Field Reports

A culture of non-violence is an imperative for our society if we are to achieve the dream of sustainable just peace and development, which has been enshrined in almost all national development plans of the various nations of the sub-region. Sustainable peace in the West Africa sub-region depends on individuals possessing the knowledge, the skills and the passion to use non-violent means to deal with conflicts that they may be involved in and also having the space and opportunity to promote the use of these non-violent conflict resolution skills.

WANEP’s Peace Education programme was implemented in selected schools in 7 West African countries from 2001 to 2004. Though the pilot phase ended in 2004, the programme lives on in different forms at both national and regional levels. Different activities within the schools such as peace posters and peace poem competitions, peace marches not only by school children but also by community youth, and peace day celebrations are carried out in some schools in all the countries, while teachers continue to devote part of their teaching time to topics developed in the peace education materials from WANEP.

Currently in Ghana, Peace Education has been formally integrated into the curriculum of the Ghana Education Service and is being taught in schools. A peace education manual jointly developed by WANEP and the Ministry of Education in Ghana and other stakeholders in Education is being used in that regard.

In terms of future plans for Peace Education in West Africa, Oxfam GB has expressed interest in funding WANEP’s Peace Education programme and a process will start very soon to develop a project proposal to that effect. I have also being in communication with the President of the Society for Peace and Reconciliation in Sierra Leone at the University of Sierra Leone to establish a Mediation Centre. This project will be supported by GPPAC Global Secretariat.

By Francis Acquah Junior,
Programme Officer, WANEP, Ghana

Armed fighting has once again erupted in Southern Philippines (parts of Mindanao island) following the issuance by the Philippine Supreme Court of a temporary restraining order against the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) by the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in early August, 2008.

Many people, most of whom are civilians, have been killed and more than 200,000 have been displaced in the affected areas and the situation is clearly a humanitarian crisis. Animosities and prejudices between Christians and Muslims have once again been heightened because of the attacks and counterattacks that have been happening in the last weeks. In light of the situation, the members of the Peace Education Network issued the following statement:

AN APPEAL TO END THE VIOLENCE IN MINDANAO

The Peace Education Network appeals to government forces (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to cease fighting and to heed the call expressed by many civil society groups for the resumption of dialogues and peace negotiations between them.

We appeal to the GRP and MILF to respect the existing Ceasefire Agreement and for both parties to stop taking provocative and offensive actions that can only lead to more armed confrontations.

We implore the two parties to stop the fighting and to save the peace process to which both of them have already contributed much.

We appeal for the protection of civilians against harm. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have already been displaced from their homes and livelihood and have become the “collateral damage” to this resurgence of armed conflict in Mindanao.

Finally, we call upon government officials to stop arming civilians. These weapons can easily be used irresponsibly and would further create more division, animosity, and insecurity in the communities. It is a very dangerous move given the hostile climate in many communities after the aborted signing of the GRP-MILF Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) and the events that followed. Arming civilians would only encourage communal violence, a horrifying situation that our country experienced some three decades ago.

We, the members of the Peace Education Network, will try to contribute what we can towards peace in Mindanao.

The core initiative, important for achieving the strategic goal of education in Crimean multiethnic region is directed at the creation and introduction of the integrated course “Culture of Neighborhood”, organized by several non-governmental organizations (in particular [url=http://www.integration.org.ua] Integration and Development Center for Information and Research [/url]), educational institutions, and supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Crimea.
The description of activities that were realized within 2004-2007, can be found in presentations of M. Aradzhyoni (aradzhyoni-brunova.ppt) and O. Smirnov (smirnov-brunova.ppt).
The new focus of our work in 2008 was aimed at the preparation of teachers for the training work in communities. The main goal of such a step is to give teachers who wish to learn the skills and experience of trainings and other active methods of education with parental and pedagogical communities in their schools. In January, 2008, 2 seminars were conducted as the first level, where the basic skills of training for adults and a set of exercises on the topic of ethnicity were presented to about 60 teachers. At the second level of ToT, 20 teachers were taught how to plan and construct such trainings for their pedagogical and parental bodies. During the seminar, 3 training programs for teachers and parents were constructed by participants. As a result, all 20 teachers signed the contracts with Integration and Development Center for Information and Research and agreed to carry out at least one training for adults during the autumn of 2008.
The regular preparation of teachers for delivering the Culture of Neighborhood lasts as well. Within the 3 summer months, the seminars for teacher of primary level are conducted.
All together in 9 districts and 6 cities, the 403 teachers of primary school level will be taught the specificity of delivering of the course “Culture of Neighborhood”. During these seminars, teachers learn the methodological bases of multicultural education in Ukraine and around the globe, and the meaning of the course “Culture of Neighborhood” as an educational tool for early prevention of ethnic and religious conflicts. Special stress was set on the teaching of conflict studies and axiology in the course.
At the moment the writing-book for the 3rd grade is prepared for publication, and the 4th grade pupils will get such writing-books in September.

The 2nd International Summit on Conflict Resolution Education is underway in Cleveland Ohio. Highlights include these plenary sessions:

Keynote: The Wars Children Fight
Sponsored by the United States Institute of Peace
Jimmie Briggs, Goodwill Ambassador and UN Special Envoy for Children & Armed Conflict, Author of Innocents Lost: When Child Soldiers Go to War.
David J. Smith, Senior Education Program Officer, United States Institute of Peace

Mini-Plenary: Child Soldiers Speak About their Experience
Sponsored by the United States Institute of Peace
George Elunai Latio (Sudan), Student, Bluffton University, Ohio
Madeleine (Democratic Republic of Congo)
Bukeni Tete Waruzi, Director and Founder, Ajedi-Ka/Projet Enfants Soldats

Mini-Plenary: Youth Civic Engagement for Democracy and Peace in Serbia
Sponsored by the European Centre for Conflict Prevention
Film: Bringing Down a Dictator
Ivan Marovic, Founding Member, Otpor, CANVAS, Belgrade, Serbia, participated in the making of the film
Tatjana Popovic, Project Coordinator, Nansen Dialogue Centre Serbia