Two women helping communities heal amid conflict received international recognition at Assumption University of Thailand (AU), where Soraya Jamjuree of Thailand and Daria Yemets of Ukraine were named joint recipients of the 2026 Saul A. Silverman Award for Conflict Resolution, Healing and Human Dignity.
The award was presented during the 40th Annual International Organization Development Association (IODA) Conference, held October 15–17, 2026, at AU’s Hua Mak Campus in Bangkok. The women work in very different circumstances, but share a commitment to restoring trust, supporting vulnerable communities and helping people find hope in the aftermath of violence.
Giving Women a Voice in Thailand’s Deep South
Soraya Jamjuree has spent more than two decades supporting families affected by conflict in Thailand’s southern border provinces. A founder of the Network of Civic Women for Peace and an academic at Prince of Songkla University in Pattani, she has worked to strengthen women’s leadership, encourage dialogue and build trust among Malay Muslim communities, Buddhist communities and state officials.
Her community work has helped provide more than 1,000 scholarships to children from vulnerable families. She has also produced more than 100 short videos highlighting women’s contributions to peacebuilding, helping voices often missing from public debate reach a wider audience.
Jamjuree’s work also extends into scholarship. She compiled the women’s accounts published in In Search of Justice in Thailand’s Deep South: Malay Muslim and Thai Buddhist Women’s Narratives, released by the University of Virginia Press in 2022.
“Healing work is like mine disposal,” she said in a 2023 United Nations profile, describing the importance of addressing the emotional wounds that conflict leaves behind.
Building Resilience in Ukraine
Daria Yemets, a psychologist and researcher born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, manages Resilience Ukraine, a trauma-relief initiative of the international nonprofit The Pocket Project. Her team helps people living with the continuing effects of war through Resilience Circles, peer-led spaces where participants can connect, share experiences and develop tools for coping with stress and uncertainty.
Since 2022, the project has trained more than 500 community facilitators and reached thousands of Ukrainians, according to the award announcement. Yemets also studies collective and intergenerational trauma, exploring how communities can recover while acknowledging the experiences that shape them.
In a March 2026 interview on the What Is Collective Healing? podcast, Yemets spoke about the isolation of wartime life: “War is insanely isolating and it just locks you in your own space.” Her project responds by bringing people into circles of mutual support.
Two Paths, One Purpose
The Saul A. Silverman Award recognizes people who use innovative approaches grounded in Organization Development to encourage healing and conflict resolution. The committee selected both women from an international field of nominees, recognizing work that puts compassion and human dignity into practice.
“We see you and honor you and your work,” the award committee said in its announcement.
Their recognition was a fitting moment for AU’s international conference, held under the theme “OD for Sustainability: Wisdom, Adaptability, Innovation.” Their stories offered a reminder that peacebuilding happens not only in formal negotiations, but also in homes, classrooms and community circles where people are heard, supported and given the chance to move forward together.
WRITER: THE AU LIBRARY
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