Category Archives: EDUCATION FOR PEACE

Peace is not just a two-period a week subject – Prajnya Teachers for Peace Training (India)

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article from the Global Campaign for Peace Education

CHENNAI: In the wake of alarming incidents that have threatened the holistic peace in the country and across the world, Prajnya, a Chennai-based NGO has flagged a two-day workshop — ‘Prajnya Teachers for Peace Training’. “In 2005, National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) came up with a National Curriculum Framework (NCF) which says that peace education is a ‘concern cutting across the curriculum and is the concern of all teachers’,” says Swarna Rajagopalan, MD, Prajnya Trust.


Training during a January 2016 peace training session (Photo: The New Indian Express)

Accordingly, schools and teachers are required to integrate peace education across the curriculum and extracurricular activities. “No matter what the teacher has taught, the value of peace education — be it acceptance, inclusivity and sensitivity should be integrated into curricula everywhere. For instance, if you have a math problem, instead of Raja and Jhony, it can be Raja and Lilly. So, inclusivity in everything — modeling and language, gender inclusivity and communal inclusivity are to be a part of the curriculum,” she shares.

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Question for this article:

Where is peace education taking place?

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The idea is not just to teach peace as a ‘two-period a week’ subject. It’s to include the values in everything a teacher shares. But sadly, this practice hasn’t taken off. “It has been hard to implement it in schools. With a minimum classroom strength of 35 and a maximum of 70, multiple divisions and exam pressure, the focus has not fallen on peace education,” elucidates Swarna.

With these short training workshops, Prajnya is trying to give teachers a broad idea of how peace education can be integrated. The two-day training will introduce participants to peace education and the NCF recommendations, facilitate an introspective exploration of what teachers bring into classroom, their communication practices, and values for an inclusive classroom and society; provide the opportunity to identify and design class plans with peace education principles and include a practice and peer mentoring component. “We will have Priyadarshini Rajagopalan, a peace educator-come-teacher and Chintan Girish Modi, another renowned peace activist to facilitate the workshop,” she says.

While the workshop is being conducted in Chennai, it’s not confined to the city. “If anyone from Sriperumbudur, Pondicherry or Kanchipuram want to enroll for the workshop, they are welcome as well. We are looking for teachers from different spectra to join us. Even if one person from a school joins us, it goes back to the school in some way,” she shares.

The workshop will take place once in three months and will be scheduled after assessing  the optimal time for the participants. “As adults, we are losing perspective on how we perceive the world and about asking the right questions.

So, what are we teaching our children? This has to be addressed,” she adds.
(Reposted from: The New Indian Express.  December 30, 2017, by Roshne Balasubramanian)

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, South Asia

Going the Distance for Peace: South Sudanese Educators and Policy Makers Focus on Youth by Training Secondary-School Teachers

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from Relief Web

The majority of the population in South Sudan is under thirty years of age. However, ongoing conflict, high unemployment and lack of consistent access to education risks leaving the generation of youth without the skills to politically, economically, and socially grow the world’s newest nation. Peace and the stability it provides are paramount in South Sudan.

As one way of developing peace-builders and peaceful societies in South Sudan, the Ministry of General Education and Instruction (MoGEI) with the UNESCO Juba Office and UNESCO-International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa (IICBA), hosted a Training of Trainers (ToTs) on Transformative Pedagogy for Peace-Building. From 23-26 January 2018, 24 MoGEI staff and trainers of secondary-school teachers from selected Institutions such as Rombur Teacher Training Institution, Juba Teachers Training Center, Yei TTC, Loka National Secondary School, Malakal Elshabia Secondary School, just to mention a few, participated in the workshop. This ToT is a key element of UNESCO-IICBA’s Teacher Training for Peace-Building in the Horn of Africa and Surrounding Countries project, supported by the Government of Japan.

The overall goal of the project is to train 6,000 secondary-school teachers in South Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Uganda and Eritrea through a Training of Trainers (ToTs) model. By training teachers, the project invests in youth, offering them skills that will help them to become peace-loving and economically and socially productive citizens.

Those trained in Juba, South Sudan will go on to train pre and in-service secondary school teachers to meet the country’s goal of training 1,000 secondary-school teachers.
At the opening ceremony, His Excellency Seiji OKADA, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to South Sudan; Abdullahi Ali, Acting Undersecretary of Ministry of General Education and Instruction; Umar Alam, Head of Office of UNESCO Juba office and Yumiko Yokozeki, Director of UNESCO-International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa (IICBA) provided welcoming remarks. Mr. Umar Alam stated that UNESCO is advocating for giving utmost priority to the peace education initiative in South Sudan, and thanked the Government of Japan and MoGEI for their support. Dr. Yokozeki shared that IICBA is keen to know the needs of the teachers in the continent and believes that teachers carry the key to quality education.

Since 2016, with the support of Japan, IICBA has been working on peace and resilience building, one of the most important issues in South Sudan and the world. IICBA has also spearheaded Prevention of Violent Extremism (PVE) through education in Africa with two multi-country PVE training workshops in Addis Ababa and Dakar in 2017. Ambassador Okada spoke about the important role of teachers in peaceful societies. His Excellency noted that Japan development was a result of investing in people and education. The Honourable Dr. Nadia Arop Dudi, Minister of Youth, Culture and Sports, officially opened the workshop by strongly emphasizing the role of gender in peace education access.

During the weeklong workshop, participants were engaged in dynamic activities designed for teaching peace-building through Transformative Pedagogy. This unique method relies on active participation and deep reflection. It encourages youth to become social entrepreneurs and design community projects to reduce root causes of conflict. Sarah Charles Hakim, a tutor at Rombur National Teacher Training Institute shared that she ‘benefited greatly from the workshop and is eager to implement it in her institution.’

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Question for this article:

What is the relation between peace and education?

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Another participant, Angelo Gume felt that ‘peace-building education is needed in South Sudan to teach youth the skills of critical thinking, active listening, mediation and negotiation so that they can be peace-builders. There is a long way to go, but together teachers, youth, families and communities can create a peaceful society.’ In fact, South Sudanese educators have already gone the distance to learn for other countries experiences in implementing peace education.

As a key activity of the project, from 2-9 August 2017, Ms. Doru Joyce Ladu, a secondary school teacher in Juba joined Mr. Babu Emmanuel Ezibon, Senior Inspector in the Planning Department and Mr. Victor Dut Chol, Director for Research and Policy Documentation both from MoGEI, were part of the 18 policy makers, teacher trainers, and secondary school teachers from the six participating countries who travelled to Japan for training in Tokyo and Hiroshima.

The study tour participants also had the honour to be invited to the Peace Ceremony on 6 August 2017 in Hiroshima. The Japan study tour bridged cultures, histories, and educational experiences between the six African countries and Japan and provided opportunities to share experiences on teaching and peace-building among educators and policy makers.

At the closing ceremony for the workshop, Mr. Takanobu, who represented the Ambassador of Japan in South Sudan, was pleased to hear about the project’s study tour to Japan. He stated that the trainers were like ‘seeds who will generate peace-builders who will also go on to develop additional peace-builders.’ The Honorable Deng Deng Hoc Hai, the Minister of General Education and Instruction, officially closed the workshop by sharing that the new South Sudan National Curriculum had the four objectives of developing good citizens, life-long learners, and creative problem solvers, who were also environmentally responsible persons.

The ministry has a new mandate to have peace-clubs at every school beginning in February 2018. The Honourable minister shared that ‘the right to education is as important as the right to life; education impacts the quality of one’s life and it is the foundation for reaching all the other 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).’ He indicated that the teacher trainers had a great deal of work ahead of them but that they were now well-prepared for the task. The honourable minister thanked the Government of Japan for supporting this training and project.

South Sudan has also been instrumental in other project activities, including the development of teacher guides and participating in the training of trainers from 4-8 September 2017. In March 2018, educators, MoGEI, NGOs, youth and UNESCO will also hold a policy dialogue to discuss how to make the project sustainable.

This UNESCO-IICBA initiative comes at a crucial time as conflicts, disorder, and natural disasters are severely impeding global and regional efforts to improve access to quality education while exacerbating violence and radicalizing youth.

With 42% of its population of 12.2 million under the age of 15, lessons learned from this trip have the potential for great impact of future South Sudanese generations.

Project goals and activities are aligned with Goal 4 and Goal 16 of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the AU’s Agenda 2063. To quote Dr. Yumiko Yokozeki, Director of UNESCO-IICBA, “More young people are enrolled in school in Africa. Therefore, a teacher’s role must be emphasized in promoting peaceful cultures amongst the youth.”

(Thank you to the Global Campaign for Peace Education for calliing this article to our attention.)

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Mideast

Report of the 2nd International Conference on “Peace Education for Peacebuilding” (Armenia)

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from the Global Campaign for Peace Education

The international conference has passed, but the impressions gained during the event [Gyumri, Armenia, December 1-2, 2017] and the fruitful collaboration among the 130 participants from 25 countries remain. It was the second conference on peacebuilding, hosted by “Women for Development” NGO, follow-up of the one in 2007. While the first event intended to present mainly the work of WFD itself, this year’s conference also facilitated the intellectual exchange of others, offering platform, voice and translation and bringing together different field specialists. Among the keynote speakers were Werner Wintersteiner (Austria), Jennifer Batton (USA), Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini (UK), Isabella Sargsyan (Armenia), Gulnara Shahinian (Armenia).


Conference participants

Speakers from Austria to Australia, Ghana to Colombia and Netherlands to Japan, reflected on past experiences and proposed future goals on diverse topics such as domestic violence, violent extremism, global citizenship, Caucasian conflict resolution and many more. The participants and the speakers affirmed that all the challenges and problems faced worldwide in establishing peace and in the area of peacebuilding demand active participation of various representatives of the society.

Through the conference, they expressed the appeal to contribute to the expansion of peace education through formal and non-formal teaching and the creation of a culture of peace among schoolchildren and youth as an essential means to establishing peace and preventing violence and terrorism.

The conference and the following workshop-day enabled practitioners form different continents to introduce their best practices, success stories, to expand their professional network and to exchange opinions on the ongoing challenges, which accompany the implementation of peace education worldwide. Surprisingly, there were plenty of similarities in spite of the specific regional context.

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Question for this article:

Where is peace education taking place?

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The impact and the outreach of the event would not have been possible without the support, sponsorship and collaboration of GPPAC’s Peace Education Working Group taking part actively on the side of the speakers.

Jennifer Batton, keynote speaker and experienced professional, opened the conference and offered priceless input on peace education in the United States. Her GPPAC colleagues: Iryna Brunova-Kalisetska (Ukraine), Carlos José González Hernández (Colombia), Charlotte Divin (Netherlands), Tatjana Popovic (Serbia), Ahmed Bukli (Iraq), Kesia-Onam Bijou Birch (Ghana), Gary Shaw (Australia), Nina Bagdasarova (Kyrgyzstan), Kazuya Asakawa (Japan) and Isabelle Peter (Switzerland) all contributed both to the conference programme and later provided hands-on exercises during the post-conference workshop day in Gyumri Commercial Center on 03.12.

The official host of the conference itself was Gyumri Technology Center, the most modern equipped building in the city, which offered great opportunity for impeccable programme flow, parallel workshops and cozy time between the sessions during the coffee-break and the lunch on the spot.

The conference offered the participants the opportunity to get to know the Armenian culture, including the typical folks dance Khochari, performed together with a local dance group in the Youth Center Hayordac Tun. There they were also shown an exhibition of children’s painting – the result of the art contest “I am a Sower of Peace”, carried out annually by “Women for Development” NGO. Another evening highlight was the visit to Black Fortress – an old abandoned Russian fortress with spectacular architecture.

The closing of the conference was marked by classical live music, a lot of positive energy and mutual gratitude for the productive exchange and, last but not least, by the celebration of WFD NGO 20th anniversary since its foundation in December 1997 in Gyumri.

There was great interest in the work of the international speakers from the side of the local residents in Gyumri. Following the conference, GPPAC Peace Education Working Group members Kesia-Onam Bijou Birch, Carlos José González Hernández and Ahmed Baqir Bukli were welcomed by the rector and the professors of Shirak State University. The guests met with the rector Sahak Minasyan and vice-rector Anahit Farmanyan who asked for a possible collaboration with the GPPAC members via WFD NGO, for sharing the experience and lessons learnt in different countries with the purpose to integrate “Conflict management education” in the University in a non-formal education method.

“Women for Development” NGO as host of the international conference “Peace Education for Peacebuilding” and as an active player on the field for the past 15 years believes that the integration of peace education into the education system worldwide is one of the most important steps in the journey of achieving peace. That is at the same time the reason to dedicate its efforts towards the goal and the motivation for the future projects.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Europe, global,

Search for Common Ground: Vision for 2018

. EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

A letter from Shamil Idriss, President & CEO of Search for Common Ground

Thanks to your support, Search for Common Ground is off to a great start in 2018.

2017 was a year of profound transformation for Search. In our latest progress report, Conflict ReImagined, we present some of the changes that we have made with your help.

Thanks to you, we are poised to accomplish even greater results in 2018. Here are some of the things we’re planning for the year ahead:


Supporting Local Solutions In Urgent Crises

In 2017, armed conflicts brought Yemen, South Sudan, and parts of Nigeria to the brink of famine. This year, we are scaling up our efforts to help end these conflicts. In Yemen, our all-Yemeni team is supporting mediation between communities affected by the crisis and working with teachers to keep kids in school and out of armed groups. In Nigeria, we are launching a new partnership with humanitarian organizations to help communities rebuild their lives in the Lake Chad Basin. Our radio and theater productions in South Sudan continue to garner attention. In February, Media Coordinator Daniel Lokolong will travel to Brussels to receive the Austrian Government’s Intercultural Achievement Award in honor of our innovative work in South Sudan.

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Question for this article:

Can peace be guaranteed through nonviolent means?

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Fostering Innovation and Experimentation

Technology is quickly changing societies around the world. We’re adapting as well as experimenting with new techniques. In Nepal, we’ve built on the success of our TV drama Singha Durbar and just launched a smartphone e-governance app that gives citizens information on government institutions, along with guidance on how to access justice and legal services.

During the last elections in Sierra Leone, we partnered with researchers at Stanford University to rigorously test the effectiveness of electoral debates, work that was profiled in The New York Times. As Sierra Leoneans get ready to go to the polls this March, we’re working with hundreds of civil society groups, journalists, and researchers to strengthen citizen engagement. Our work has already attracted notice. This month, the Sierra Leone’s Council of Chief Executives named us the “Best NGO of 2017” in the peacebuilding category.

Taking Local Insight to International Policymakers

Our colleagues around the world have unique insight and understanding of conflict dynamics. We launched a new white paper series, where we highlighted local perspectives from Yemen, Nigeria, and South Sudan. As our work has become appreciated, we’ve been asked to give testimonies and briefings for the United States Congress, the United Nations Security Council, and the British Parliament. In 2018, we’ll increase our efforts to help global decision-makers to build a more peaceful world.

These goals are ambitious, but your continued support will make them a reality. Thank you for joining in our vision of a 2018 full of breakthroughs for a healthier, safer, and more just world.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, global

Venezuela: Educational sector plans to train teachers in culture of peace

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from Correo del Orinoco (translated by CPNN)

The training of teachers in values ​​linked to the thought and practice of peace will be developed in the debates that this weekend (20 January) are held throughout the country for the preparation of the National Plan for 2019-2025.


“Los espacios educativos queremos que se conviertan en espacios para la paz; unas instituciones educativas que funcionen como ejemplo de cultura para la paz y donde no sólo se piense, sino que se practique la paz”, explicó el profesor de Física José Azuaje, en un programa especial transmitido por VTV.

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(Click here for the original article in Spanish)

Questions for this article:

Where is peace education taking place?

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Por su parte,la viceministra para le Educación, María Eugenia Piñero, en su intervención en el espacio televisivo, resaltó la unión que se ha afianzado en pro de una formación con conciencia de libertad en todo el gremio educativo que incluye al personal administrativo, docentes, consejos educativos y estudiantes.

“Ahora más que nunca tenemos un magisterio unido, que apuesta por una educación liberadora, por eso llamo a todos los docentes a seguir sumando propuestas en estas asambleas para consolidar un importante nivel de conciencia en la educación”, refirió Piñero.

El propósito de promover la cultura de paz es promover valores de aceptación y convivencia entre los estudiantes con miras a construir un futuro para la sociedad venezolana al margen de la violencia.

Este sábado el ministro para la Educación, Elías Jaua, se reunió con el sector educativo del país para debatir sus aportes al Plan de la Patria 2019-2025, desde la Unidad Educativa Bolivariana Pedro Fontes en la parroquia La Vega de Caracas, donde agradeció la atención de la comunidad educativa al debate que continuará este domingo en 3.500 espacios del país.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

El Salvador to prioritize culture of peace in its schools

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from Prensa Latina (translated by CPNN)

El Salvador will give prioritiy in all its teaching systems to the culture of peace, the education minister, Carlos Canjura announced today [22 January]..

In this way, memory, identity, values ​​and civic competence will be promoted so that the Salvadoran nation can continue its development process without forgetting where it comes from, the official stressed.


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(Click here for the original article in Spanish)

Questions for this article:

What is the relation between peace and education?

Where is peace education taking place?

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In a text published on Monday at the official site of the presidency of this country, he gave as an example the so-called Open House program, which seeks to train children, and highly responsible youth, not only for their own development, but also for their family, their community, and the country.

He recalled that on the initiative of Salvadoran President Salvador Sánchez Cerén, in the culture of peace platform, teachers and specialists should participate actively in preparing pedagogical content at all levels of education beginning from early childhood.

Canjura said that the contents prepared by his ministry together with the secretary of culture are tools that equip students to reflect on themselves and their daily life.

He added that the priority is needed because the country has experienced a painful history which, in many cases, young people do not know and which adults tend to forget.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

Brazil: FINOM participates in Meeting of the National Pact for the Promotion of Respect for Diversity, Culture of Peace and Human Rights

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from the website of the Faculdade do Noroeste de Minas (translated by CPNN)

The “University Pact for the Promotion of Respect for Diversity, Culture of Peace and Human Rights” celebrated one year in November 2017. The occasion was marked by a meeting in Brasilia so that institutions could present their initiatives and exchange experiences. The event took place between December 5 and 6, in the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), with the participation of 64 institutions of higher education.


The pact is an initiative of the Ministry of Education, with the support of the Ministry of Human Rights, and aims to promote human rights education in higher education and overcome violence, prejudice and discrimination.

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(Click here for the article in Portuguese)

Questions for this article:

How do we promote a human rights, peace based education?

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As one of the more than 300 Brazilian institutions enrolled in the University Pact, FINOM was represented at the anniversary meeting of the Pact by the Academic Director, Professor José Ivan.

The dynamics of the meeting were very well organized, because through the adopted methodology, the participants were divided into groups and all had the opportunity to present the work programs that have been carried out in the institutions under the program.

The main objective of this event was to promote the exchange of experiences between institutions, and the goal was fully achieved, since the highlight of the meeting was the sharing of institutional experiences.

According to the professor and Academic Director, José Ivan, “the meeting was a great opportunity to gather information that further enriches the institutional program to promote human rights education and a culture of peace and respect for diversity.”

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

Mexico: Hip-hop: coexistence for peace

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article by Maribel Sánchez for Diario de Xalapa

With the aim of contributing to the creation of spaces that foster social and community coexistence of youth in favor of culture and peace, on Friday 8 and Saturday 9 December, feature films will be screened in Xalapa, along with a dialogue table, an open forum of hip-hop and a photographic exhibition of street art.

Titled Hip-hop: coexistence for peace. Art, culture and celebration, the meeting is coordinated by representatives of the Collective Cinema Collection, the Center for Culture and Communication Studies, the Music, Society and Globalization Seminar and the Anthropological Looks workshop (Ciesas-Golfo), which coincide in that “Hip-hop as a youth culture has been stigmatized by relating it to conduct of clandestinity, illegality, delinquency and poverty, spreading a negative image of the people involved in it.”

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(click here for the Spanish version of this article.)

Question for this article:

What place does music have in the peace movement?

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However, they clarify that hip-hop is an artistic and cultural movement that integrates a universe of expressions that go from the local to the global. They also see it “as a way of life adopted by young people to express themselves, to be visible to society and to coexist with other sectors of the population”, reasons why through it they will seek to transmit a message of non-violence.

Some of the questions on which it will reflect are: How to weave networks of youth in with diverse and heterogeneous citizenship? How do people’s experiences start from cultural communities? Can hip-hop guide us towards possible paths of peace?

Salvador Ponce, Ana I. León, Mariano Báez and Homero Ávila inform interested parties that the first activity will be Friday at 6:00 pm in the Aula Clavijero (Juárez 55), where the documentary Somos Lengua will be exhibited, with which the Director Kyzza Terrazas explores the relationship that some Mexican rappers have with words, expressing their immediate day by day reality.

On Saturday 9, from 12 a.m. to 9 p.m. in Espacio Obra Negra (91 De la Rosa Street, Colonia Salud), the day will begin with the dialogue table Hip-Hop: youth and culture of peace, to continue with the screening of short films by filmmakers Locals, an open hip hop forum and the exhibition 20 years of street art in Xalapa, by photographer Ulises Martínez Ciprés, in collaboration with Roberto Ruiz and Amehd Villegas. At the closing will be the presence of Dj Aka and Stilo (Línea Enferma).

The entrance to each of the activities will be free.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

South Korea: Artists, activists to promote peace in Cheongju

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article by You Soo-sun in Peace News

An international event will bring 500 cultural activists to Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, Friday [November 10].

Under the theme “Designing a Culture of Empathy, Culture of Peace,” artists, experts and activists representing 50 countries including the U.S. , Yemen, Japan, Rwanda and France will gather for the three-day event, Better Together 2017.


The event is being run by World Culture Open (WCO), an international network of global activists, and is funded by North Chungcheong Province and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Since 1999, WCO has initiated numerous projects with the aim of bringing the world closer together.

The network has invited over 500 people from various fields including the arts, humanities, science, education and environment to share how they have utilized their talents to improve the global community.

Read the whole story in Artists, activists to promote peace in Cheongju | Korea Times.

Question for this article:
East Asia, EDUCATION FOR PEACE

Peru: Launch of the national extrajudicial conciliation campaign

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from La Republica

The national mega-campaign of the “Week of Extrajudicial Conciliation” began yesterday [November 13]. The purpose of the campaign is to promote and disseminate out-of-court conciliation as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism of the General Directorate of Public Defense and access to Justice in Tacna.

“This is a tool that encourages and forms the culture of peace in our country,” said Christian Fernández, general secretary of the Free Conciliation Center of the Justice Ministry of Tacna.

He also said that the main mission of this process is for the parties involved in a conflict to reach consensual solutions, which are recorded in an act that has a value similar to a judicial decision.

During the week various activities will be carried out to promote this campaign.

(click here for the Spanish version)

Question for this article:
EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America