ForgottenDiaries.org

 

The Student Arise Against Conflict project is targeted at students in secondary Schools from Classes JSS 1-SSS 3. SAAC believes that conflicts arises from a break down in communication at the different levels in society be it the family, school, church and other social institutions. Therefore the preparation of young people as conflict mediators is very necessary for the attainment of peace in our society.

 

The SAAC project is focused on the 2 local government areas (Calabar South and Calabar Municipality) in the Calabar metropolis. The reason for this spread is because of the social stratification existing in these local governments, this difference in economic power and social amenities provided to these areas do cause tensions between students residing in this area, there are also reported cases of inter-school fighting between students of private schools and that of public schools.

 

 

 

The project would be in the Sapele area of the Niger Delta region, a semi-urban area there have been cases of inter-school fights and violence, where students from different schools fight each other and these has in some case escalated to families, streets and some times led to the closure of the said schools, we want to use these project as an intervention project using sports and mediation /peace education skills capacity building workshop to empower the student to act as agents of change and held instil peace in their schools. The increase in school violence has led to the formation of secondary school gangs a sense of belonging may decrease the vulnerability of young people to school gangs and militancy afterward, sports becomes a good method to increase dialogue, friendship and new identities, while at the same time they are acquiring new skills. The target audience is 40 students (aged 13-20), 8 each from the four schools in Sapele that have been involved at one time or the other in fighting (violence).

 

 
ETHIOPIA
 

 

This project is designed to establish teenage peace brigades at elementary and junior schools here in Bahir Dar city, Ethiopia. These children and teen will be trained and will be given appropriate technical and material supports to enable them mobilize their peers, parents and teachers for our peace building campaigns. 

 

We want to establish a system in junior and elementary schools that can teach students and the school community informally about the importance of tolerance, the benefits of exploiting the magic of difference and non-violent conflict resolution methods and techniques to build peace at grass root levels.

 

The reason why we want to establish these groups in schools is to introduce new thoughts and techniques to children to help them take active part in prevention of conflict occurrence in their schools and in their families’. Conflicts start at school and family level and expand to families, community, society and national levels although the causes are different at different levels, our children and teen experience conflict either at their home or at their schools. In the past, when conflict occurs among teen in schools, there was no systematic way to solve these conflicts, penalizing all parties involved in the situation was the only action our schools were practicing and the chance of conflict reoccurrence is still common because only penalty cannot solve it permanently. This has learning for us to work on possible ways to conflict resolution and prevention to make sure that our community can prevent conflict occurrence or can manage conflict properly after its occurrence. We will start our intervention at schools and this intervention will be expanded to student families, teachers and members of the community at large.

 

So as to introduce these new thoughts and techniques about peace building, conflict resolution and tolerance to our community.

 

 

 

Postcolonial Uganda has been marked; indeed scarred, by a history of militarized politics. The most protracted of these conflicts has been the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) conflict, which lasted more than 20 years encompassing five different rebellions living thousands of devastated lives and a shattered generation.

 

The Karimojong have been known for their notorious cattle raids with in Karimojong itself and in the neighbouring districts in Acholi, Lango, and Teso Sub regions including areas bordering Kenya. In Teso Sub regions in North Eastern Uganda, the districts of Katakwi, Amuria Soroti and Kumi have mainly suffered from these raids. Although the disarmament programme started by Government has resulted to some relative peace in these districts there are still incidents of raids by Karimojnong in the nearby districts of Katakawi and Amuria. The effect of these raids on the communities of these districts has been enormous with most people living in internally displaced people’s camps in fear of their lives. This has further hindered any potential social and economic development of these districts in the absence of peace and good relations among the two tribes.

 

These already tense relationships have further been worsened with the recent border conflict between Moroto district and Katakwi in which the two districts have shown hostility towards each other over the fertile stretch of land between the two districts. This is a potential conflict trigger in the near future which if not addressed will further worsen the already delicate relationships of the two people in these districts.

 

With the support of YAC and the Forgotten Diaries project, the Girls2Leaders Movement seeks to conduct a peace campaign with young women leaders taking lead to build cross border peace among Karimojong and Iteso in Moroto and Katawki District in North Eastern Uganda.

 

 

 

Kosovo is a newly born country now trying to secure a better future for all of its minorities as well as a renewed commitment to democracy and widespread mutual understanding. Despite the official objectives and the programs put forth by the government and several international organisations, not much has been done to create ad hoc programs to help young people from different ethnic groups cope with the legacies of the past, overcome stereotypes and foster intercultural dialogue.

 

Music has long been regarded as an effective way to help people manage stress, express feelings and improve communication. It has been successfully used to help young people cope with difficult situations in several countries, ranging from youth-at-risk in the Bronx to young refugees in Palestinian camps.

 

Believing in the role that young people can play in bringing about positive and long-lasting change in their communities and among their peers, YAC intends to launch MOZAIK (‘mosaic’ in all of the languages spoken nationally) in Kosovo, an initiative that strives to empower young people and help them create mutual understanding and cooperation among different ethnic groups thanks to the music, by performing together.

 

MOZAIK aims to bring young people from different ethnic groups in Kosovo together to perform traditional and contemporary music and songs. The project aims to demystify stereotypes and inspire young people to work together through music so as to foster long-term understanding, peaceful coexistence and better inter-communities relations.

 

The MOZAIK team will create a music ensemble of up to 10 participants (young people aged 15-20) from different ethnic groups who have a basic knowledge of or interest in different musical instruments and singing. This will also be the first initiative of this kind in Kosovo.