Category Archives: EDUCATION FOR PEACE

Alfred Fried Photography Award’: world-best picture on the theme of peace

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article and photos from The Alfred Fried Photography Award

The Alfred Fried Photography Award recognizes and promotes photographers from all over the world whose pictures capture human efforts towards a peaceful world and the quest for beauty and goodness in our lives. The award goes to those photographs that best express the idea that our future lies in peaceful coexistence.

Winner of the Alfred Fried Photography Award’s world-best picture on the theme of peace, worth € 10000, is Stefan Boness, Germany, with an image from his work „FridaysForFuture Climate Protest“


„FridaysForFuture Climate Protest“, Stefan Boness, Germany

Stefan Boness lives in Berlin and Manchester, working as a photographer on a wide range of topics. He has not only documented the political Berlin with its protagonists and the right-wing populist movements in towns like Dresden or Cottbus, or traced the steps of Walter Benjamin. He also worked in Japan, and photographed landscapes of ruins, animal graveyards as well as Eritrean welders. With his book Flandern Fields he created a “photographic meditation on the battle fields of WWI”. He photographed architecture in places like Tel Aviv, Asmara, or Hoyerswerda. In 2015, Boness was awarded the first prize at the German photo competition ‘Rückblende’ for a photograph of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and has won a World Press Photo Award and a Fuji Euro Press Award.


„BORN FREE – Mandela’s Generation of Hope“, Ilvy Njiokiktjien, Netherlands

Ilvy Njiokiktjien bought her first camera in 2002, graduated from the school of journalism in her home town, and is working as a photographer and multimedia journalist. She finances long-term projects like the one in South Africa through day jobs for new media. The has been published inter alia in the New York Times, in Spiegel, in the Telegraph Magazine, and in l’Espresso. In 2012, she received the World Press Photo Award in the category Multimedia. In 2018, her photos of new-born babies in Africa were shown at a UNICEF exhibition at the United Nations in Geneva. The jury of the Alfred Fried Photography Awards should like to extend their heartfelt congratulations to her for her peaceful and obviously enjoyable work.


„The Forest Orphanage“, Nur Adilla Djalil Daniel, Indonesia

Dilla Dlalil Daniel was born in 1966 in Jakarta where she lives today. She was given a camera at the age of nine with which she photographed her dogs. As she had to give up her dream of becoming a vet she studied English literature, working for an advertizing agency for a while. Workshops with the well-known photographers Alex Webb and Peter Turnley turned her into a ‘workshop junkie’. She attended such workshops in Istanbul, Buenos Aires, Chiang Mai, South Africa, and on Antigua. She started to admire NGOs – and above all she has been expelled from her comfort zone. Wherever she went she was looking for animal sanctuaries. Be it the elephant hospital in Thailand, be it a rescue centre for maltreated donkeys in Nepal. She has two dogs, two cats and one horse. We can assume that she treats them very well.

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Question for this article:

Do the arts create a basis for a culture of peace?, What is, or should be, their role in our movement?

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„Le temps retrouvé“, Alain Laboile, France

Alain Laboile, born in May 1968 in Bordeaux, was first interested in insects which he also photographed as macro images which served as inspirations for his metal sculptures. He taught himself about photography making an incredible career. Because his heart-warming, engaging positive family photographs have enchanted people all over the world – and now also the jury of the Alfred Fried Awards. Laboile regards the books with the photos of his children – called ‘At the end of the world’ or ‘The summer of a fawn’ or ‘Under the monochrome rainbow’ − also as a private treasure as he himself has only one photo from his own childhood. He now celebrates what a childhood could be like – and he has been celebrated at exhibitions in France, Cambodia, the USA, in Japan, India, Austria, Mexico, Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, in Poland and Hungary. The recipients of his images apparently recognize a universal longing for an unwavering innocent life in what he depicts.


„The Rugbywomen: Tackling Stereotypes“, Camilo Leon-Quijano, France

Camilo Leon-Quijano was born in Bogotá, Columbia, and lives in Paris, where he studied sociology and focussed on Latin American studies at the Sorbonne. His photos have been published inter alia in the Washington Post, in Líberation, Paris Match, and Vice, he has had exhibitions in France, in the USA, in Germany, and Italy. Leon-Quijano was finalist and award-winner of several competitions such as Lens Culture, Prix la France Mutualiste, and the UNICEF Photo of the Year 2018. In addition to the rugby girls, the people in the suburbs of Paris in general are his favourite subject at present.


Winner of the The Children’s Peace Image of the Year, worth € 1000, is Dune Laboile, France, with her image „Slow Stream“

Dune Laboile – the surname will ring a bell. Yes, Alain Laboile, her father, is one of our five award-winners in the adult category this year. We have never had such a constellation. One could also say: like father, like daughter. Alan Laboile described his daughter beforehand. He calls her cute and quiet. And he says that she has a lot of time for discovering her little world; for painting and sketching and shaping; for playing with five cats; building caves and swimming; reading and watching films; making short videos and, of course, photography – because she does not go to school, but has private lessons at home. Moreover, he says, Dune doesn’t like racists and the destroyers of our plant. All this makes us curious about what will become of young Dune.

Click on the title to see the complete story. [Editor’s note: only one photo is shown here, but there are many more photos on the original article.]

Click here for the shortlist of the Alfred Fried Photography Award 2019.

Click here for the shortlist of the Children Peace Image of the Year 2019.

Thank you to everyone who submitted to the Alfred Fried Photography Award 2019.

Award Ceremony
The Alfred Fried Photography Award 2019 was presented on 12 September 2019 at a gala in the rooms of the Austrian Parliament. On behalf of Wolfgang Sobotka, speaker of the Austrian National Council Harald Dossi introduced the ceremony attended by 200 guests. More…

Exhibitions
All entrants will have the chance to take part in worldwide exhibitions.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, global

Brazil: Lajeado Begins Classes to Train Peace Facilitators

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from the Independente

The development of a culture of peace for the municipality of Lajeado is beginning to take shape. On August 7 and 8, the first group of leaders of the municipality was trained as peace facilitators.


Photo: Divulgação

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(Click here for the original article in Portuguese)

Questions for this article:

Where is peace education taking place?

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The group participated in the Basic Training Course for Restorative Justice Facilitators to learn about the methodology of Non-Conflicting Peacebuilding Circles. The training of peace facilitators, promoted by Lajeado City Hall in partnership with the Public Prosecution Service (MP), is part of the Lajeado Pact’s Restorative Justice action package.

Beginning in September, the training will also focus on the health, education, social care and culture care network. It will involve community and religious leaders, young people from the CRAS Reference Center and Specialized Reference for Social Assistance (CREAS) and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).

The course lasts 25 hours and takes place over two days. Thos interested in taking the course can contact the coordination of the Lajeado for Peace Pact by phone 3982-1104 or by email pacto@lajeado.rs.gov.br.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

Dominican Republic: MINERD hosts National Student Forum for a Culture of Peace

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from El Caribe (translation by CPNN)

The Ministry of Education (MINERD) is hosting this Tuesday [August 13], the National Student Forum for a Culture of Peace, within the framework of the Student Merit Recognition Program, in which 360 High School students come to reflect and analyze the different issues related to school life.

The educational activity, which this year has the motto: “Developing socio-emotional skills for citizenship and coexistence”, takes place from today until August 15 in the auditorium of the School of Evangelization John Paul II, under the responsibility of the Direction of Orientation and Psychology directed by Professor Minerva Pérez.

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(Click here for the original article in Spanish.)

Questions for this article:

What is the relation between peace and education?

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Secondary level students, 20 from each educational region, will develop debates about democracy and the construction of a new citizenship, with presentations on the problems that, in their opinion, could interfere with their training and integral development.

“In this interesting debate of ideas and considerations for a peaceful coexistence in the schools, the young people are assuming a leading role. They are committed to improving their lives, generating and discussing concrete proposals that contribute to the strengthening of a culture of peace in their respective educational campuses and communities,” explains the MINERD.

Methodology for student choice

The activities for the participation of the students in the forum, start from the first week of classes with the election of student councils, and close at the end of the year with the recognition of student effort and merit.

As part of the process, the educational and regional districts hold student congresses, where topics of interest to students are debated, proposals are made and those that best represent them are chosen. Subsequently, those students who will represent their regional team in the presentation of the proposals are selected.

The proposals developed during the forum will be included in a national proposal by a process of consensus. At the close of this forum, students are expected to present to the authorities the national proposal for a culture of peace that they will promote during the 2019-2020 school year, with a call to their peers to join their implementation and strategy “Schools for a culture of peace.”

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

Mexico: First International Congress on Social Prevention of Violence and Culture of Peace

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from Zacatecas Hoy (translation by CPNN)

In order to strengthen the actions that the State Government carries out in the area of ​​social prevention of crime, the First International Congress of Social Prevention of Violence and Culture of Peace will be held [in Zacatecas] next October.

The Undersecretary of Social Crime Prevention, Armando García Neri informed that the Congress will receive results of research and theoretical contributions on various topics, includeing urban planning, gender, substance use, rights and factors involved in childhood, communication strategies for the construction of a culture of peace, analysis of cognitive behavioral therapies and culture of peace.

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(Click here for the original article in Spanish.)

Questions for this article:

Where are police being trained in culture of peace?

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Likewise, during the congress that will be held on October 2, 3 and 4, issues related to the actions of the police as a security force will have to be addressed.

All of the above will be addressed hrough work tables, master conferences and cultural and social workshops in which the Benemérita Autonomous University of Zacatecas will have a fundamental participation.

In addition to specialists from our country, experts in the field from countries such as Canada, Chile, Colombia, the United States and Italy will participate in the congress.

Finally, García Neri stressed the importance of these types of events, as they come to enrich the strategies and actions that the state administration undertakes on fundamental and priority issue ssuch as crime prevention.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

Colombia: Barranquilla will host the first Ibero-American Education Congress

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article in El Heraldo (translation by CPNN)

Within the framework of the celebration of the 70 years of the Organization of Ibero-American States (OIE), the first Ibero-American Congress on Education, Citizenship and Democracy will be held on August 29 and 30. In the event, whose details were released Thursday in a press conference, topics will include education for global citizenship, ethics and democracy for sustainable development.


Press conference to give details of the meeting. Mery Granados

During the press conference, organized by the Simón Bolívar University, the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI) and the Foundation for Quality Education, it was reported that the congress is framed in the Educational Agenda to 2030.

Carlos Zuluaga Pardo, Deputy Director of the OEI, said that this congress is an opportunity for the Caribbean region to open the doors to the world and contribute to the discussion on issues of coexistence, peace, inclusion, global citizenship and diversity. He said the event will be held at the José Consuegra Higgins Theater.

Lilia Campo Ternera, director of the José Consuegra Higgins Social Research and Innovation Center (CIISO) of the Simón Bolívar University, said that Unisimón seeks to open spaces to disseminate knowledge generated by researchers from CIISO, who have made different studies and analysis about inclusion, democracy, citizenship, development and cognitive processes.

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(Click here for the original article in Spanish.)

Questions for this article:

What is the relation between peace and education?

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About the congress

This meeting will be key considering that the world’s educational systems, especially in Latin America, face the challenge of training children and young people as citizens who recognize and value the importance of democracy, solidarity, mutual respect, coexistence , the peaceful resolution of conflicts, respect for differences, especially their most vulnerable partners, social learning, cooperation and rejection of all forms of exclusion, segregation and violence.

The International Study on Civic and Citizen Education (ICCS 2016) showed worrying results, in the sense that half of the students from Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and the Dominican Republic fail to demonstrate any specific knowledge and understanding about institutions, systems and civic and citizenship concepts. These five countries are the lowest performing within 24 educational systems analyzed.

The Congress works with the framework of action of the Sustainable Development Goal No. 4, which specifies the need to guarantee inclusive, equitable and quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. In addition, in the framework of the Educational Agenda 2030, which incorporates an important component related to education for democratic citizenship, especially in goal 4.7 (Knowledge and skills for sustainable development)

The main purpose is that in 2030 all students acquire theoretical and practical knowledge necessary to promote sustainable development, among other things, through education and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, the promotion of a culture of peace and nonviolence, world citizenship and the valuation of cultural diversity and the contribution of culture to sustainable development.

The congress will feature the participation of renowned international and national speakers, experts in the field such as Alicia Cabezudo (Argentina), Marita Copes (Uruguay), Enrique Rentería (Mexico), Julián De Zubiria (Colombia), Francisco Cajiao (Colombia), Alejo Vargas (Colombia), and Abel Rodríguez (Colombia), among others. It will be addressed to educators, teachers and administrative managers of all levels, from preschool to postgraduate; as well as researchers, academics, civil society organizations, governments, businessmen and students.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

Done with violence?

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

A blog by KEN BUTIGAN for Pace e Bene

In 1989, a handful of friends found themselves mulling on how they could promote a culture of nonviolence – a culture where people everywhere could let go of a deep-seated belief in violence and, instead, could live the power of nonviolent options. Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service was the result. Taking its name from a greeting St. Francis of Assisi used in his own time meaning “peace and all good,” Pace e Bene set out to contribute to a growing movement for nonviolent alternatives. I joined a year later.

In the wake of the horrific mass shootings this past weekend in Texas and Ohio, I’ve been reflecting on what Pace e Bene has learned over these three decades, and how these lessons are needed now more than ever. Thirty years of experience, action, reflection, writing, publishing, and programming – including leading a thousand trainings – have increasingly convinced us of the liberating power of creative nonviolence.

This was a slow process, in which we gradually came to see how nonviolence is a powerful force, an active method for change, and a thoroughgoing way of life. We slowly saw that nonviolence is not a “non-word” but a path with heart confronting violence without using violence and, at the same time, fostering transformation, justice, and the well-being of all. Step by step we realized that, what started out for most of us as a tactic of protest, was in fact a universal ethic. The paradigm of violence is harsh and pervasive, but there is a qualitatively different operating system available to us, one on which our survival depends.

The killings this past weekend (compounding the tsunami of violence – direct, cultural and structural – that washes over the world daily) are the consequence of the uncritical allegiance to the violence paradigm, a system of domination and threat that projects itself as reality. “This is how the world is,” it teaches us in countless ways from the moment we are born. But it is not reality. It is a highly sophisticated script that weaves together our worst tendencies —our fear, our anger, our greed, our small self—and creates a culture of violence and oppression in which we are conscripted and for which we are expected to live and die.

Fortunately, there is an alternative. We know this from a long lineage of sages who have tipped us off to the nonviolent option, but also from commonsense. If violence were the default, the human species would have destroyed itself long ago, with the retaliatory and escalatory logic of violence spinning out of control and into extinction. It is the secret history of nonviolence that has – hour by hour, day by day, year by year, century by century – kept this from happening. As Gandhi said, “Nonviolence is as old as the hills,” but he also stressed that this history has largely been ignored and undocumented. Over the last century – largely sparked by Gandhi’s modern adaptation and application of the ancient Hindu term ahimsa [“nonviolence”] in leading movements for freedom in South Africa and India – people throughout the world have explicitly excavated and applied this “third way” beyond violence and passivity.

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Question for this article:

Can peace be guaranteed through nonviolent means?

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Nonviolence is an intrinsic tendency that all human beings have – and this latent power of love in action can be tapped to deal with conflict and violence more effectively than the other options at our disposal: retreat, accommodation, or counter-violence. But if this power is trivialized or suppressed, we won’t access it. We will go on tapping the power of violence – and reinforcing the self-fulfilling prophecy of violence. We will continue to be caught in the violence trap.

Sometimes, though, there are moments where the search for the alternative beyond violence and passivity becomes so urgent that nonviolence—as a paradigm of the fullness of life, as a universal ethic—can suddenly be glimpsed as an option. The stereotypes that have long dogged nonviolence (that it is ineffective, passive, weak, utopian, naïve, unpatriotic, marginal, simplistic, and impractical) can peel away long enough to see that a nonviolent culture in its most robust and comprehensive sense is the only practical solution.

This may be a moment for just such a new direction.

The mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton (number 27 and 28 in the US this year, according to one count) demonstrate the bankruptcy of the violence paradigm. But, ironically, they also illuminate that the nonviolent operating system is also present, as seen in the reaction to these horrendous events. The public has recoiled against the “normalization” of such slaughter. Between the lines of this outcry is the bedrock assumption that violence is anti-human and that a culture free of violence should be the default.

What’s largely missing, though, is the way to get there. That’s where active, creative and relentless nonviolence comes in.

Nonviolence is not an end goal – it is a process. It is a process of envisioning an alternative, re-framing our thinking to foster this alternative, and living our way into this alternative. It is a way of being – but also a way of building a culture where, in effect, it is easier to be nonviolent. It is both what we can call “soul work” and “society work.”

What would our “soul work” entail in light of massive gun violence, for example?

First, we must once and for all tell ourselves that we are done with violence. Enough is enough. If we have been trained in violence, then we must get “un-trained.” This begins with making a solemn pledge in the secrecy of our heart that we are letting go of all the ways we support violence. This fundamental re-orientation can lead us to learning, healing, taking stock and taking action. A long process of secret confession and transformation may await, but it can start today.

And what of our “society work”? We must join grassroots movements laboring to create laws, policies, structures, and cultures where the lives of human beings have priority over the absolutization of guns. The sanctity of existence takes precedent over unrestricted access to guns. As we saw this weekend, guns were used to enforce and perpetuate the violence system (and, in these cases, its preeminent value of white supremacy). Our long-term “society work” will not only lessen the threat that guns represent, it will transform the cultural assumptions on which they rest.

To do both our soul work and our society work, we encourage you to go public with a call for a society free from violence and everything that feeds it. One option is to join Campaign Nonviolence in taking action in cities and towns across the US September 14-22, where we will mobilize for a culture of active and liberating nonviolence. Currently over 2800 nonviolent actions are planned.

But you don’t have to wait. You can do something today.

We’re done with violence. Together we can plunge into the difficult but powerful work of mainstreaming nonviolence for a more just and peaceful world.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, North America

New Pax Christi leaders believe nonviolence education can change world

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article by Dennis Sadowski from Crux: Taking the Catholic pulse

Pax Christi International has two new co-presidents and while they hail from different continents, they share the view that rampant violence is posing ever-growing danger to the world.

Loreto Sister Teresia Wamuyu Wachira of Nairobi, Kenya, and Bishop Marc Stenger of Troyes, France open their three-year term hoping that the organization can boost training in nonviolence, especially among young people. They see such training as necessary so that eventually dialogue and communication become the prime options to resolve differences rather than the use of hateful words, physical attacks and even warfare.


Bishop Marc Stenger of Troyes, France, and Loreto Sister Teresia Wamuyu Wachira of Nairobi, Kenya, were elected co-presidents of Pax Christi International during the organization’s annual general meeting June 26-27 in Brussels. (Credit: CNS photo/Christi International.)

“Nonviolence is very, very important,” Wachira told Catholic News Servicefrom Kenya. “We have to try. It may take a long time and we may be going against the grain, but I believe we must move in the right direction.”

Stenger wrote in an email that the organization “can open avenues and provide guidance for promoting sustainable peace through nonviolent strategies.”

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Question for this article:

Can peace be guaranteed through nonviolent means?

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“It can do this,” he explained, “in connection with the infrastructure available to the Church at all levels – universities, seminaries, dioceses, etc. – stressing the social teaching of the Church, always to be read in the light of the Gospel.”

While starting their term during Pax Christi International’s annual general meeting June 26-27 in Brussels, the co-presidents had yet to formally meet face-to-face. Wachira was unable to attend because of visa issues. But both said they have talked via online video conferencing and were eager to move forward on the organization’s priorities addressing nonviolent alternatives.

Both peace leaders have promoted nonviolence in their ministry roles. Wachira has been a teacher and principal in Loreto-run schools in the East African nation, concentrating on training young women for peacemaking and reconciliation work.

She also advises her congregation’s office at the United Nations in New York on the role of peacemaking in the world’s trouble spots.

Stenger for years has written on nonviolence and the importance of building a culture of peace in local communities. His involvement with the Catholic peace organization dates to 1999, when the French bishops’ conference proposed he become president of that country’s Pax Christi body.

The bishop also has addressed the precarious situation of Christians in Iraq, and after a 2002 visit to Colombia, which then was in the midst of a long-running civil war, he called on all parties to respect human rights in order to achieve peace.

In his email, the bishop expressed concern that the world’s nuclear powers are seeking to expand their nuclear weapon arsenals after decades of reductions. Plus, he said, the widening distribution of conventional arms is destabilizing societies and increasing injustice in many nations, causing people to flee for safer lands.
Stenger has been a leading voice in the French Church on the role of people of faith stepping up to protect the environment. He has repeatedly called for strong global action to address climate change.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, global

Delia Mamon: peace through education (Switzerland)

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article by Stéphane Bussard in Le Temps (translation by CPNN)

Delia Mamon, 65, founded the NGO Graines de Paix in 2005 to rethink education systems because they do not sufficiently integrate the values ​​of humanity and peace. A mission all the more urgent as societal violence multiplies


The 2030 Development Agenda of the United Nations includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which “Le Temps” illustrates this week through five personalities.

In March 2003, in Verbier, nearly 250 people gathered on the village square. Delia Mamon remembers it as if it were today: “The American invasion of Iraq got me active. The reasons that led to the war were a blatant falsification of reality. “What particularly angered her is the fact that public opinion” seemed to swallowed everything.” Delia Mamon refuses passivity. To be a citizen, she suggests, is to assume a social responsibility.

In 2005, she created the non-governmental organization Graines de Paix in Geneva, awarded in 2019 by the Smart Peace Prize of the Leaders for Peace Foundation, created by former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin. Objective: to rethink education to pacify social relations and the planet and to develop the students’ faculty of discernment [“skepticism, judgement, free thinking, questioning, and understanding”].

“I learned discernment with my father, an inventor of technological solutions for large companies,” said Delia Mamon, who had the taste to teach at a very young age. She enjoyed learning to read to her brother. With her NGO, of which she is president, she believes that at a time when violence of all kinds is increasing, especially at school, it is time to “educate minds in the culture of peace.” She does not go so far as to say that Dick Cheney, US Vice President at the time of the invasion of Iraq, was reportedly brutalized in school, but she considers the quality of the educational path of each as a major contribution to a less violent society. Graines de Paix focuses on two Sustainable Development Goals in the United Nations 2030 Agenda: Quality Education (SDG 4) and Peacebuilding (SDG 16).

“Peace begins with learning to speak and listen”

A woman of conviction, a former economist at the OECD, before being responsible for strategic marketing for several companies, including Honeywell Europe, which earned her the President’s Award in 1984, Delia Mamon is as clear in her ideas as she is independent. At the age of 15, she went on holiday alone. Even today, she travels without fear.

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(click here for the French original of this article)

Question for this article:

What is the relation between peace and education?

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Although she serves as president on a volunteer basis, Delia Mamon is fully committed to her mission. She believes that she has “never stumbled on a glass ceiling” although she has long worked in marketing. However it is her personal experience in the American and French education systems, her discovery of other systems in Africa and the Middle East that have shaped her reflections on education. Born in the United States of a Russian-speaking father from Samarkand, in present-day Uzbekistan, and a mother from Kiev, she has furthered her experience in several countries, including France, Belgium and Italy.

In the United States, with which she is no longer attached, she enjoyed her school curriculum in a public school in New Jersey, especially with a black teacher: “There was no physical violence . The director of the establishment loved his work. We were in the 1960s. We were evaluated in oral presentations (show and tell). In comparison, the French system, lacking humanity, did not allow me to flourish, it almost destroyed me. Today, I have a very clear vision of what needs to be done or not to be done. “The priority now is to insert more human values, to develop societal cohesion and intercultural understanding, to favor the acquisition of social skills and critical thinking in school curricula. “Peace,” she says, “begins by learning to speak and listen.”

The emotional intelligence of children

Her desire to develop a pedagogical methodology has one goal: to increase the level of education in the broad sense in order to prevent violence and radicalization. Delia Mamon’s commitment to education and peace reflects the oriental influence of her father, and family from Samarkand imbued with the values ​​of openness evoked by the Silk Road, the love for others and Persian hospitality.

Specifically, with its educational specialists and a scientific committee including Professor Philippe Jaffé, a member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, Graines de Paix is ​​developing educational materials for schools, including a collection entitled Growing Up in Peace. In Switzerland, the cantons of Vaud, Friborg and Valais have validated these textbooks of the Geneva NGO. Delia Mamon greatly appreciates the culture of the Swiss consensus. She warns, however, that that there are signs of erosion. The education system must take this into account. In this respect, she welcomes the Romandian School Programme of French-speaking Switzerland, which incorporates notions of “creative thinking”, solidarity and self-esteem. Through a traveling educational exhibition, “Leon and his emotions,” which should soon appear as a book, Graines de Paix considers it essential to develop the emotional intelligence of children.

“We are very active in Ivory Coast, where we are developing a multi-year project,” adds the president. Ivory Coast has been for forty years, like the Yugoslavia of Tito, a benevolent state although authoritarian under the aegis of Felix Houphouet-Boigny. Since the end of the civil war in 2011, the Ivorian authorities have realized the need to restore the culture of peace to avoid a new war. “It starts with school,” says Delia Mamon. Although the practice was banned in 2011, teachers continued to beat students with whips. To remedy this, we developed new educational tools including “Learning in peace, educating without violence”. Globally, physical, sexual and emotional violence affected 50% of children in 2016, nearly one billion people. That’s why our work, says Delia Mamon, is also about helping teachers with tools to prevent such violence. ”

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Europe

Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot educators and activists speak about building peace

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from In Cyprus

Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot educators and activists shared their efforts to build peace in Cyprus in the context of an open day plenary meeting of the 43rd International Institute for Peace Education which is taking place in the Nicosia buffer zone this week [July 23-28].


In 2018, a total of 328 Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot pupils together with 47 accompanying teachers were given the opportunity to visit Strasbourg in the context of the Euroscola programme, head of the European Parliament’s office in Cyprus Andreas Kettis told the conference, in his address.

Kettis said that Euroscola is a pioneering programme implemented by the European Parliament. It is addressed to high school pupils between 16 and 18 years of age, who travel to Strasbourg and in essence perform the duties of MEPs from all 28 EU member states. Teachers, he added, also have the opportunity to mingle and exchange best practices.

He also informed the conference of “together. eu”, a platform introduced by the European Parliament at the end of May. We want to listen to you, to hear your views about how the EU should function in the future, he told participants who hail from EU countries.

Association for Historical Dialogue and Research (AHDR) Co- President and board member of the Home of Cooperation Kyriakos Pachoulides outlined the idea behind the association’s establishment and the Home of Cooperation. The association, he said, envisioned a society in which dialogue on issues of history, historiography, history teaching and history learning is welcomed as an integral part of democracy and is considered as a means for the advancement of historical understanding and critical thinking.

He showed photos from the 1960s where it is evident that the road outside the Home of Cooperation, located in the buffer zone in Nicosia, used to be a scene of armed conflict. Referring to the symbolic reason behind the decision to operate the Home of Cooperation in the buffer zone he noted that “we wanted to show to the people in Cyprus that peace is an option.” Questioning the conflict and the results of the conflict is an option, he said, adding that “we can build a better future for our children.” Our decision, he noted, was to change the “dead zone” as it is known in the Greek Cypriot community and to transform it to a zone for cooperation.

Huseyin Akansoy and Christos Efthymiou spoke of the work done by their bicommunal initiative “Together We Can”. It is a team of relatives of missing persons who in Akansoy’s words “carry a message of change by bringing people together.”

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Question for this article:

Can Cyprus be reunited in peace?

Where is peace education taking place?

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“The pain of relatives of missing persons is the same and has nothing to do with ethnicity,” he noted, adding that the alternative to hatred is “finding our truth.” Together, as Turkish and Greek Cypriots, he said, it is important to be aware of each-others pain.

On his part, Christos Efthymiou said the initiative is a common platform of dialogue and action to raise public awareness regarding the events surrounding the violence which took place in the past and work towards minimising the exploitation of the common suffering to promote nationalism.

“Coming to terms with the violence of our past is very significant,” he said. In the context of the initiative relatives of victims from both sides working together develop a sense of common pain. When relatives of victims talk to open bicommunal meetings the results are remarkable, he added.

Zuhal Mustafaogullari and Stavros Stavrou spoke about their experience as teachers when taking part in the project “Imagine”, a confidence building measure implemented by AHDR which brings school students together from both communities.

Mustafaogullari said she teaches history in Turkish occupied Famagusta. She said that the project was a dream which would become reality with difficulty. When it was announced, she remembers that everyone wanted to take part and they had to have a draw. In the end, it was an outstanding day, she said, adding that on the way back in the bus the students were singing songs of peace. She spoke of the need for the programme to continue and to even have exchange programmes between schools.

Stavrou who teaches in a lyceum in Paphos said that many of Greek Cypriot students had never met Turkish Cypriots. We spoke with all students and found 25 participants and that before the day they travelled to Nicosia and the Home of Cooperation they had workshops to prepare the students. He said that he would not have believed it if he had been told before that in less than 3 hours the students would become friends.

Sener Elcil from KTOS union of Turkish Cypriot teachers and Apostolos Skouroupatis on behalf of POED union of Greek Cypriot elementary school teachers spoke of the cooperation between the unions and the work done to promote a culture of peace.

Elcil said that we need to internalise the peace culture. Peace means dialogue, tolerance, communication, equality, gender equality, he noted, adding that it has a holistic meaning and is embedded in our daily lives. According to Elcil education is the most influential instrument to promote peace among people. He went on outlining all the bicommunal action the union takes in cooperation with other Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot teachers’ unions.

On his part, Skouroupatis said that much has been achieved in recent years with teachers organising activities which have to do with things Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots have in common. The programme Imagine, he said, was a very successful effort, because through it, students had an experience of been in touch in a setting of mutual respect and mutual understanding. He also said that unions make an effort to be in close contact and to issue joint declarations and organise joint marches, adding that there still room for improvement.

The meeting which brings together 75 participants from 35 countries is organised by the Association for Historical Dialogue and Research and the International Institute on Peace Education, is under the aegis of European Parliament President, it is supported by the office of the European Parliament in Cyprus and it is funded by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Europe

Venezuela: the culture of nonviolence is replicated in Petare

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from Cronica Uno

The Diploma in Leadership and Management of the Culture of Peace and Nonviolence is in its second year of application. Cristian and Patri are among a score of boys (many of them already university students) who want to replicate the knowledge needed to attain the culture of peace at the Manuel Aguirre school, located in the neighborhood 24 de Marzo de Petare, Caracas.


“I am 19 years old and I am pleased”, says Cristian Chacón expressing with his body as well as words that he wants to help others and thus attain the culture of nonviolence.

He does social advocacy work. When he graduated from Bachiller he joined an organization called Une Futuro, which works in the formation of leaders with positive influence.

For two years he took part in the training. The first year was personal growth and in the second year, together with his classmates, he presented the project “Youth without diapers”, which was judged among the 10 best in Latin America.

Cristian wanted to continue training as a leader for the common good and so he entered the Diploma in Leadership and Management of the Culture of Peace and Nonviolence that is carried out with the partnership of the organizations Opportunity CA, Monte Ávila University, ReconciliAcción and Mujeres for Citizenship

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(Click here for the original Spanish version of this article.)

Question for this article:

Where is peace education taking place?

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For five hours they give talks, shared tools, help develop life projects, and talk about how to achieve nonviolence, even living in a dangerous place.

“And we found that the students have dreams and that like us they want a better future for the country. What we do is show them with examples of life that this path can be reached and that communication reduces hostility, for example. I apply that with my family, I did it in my building and I have had results “, said Cristian.

The Manuel Aguirre School serves a population of 1200 students from First Grade to Fourth Year. You get there by going up La Bombilla, going through narrow streets, in which you can see children walking with bottles on their backs. “Violence is not only when there are weapons or drugs, also what is seen in the neighborhood with the failure of the services is a type of violence and many do not know how to channel that,” says Patri Carrasquel, 19, one of the social leaders that together with Cristian advance the program “Sé, Piensa, Haz Paz” in the sectors of the Sucre and El Hatillo municipalities.

She studied at the Madre Emilia school in Los Dos Caminos and became involved with the Pelicano religious-social movement, which consists of giving orientation and instilling values ​​to the children and providing social assistance in asylums and shelters.

Nowadays she is the national secretary of that movement, which is in five cities of the country and in Peru. “But I wanted to receive more leadership training to be able to continue helping and I found this environment where there are 50 young people doing this, creating awareness and supporting change”.

She is studying International Studies and is in the world of modeling. However, among her main objectives is social work.

All the youth seeking the diploma are scholars. 1200 dollars is paid by the European Community for each of them. The result is that they become agents of change and reconciliation, becoming citizens able to achieve alliances for community projects and create spaces for opportunities.

The next cohort of the diploma begins on June 12, lasts 12 academic hours. More information is available through the networks @oportunidadac, @mujeryciudadania, @peopleinneedcz and @ueenvenezuela.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America