Tag Archives: Africa

Rwanda: Peace Education Added to National Curriculum

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article from KT Press

Twenty three years ago, Rwanda was at the extreme of destruction – a million lives were lost in a genocide against Tutsi. However, when the Rwanda Patriotic Front stopped the genocide and defeated government army, it embarked on a battle to build a peaceful country.

Next year, students in Primary, secondary and university will begin studying ‘peace building’ as part of their curriculum. Students are considered important change agents including; educators, decision makers and researchers. Government has found it necessary to integrate Peace education into the National Education Curriculum under a new program ‘Education for Sustainable Peace in Rwanda(ESPR)’.


Fidele Ndayisaba, the Executive Secretary of the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission
Click on photo to enlarge

ESPR program was launched today by the Ministry of Education during a three day Peace Education conference that is taking place in Kigali from February 20-22.

Over 100 local and international peace building experts, researchers, are holding panel discussions exchanging through existing tools , methodology and content contributing to a stronger base for peace education.

Based on the genocide history, Rwanda is taken as a good example that peace education can have a great impact.

“Rwanda has a lot to share on peace education but also in other areas of progress,” said Johan Debar, in charge of Affairs of the Kingdom of Belgium Embassy to Rwanda, also one of speakers.

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Question for this article:

Peace Studies in School Curricula, What would it take to make it happen around the world?

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Kenny Osborne, Deputy Head of Department For International Development in Rwanda and also one speakers said that Rwanda continues to invest in basic education to take these lessons to regional level.

Isaac Munyakazi, the Minister of State in charge of primary and secondary education told participants that he was confident the program would achieve its aim – by catalysing pluralistic and constructive exchange.

“We need to equip our teachers to make sure the program will be implemented,” Munyakazi said.

The Rwanda Peace Education Program(RPEP) was launched through collaborative efforts between Aegis, Institute of Research and Dialogue for Peace, Radio La Benevolencia and USC Shoah Foundation.

Under RPEP, 7500 students and 300 teachers were across the country trained.

“Through this program we saw successful integration of peace and values. Lessons from RPEP will be taught to students in a every class in the country,” Munyakazi told participants.

Fidele Ndayisaba, the Executive Secretary of the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission told participants, “intergeneration transmission and trauma are still issues to deal with; however reconciliation is a continuous process.”

The Peace Education Conference was for the first time organised by Aegis Trust – that campaigns to prevent genocide worldwide; with the support of the UK, Sweden and US governments.

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

Africa, EDUCATION FOR PEACE

2015-16 Recipients of UN Youth Solidarity Fund, Africa and Middle-East

TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY .

From the website of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations

The Youth Solidarity Fund (YSF) supports youth-led organizations that foster peaceful and inclusive societies by providing direct funding to outstanding projects promoting intercultural and interfaith dialogue. Established in 2008, the Fund responded to calls for action made by youth-led organizations around the world on the importance of establishing funding mechanisms for youth. Today, the Fund is more relevant than ever: As the global agenda increasingly speaks of youth’s participation and contribution to peace, development and security, it is critical to support this participation and contribution through funding and partnership opportunities.


Foto from AFCIG
(Click on the photo to enlarge)

The funded projects are youth-led and youth-focused (18-35 years) but have an impact on entire communities, often involving religious or political leaders, policy-makers, educational institutions and media organizations. The Fund also links small scale and local work to larger movements for social and global change, for a broader and deeper impact.

UNAOC offers technical support and capacity building to the organizations during and/or after the implementation of funded projects in the areas of gender mainstreaming, media relations, advocacy, financial management, networking, sustainability, monitoring and evaluation.

Since 2008, UNAOC has launched four editions of the YSF and provided funding to youth-led organizations based in Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe. A total of 43 projects were completed as of 2015 reaching a total of over 800,000 persons (youth and non-youth) in over 30 countries.

Here are the five projects chosen in 2015-2016 to be supported (text abbreviated):

1) Action Foundation Common Initiative Group (AFCIG)

AFCIG, based in Cameroon, enables youth to attain independence through self-help, good health and entrepreneurship, in a culture of excellence, gender sensitivity, leadership and innovation. Its key areas of work are: conducting research; developing and implementing programs and projects to promote the development of youth; and advocating for the creation of an enabling environment within which youth can develop. Their projects focus of human and electoral rights, culture and peacebuilding, health and HIV/AIDS, education and entrepreneurship and the environment. . .

One Cameroon (OC) seeks to promote tolerance, respect and acceptance of different religions, cultures and languages by Cameroonian youth. The project encourages youth to leverage the advantages inherent in both cultures and different religions, such as the ability to speak both French and English. It will promote unity among youth from all backgrounds, reject secessionist tendencies and promote peace and unity between Muslims, Christians and Traditionalists in the context of increasing islamophobia. By the end of the project AFCIG expects to:

– Organize 3 workshops to train 60 peer educators to develop their capacity to promote the strength of their country’s diversity, religious and cultural tolerance amongst youth and other Cameroonians;

– Develop a media campaign on peace, religious and cultural tolerance, especially with respect to the Anglophone-Francophone cultures and the Christian-Muslim religions to reach over 2 million Cameroonians in the form of social media posts, spots broadcast on national television, music and radio debates promoting religious and cultural tolerance broadcast on local radio.

2) Approches Locales pour le Développement Durable (ALDED)

ALDED, based in Cameroon, aims to contribute to improving the living conditions of disadvantaged and marginalized populations through the valorization of local initiatives for sustainable development. Its key areas of work are: support for socio-economic integration of young people of all categories; independent monitoring of public policies at local level; promotion and protection of human rights and the fight against corruption. . .

ALDED proposed a project that would contribute to strengthening religious tolerance and constructive dialogue in this context, especially among youth. The project aims to contribute to improving the understanding and the culture of interreligious tolerance in the young population of central, southern and eastern regions Cameroon. By the end of the project ALDED expects to:

– Organize 3 radio roundtables between representatives of different religious faiths and local boards of the Youth in target regional capitals on issues of religious tolerance in Cameroon;

– Create a Facebook forum of around 3000 young people to exchange on challenges and opportunities of religious, cultural and ethnic diversity in Cameroon;

– Produce awareness raising and educational materials (streamers, bilingual comic strips) on interreligious stigma and discrimination and on the difference between the principles of peace promoted by religions such as Islam and acts of religious extremism made by extremist groups such as Boko Haram;

– Train 90 youth leaders on interreligious and intercultural dialogue and tolerance;

– Establish a network of 90 focal points monitoring and managing conflicts arising from interreligious stigma and discrimination.

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Question for this article

Youth initiatives for a culture of peace, How can we ensure they get the attention and funding they deserve?

How can just one or a few persons contribute to peace and justice?

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3) Leadership Initiative for Youth Empowerment (LIFE)

LIFE works in Nigeria since 2012 to empower young people with life skills, information and capacity building to promote their self-actualization. The organization’s key areas of work are: human rights, leadership, peacebuilding and intercultural learning. . .

Leadership Initiative for Youth Empowerment (LIFE) through its Volunteer Corps intends to intervene in this challenge. Specifically, LIFE will train young people from the Muslim community of internally displaced persons and young people from the local community, including Christians and others, to serve as Intercultural Ambassadors. These ambassadors will serve as interns in churches and mosques and will implement community events to promote understanding and tolerance. The project aims at promoting intercultural learning as a key element for peace in Lagos State. By the end of the project LIFE expects to:

– Train 60 youth representatives to act as intercultural ambassadors and increase intercultural learning among internally displaced persons and community residents in 6 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Lagos State Nigeria;

– Raise awareness on the importance of intercultural and interreligious learning for peaceful co-existence for 3,000 young people and 30,000 community members in 6 LGAs;

– Organize 5-month internships for the 60 intercultural ambassadors in 30 religious organizations;

– Offer 4 awareness-raising sessions on intercultural learning for peaceful co-existence to 1,200 participants in 6 LGAs.

4) Palestinian Center for Communication and Development Strategies (PCCDS)

PCCDS works since 2009 in the West Bank in the areas of youth, human rights and development. They build the capacity of youth on the issues of democracy, justice, social accountability, non-violence and human rights. . .

PCCDS’s project proposes to open new doors of dialogue among Palestinian Islamist, Secular and Liberal youth, animated by the belief that young men and women have a strong power to change themselves and effect positive social change. It also aims to further empower young Palestinians to be part of the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and contribute to peacebuilding. By the end of the project, they expect to:

– Train 50 students from 2 universities on intellectual and cultural dialogue;

– Sensitize 390 young Islamist, Secular and Liberal young people on the necessity of intellectual and cultural dialogue;

– Issue two booklets written by young Islamist, Secular and Liberal participants on intellectual and cultural dialogue and distribute them in cooperation with university administrations;

– Launch an online forum for intellectual and cultural dialogue giving space to the multiple perspectives and a platform for their interaction;

– Hold an anti-extremism youth national dialogue conference and mainstream its outcomes with the media, government, political parties and community leaders.

5) YaLa Palestine

YaLa believes in the power of education to empower young Palestinians and Middle Easterners to build a better, more peaceful future for themselves and for the region. YaLa works since 2011 to develop on- and off-line educational projects in the areas of citizen journalism, community organizing, youth empowerment, dialogue and peacebuilding. YaLa believes that citizen journalism is a powerful tool to provide a counter voice to the traditional media that often inflames conflict and tensions. Citizen journalism can be used to create a space for individuals to promote nuanced perspectives that underpin the processes of understanding, peace and reconciliation. . .

YaLa proposed a project that would harness new media activism as an unprecedented opportunity for influencing the younger generation and the wider public in MENA in favor of greater understanding, coexistence and peace. Through citizen journalism training and practice, the project seeks to enable Arab and Israeli youth to engage new media more effectively to promote positive messages of understanding and peace, and to develop acquaintance, empathy and trust via online and face-to-face learning and collaboration opportunities. Ultimately, the youth will be motivated to develop and share – with each other and the world – original and fresh citizen journalism pieces on their identity, religion, traditions, daily life, aspirations and other issues of importance to them as a way to increase mutual understanding and cooperation and reduce conflict and polarization. By the end of the project, YaLa expects to:

– Conduct a 4-month online training program in Citizen Journalism for Coexistence for 55 Palestinian, Israeli and MENA youth, meeting on a bi-weekly basis;

– Hold two face-to-face workshops on storytelling and videomaking for 20 Palestinian and 20 Israeli youth participants;

– Produce a video of the storytelling and videomaking workshops to offer as an online learning resource for MENA participants and other youth;

– Post and disseminate online and in mainstream and non-mainstream media some of the journalism pieces produced by the participants in order to advocate for and foster a more inclusive and diverse practice of media production and consumption.

Africa, Mideast, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY,

Africa: The Festival of Amani strengthens our ability to live together

. EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article from Radio Okapi (translated by CPNN)

The 4th edition of the Amani Festival ended on Sunday (February 12th) in Goma (North Kivu). Over its three days, more than 30,000 people from all walks of life took part in this great cultural event for the promotion of peace in the Great Lakes region. Music, dance, exhibition of works of art, promotion of entrepreneurship … there was a diversity that pleased everyone.

The organizers of the festival are pleased with the success of this event, which they believe is contributing to peace building efforts in the region.

“Our goal is to reinforce our ability to live together. And in a post-conflict region, like the [Great Lakes] region, where many of the young people who attended the festival have lived through traumatic times, the festival fits in with its theme of being able to encourage living together” explained Vianney Bisimwa, the festival administrator.

The event provided an opportunity to strengthen the links between people and to help alleviate the trauma that the young people have lived through, he continued.

When people gather at this festival, they do not see themselves as ethnic groups, or other forms of identity differences, but “on the contrary, they look at each other in relation to what they have in common. It means the love of music and dance and the attachment to entrepreneurship. ”

One of the positive results of the festival, according to Vianney Bisimwa, are opportunities in the entrepreneurship sector:

“We have previously seen the success of the project CIGOM, a project funded by the Amani festival, which engages in the production of chalk. And we have many artists who, after the festival, have undertaken [some projects]. ”

[Note: For CPNN articles about the previous three editions of the Amani festival, see here for 2016, here for 2015 and here for 2014.]

(Click here for the original French version of this article)

 

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Africa, EDUCATION FOR PEACE

Benin to introduce education for culture of peace

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article from aContonou

Some 100 actors in the Beninese education system have been examining since Thursday in Cotonou the practical modalities of introducing, in the national education system, the manual on education for peace, human rights, citizenship, democracy and regional integration prepared by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).


Paulin Hountondji, President of the National Council of Education © Autre presse by DR
Click on photo to enlarge

Speaking at the opening of the national workshop on education for a culture of peace in Benin, Paulin Hountondji, chairman of the National Council of Education of Benin, deplored the fact that this manual, published by the ECOWAS, is not in use in schools in the subregion and particularly in Benin while the need is urgent on the ground.

“Recognizing the limitations of the security approach that privileges military responses, ECOWAS has deemed it opportune and even imperative to develop, for all member countries of its space, this manual “to construct the defenses of peace in the minds of men.”

He also felt that with the exacerbation of religious terrorism and the tragedies that it brings to life on a daily basis in the world, in Africa and particularly in the West African subregion, the approach to peace by another path becomes a categorical imperative

(Click here for the original version of this article in French)

Question for this article:
Africa, EDUCATION FOR PEACE

2016 WFUNA Young Leader is Zimbabwean

TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY .

An article from the Herald

Zimbabwean youth Bernard Bebe has been selected as the World Federation of United Nations Associations Young Leader of 2016 following his outstanding contribution towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16.

Bernard, of the Zimbabwe United Nations Association ZUNA, was selected after a rigorous process supported by an evaluating committee composed of three members of the WFUNA Youth Advisory Council in addition to WFUNA secretariat staff.

The top three nominees were interviewed based on their contribution to the development of the UNA Leadership qualities, overall work on peace and security issues and their strong understanding of elements contained in UN Sustainable Development Goal 16.

Bernard had been actively involved in the field of peace for a year In 2013 he joined UNA-Zimbabwe whilst he was a second-year student at Bindura University of Science Education.

He is in the national team responsible for organising Peace Day in Zimbabwe through a coalition of peace activists from both civil society and the Government.

Currently, he is working to proactively counter religious conflicts through a programme called Religious Tolerance in which he is working mostly with different religious groups in Zimbabwe to cultivate a culture of peace.

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Question for this article

Is there a renewed movement of solidarity by the new generation?

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Bernard works mostly with youths from high schools and universities. He has also been actively involved in ending gender based violence against women and girls.

He is also a trained human rights activist who has a keen interest in promoting women rights.

Speaking after the nomination Bernard said he was humbled by the recognition from such a renowned world body.

“This shows that the world is now appreciating the efforts of youths and at the same time taping into their potential,” he said.

“UN Security Council Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security has empowered us youths to step up our efforts in bringing about peace in our community therefore I will continue towards the attainment of Sustainable Development Goal number 16 which focus on promoting peace, justice and strong institutions.

“My message to other youths out there is that lets use our time to volunteer and bring positive change to our community especially in as far as these sustainable development goals are concerned because we are the SDG Generation,” said Bebe.

WFUNA supports and encourages youth engagement and participation in the United Nations Associations and United Nations Youth Associations around the world through the WFUNA Youth Network.

Every year, WFUNA sets a theme and calls for nominations for young people from the WFUNA Youth Network working within that theme.

From the nominations, the WFUNA secretary-general and WFUNA youth advisory council select three young leaders to be interviewed.

After each nominee is interviewed, a final candidate will be selected as the WFUNA young leader of the year. A WFUNA young leader of the year has to be able to inspire other youth to be involved in global issues

Africa, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

Third Annual Africa Arts4Peace Forum to be held January 25-29

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

A document from the Africa Arts4Peace Forum

Building on the success of the first and second Africa Arts4Peace Forums in 2015 and 2016; as part of pre-events of the AU January Summits. The third Africa Arts4Peace Forum will be held from the 25 to 29 January 2017 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on the theme: ‘’Silencing the Guns by 2020; Role of Youth, Artists and Media’’. The meeting will discuss, strategize and co-create ways to strengthen youth, artistic and media leadership skills for the promotion of culture of peace; good governance, democracy and human rights in the realization of AU’s strategy on ‘Silencing the Guns’ by 2020 in Africa.

AAPI believes that the only viable and sustainable way to promote long lasting peace is to inculcate the culture of peace and non-violence in the minds of the citizenry and most especially the young (who are not only the future leaders, but the leaders of today). The forum and related activities will create a platform in which youth, artists, media and various stakeholders can co-create an ‘’action factory for peace’’, retool and advocate creatively for peace education, social justice, conflict prevention and non-violent conflict resolution strategies in Africa, using the AU and UN peace mechanisms as a prefix.

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Question for this article:

Do the arts create a basis for a culture of peace?

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The African Artists Peace Initiative (AAPI) www.aapiafrica.org is a Pan-African movement of artists and peace-makers, championing a culture of peace and non-violence in Africa. The overarching objective is to use ”ARTS” as a weapon and tool for nurturing a culture of peace based on values, attitude, and ways of life conducive to the promotion of peace among individuals, groups and society. The movement is inspired by the AU Constitutive Act, AU Make Peace Happen Campaign, AU 2063 Agenda and the UNESCO Culture of Peace and Non-Violence Campaign.

AAPI currently has 43 country coordinating teams , 80 celebrity ambassadors, and over 10,000 members across Africa and Diaspora.

NOTE: AAPI does NOT have funding to cover the travels and accommodation for applicants/participants. We are available to support you in booking affordable accommodation in Addis-Ababa and obtaining an Ethiopian Visa Upon Arrival for countries without Ethiopian Embassies.

Email: arts4peaceforum@gmail.com for all inquiries and further information

DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATION: 8TH JANUARY 2017

For the registration form, click here and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Africa, EDUCATION FOR PEACE

Second international conference on the culture of peace in Africa

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An article from the Angola Press Agency

The 2nd international conference on the culture of peace in Africa, which ended Monday [December 12] in Luanda, is a testament to Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos’ commitment to promoting durable peace on the continent, said the Director of the Regional Office UNESCO Multisectoral Program in the Countries of Central Africa, Felix Iyé.


A cultural event during the 2nd international conference on the culture of peace
click on the photo to enlarge

The representative of the United Nations Fund for Education and Culture (UNESCO) was speaking at the ceremony of the event sponsored by the Eduardo dos Santos Foundation (FESA), in celebration of his 20th birthday and his 73 year old patron, José Eduardo dos Santos.

Speaking to representatives of more than a dozen African countries, Cameroonian Félix lyé said that the event is a sufficient testimony of Angola and President José Eduardo dos Santos, in favor of promoting the culture of durable peace in Africa.

He added that in the world-wide concept of education and citizenship there is a conviction that peace can not have a lasting basis if respect for all is not encouraged in ways that foster a sense of belonging to a common humanity and help learners to become Citizens of the world, responsible and active.

The event, which was opened by Education Minister Pinda Simão and closed by his Youth and Sports counterpart, Albino da Conceição, was attended by representatives of the networks of research institutions to promote a culture of peace in Africa, led by Fesa, and Of other institutions, Cameroon, South Africa, South Sudan, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Senegal, Congo, Nigeria, Tunisia, Belgium, Botswana, Gabon, Uganda, Niger, among others.

The 2nd conference, a social object of Fesa, addressed the “prevention of violence and the promotion of a culture of peace in electoral period in Africa: What contributions of the network of foundations and research institutions.”

He also discussed the “role of young people in the prevention of violence and the promotion of a culture of peace in the electoral period” and a presentation was made of the campaign for the culture of peace in Central Africa: Two different words, one language: Peace [See CPNN articles from July 11 and July 20, 2016].

( Click here for the Portuguese original.)

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Question related to this article.

The Luanda Biennale: What is its contribution to a culture of peace in Africa

Will UNESCO once again play a role in the culture of peace?

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The 2nd international conference for the promotion of peace in Africa was held under the motto Prevention of Violence and Pormotion of the Culture of Peace in the Elietoral period in Africa.

[The following is added from another article from the Angola Press Agency

At the 2nd International Conference on the Culture of Peace in Africa, Education Minister Pinda Simão reaffirmed that the country has accepted the challenges of embarking on the Unesco Operational Strategy2014 / 2021, which identifies peacebuilding through the formation of a society Inclusive, peaceful and resilient, with a goal to maintain peace.

He added that at the same time there was a growing sense of responsibility and solidarity with other African peoples, such as coordinating efforts in the Great Lakes region, the Central African Republic, Guinea-Bissau and other territories seeking peace.

In this regard, he recalled that the concept of a culture of peace was born in Africa during the international conference on peace and the spirit of men organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO in 1998 in Côte d’Ivoire).

Elucidating that the culture of peace consists in developing values, attitudes and behaviors that reflects and favors the coexistence and partnership founded on the principles of freedom, justice and democracy in all human rights, tolerance, solidarity, rejecting violence and dedicating itself to Prevention and conflict.

“As having its root causes and problem solving through dialogue and negotiation to ensure full exercise of its rights, as a member of participation in the process of development of the person and society,” he said.

For the minister, peace is a deeply rooted desire in humanity. It is the inspiration of a reconciled society and is the condition of a decent life, because to be human peace is not a natural process but culture. Therefore, it needs to be built, consolidated and cared for, educating for peace.

“Pope Paul VI reinforced the idea of ​​peace by presenting peace as the new face of development. This is not a ready thing is a continuous make, it is a dynamic and permanent process that affects all people and all institutions, “he stressed.

Africa, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

Winners of Youth Innovation Challenge to Engage in Peacebuilding in South Sudan

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An article from PC Tech Magazine

The Youth Innovation Challenge for Peace was organized by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Community Security and Arms Control Project to specifically recognize the strength of youth-led initiatives and the impact of home-grown ideas on societies emerging from conflict. 132 youth attended the original introduction workshop when the competition launched in August 2016.


UNDP call for proposals

From there, 150 ideas were submitted and 26 semi-finalists were selected by an evaluation committee to participate in this week’s “ideation workshop”.

In a press statement, Eugene Owusu; Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, said; “The purpose of the challenge is not to reward ideas with dollars but to inspire and nurture creativity that would transform South Sudan.”

“ The challenge is about building a culture of peace and thrusting the youth at the forefront of creativity and social change, amplifying their ambition and smart use of new technology to engage and transform their society,” Owusu adds.

The participants received guidance and support for refining their ideas, structuring their proposals, and delivering effective presentations from UNDP’s Regional Innovation Advisor for Africa Mr. Mark Lepage and local open technology experts from Juba Hub (jHub).

Lightning-round sessions were held on Tuesday, where each project had seven minutes to present their idea in whatever format they chose.

Semi-finalists were judged based on a common set of criteria: clarity and presentation of their idea; creativity and originality of their idea; addresses the issue of engaging youth in peace; viability in the long term and financial sustainability; number of youth and general population who could benefit; implementable and realistic; scalable and replicable; and gender and social inclusion.

Winners

The overall winning proposal, taking home the top prize of US$10,000 was an individual submission from Mr. Kwaje called 64 Hands SACCO (savings and credit co-operative society), which combines social entrepreneurship with peace-building by providing South Sudanese small and medium enterprises access to a community-based source of financing.
64 Hands SACCO is designed to be propelled by youth drawn from all 64 tribes in South Sudan.

Kilkilu ana Comedy Extra placed second, with seed funding of US$6,000 to execute their vision of developing multi-lingual comedy performances to promote healing, understanding, and reconciliation. Their proposal focused on a pilot program to take place in IDP camps in and around Juba.

GOGIRLS-ICT Initiative won third place and will receive US$4,000 awarded to implement their proposed #TTOS-ICT project. The aim of the project is to engage, educate and empower women and girls in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) based fields through a philosophy of chain-based trainings. GOGIRLS-ICT Initiative focuses on mentoring and making meaningful social impact to address development challenges women and girls face in South Sudan which contribute to insecurity, like early and forced marriage, illiteracy, and unemployment.

The winning submissions will work closely with UNDP moving forward, with the ultimate aim of implementing their ideas on the ground in pilot programs.

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Niger: Niamey opens a forum on the culture of peace through religious dialogue in the subregion

TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

An article in Mali Actu (Source: Xinhua News Agency) (translation by CPNN)

Education for the culture of peace through intra and inter-religious dialogue is at the center of a forum of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) since Tuesday in the Nigerien capital, Niamey, under the presidency of the Head of State of Niger Mahamadou Issoufou. This important meeting, which is in its first edition will last two days, welcomes the delegations of the 15 member countries of ECOWAS as well as important religious figures.

niger
Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou, Archive photo / REUTERS / Brian Snyder

According to President Mahamadou Issoufou, in his opening remarks, this forum comes at a time when the Sahelo-Saharan zone, notably the Lake Chad basin, faces terrorist threats. “In this region, people kill, rape and plunder in the name of Islam. Elsewhere, we are witnessing the exploitation of other religions for political, economic and social purposes, “he said.

In his opinion, it is therefore normal to promote education for the culture of peace through intra-and inter-religious dialogue in the ECOWAS region.

According to Nigeria’s Minister of Culture, Assoumana Malam Issa, the forum aims to guarantee the economic development and social integration of the fifteen member countries of ECOWAS, an area that today faces “political and social crises and tensions, both thnic and religious, that slow down the momentum in which this organization was launched.”

Several socio-cultural factors are at the root of the instability observed in the member states. They include “misunderstanding, interpreting and distorting precepts within religions, ignorance, injustice (real injustice or suspected), and mutual suspicion, as well as intolerance and extremism, the root causes of conflict.”

Thanks to the remarkable presence of the different religious confessions of the countries, it should be possible “to establish an interreligious dialogue, to bring about harmonious relations between the religions, to discuss the peaceful coexistence through the education of the faithful on the need to build a culture of peace, to inculcate in religious leaders a culture of interreligious dialogue of action in order to transform religious pluralism into a factor of social development “.

ECOWAS was established in 1975 to promote the socio-economic integration of States through the free movement of goods and persons. It comprises 15 member states namely Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger, Nigeria, Guinea Bissau, Senegal, Mali, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Togo, Cape Verde , The Gambia, Guinea-Conakry, and Ghana.

(Click here for the original French version of this article)

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Africa, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo: The commemoration of the International Day of Peace

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Excerpts from a report sent to CPNN by Patrick Mulemeri, Congo Peace Network (translated by CPNN)

For the commemoration of the International Day of Peace, activities were held September 21, 2016, in the great hall of MWANGA college. 271 people attended, mainly composed young members of the CPN clubs [Congo Peace Network], their families, guests from partner organizations (Christian AID, UNJHRO, Counterpart International …), the delegation of the University students for peace and social sciences in Butare in Rwanda, as well as local authorities and young people from different local churches.

congo
Six young local musicians began the celebration
(Click on photo to enlarge)

After presentations of music, poetry and literature and accompanied by an exposition of artwork for peace, there were a series of speeches for peace.

Speeches by young university peace activists from Butare

The students from the Protestant University of Butare, which is in partnership with CPN, were represented by their delegate who spoke about peace in a regional context, as necessary for security, development and freedom. The benefits are not only for everyone at the present time, but above all for generations to come. They demand peaceful coexistance, because, as Gandhi liked to say, an eye for an eye will make us all blind.

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(Click here for the original version of this article in French)

Question for this article

What has happened this year (2016) for the International Day of Peace?

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Speech by youth from CPN clubs

The CPN youth speech criticized how young people are being manipulated and used by invisible players to destroy their own lives and society; instead, young people should be involved in the country’s development projects. They congratulated CPN for its training which makes them a vector of peace for development and rehabilitation of the country.

Speech for peace in English by a CPN youth.

A young CPN member read his speech in English. Beginning with decrying what happened in Kinshasa during the month of peace, he commented that while we commemorate the international day of peace, there are those in the refugee camps who suffer in all kinds of weather conditions after being forced to abandon their houses and their fields.

What we are living in the North Kivu province is far from “peace” because every second there are violations of human rights, murder, massacre, murder, kidnapping etc. Whole communities are being killed. We are told they are in conflict, although for decades they lived harmoniously together. Peaceful cohabitation between ethnic communities would not be a problem, were it not for invisible hands that work in the shadows to destroy peace.

Presentation of the book “1000 Youth Peace expressions of CPN”

The celebration of International Peace Day was also an opportunity for CPN to present the book “1000 Youth Peace expressions” which conveys the youth’s expressions of peace through drawings, essays, poems and music.

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