing culture of the 21st century…Like many people, I am deeply grateful for the journey that Richard Moore has taken, beyond injustice and personal disability to the strong, inspiring and immensely fruitful life he lives today. He provides us with a vision of hope and open-heartedness well beyond the culture of fear which led to his injury. I hope that many will be inspired…as I have been by the depth, width and clarity of Richard Moore’s vision”

John Hume, Nobel Peace Prize Winner

“I consider [Richard] not only my friend, but also my hero. Why? Because while I talk about forgiveness, Richard Moore lives it ...When I visited Richard’s home town of Derry … [he] brought me a gift. He said he had thought of many material gifts he might present to me. But the greatest gift he could give me was to introduce me to the man who had blinded him. For me it was wonderful to see that Richard had not only forgiven the soldier who fired the rubber bullet, but he had also befriended him.”

His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Nobel Peace Prize Winner

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