Contributing to Global Citizenship and Peace Education

Arigatou International Geneva has developed an innovative educational framework for ethics education that articulates theory and practice for nurturing children’s ethical values helping them respond to the ethical challenges societies face. This framework can be easily adapted to emerging issues and different social and cultural contexts. Throughout the years, it has served as the foundation for several interventions to build peace and resilience in contexts of conflict and fragility.

A Long-Lasting Collaboration with the UNESCO International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa

Arigatou International Geneva has been partnering with the UNESCO International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa – IICBA since 2017 in a series of interventions, to foster peace and resilience-building in Africa.

Through these projects, we have trained 405 university professors, educators and policymakers, and reached 100 young leaders and 240 stakeholders in 26 African countries.

405

university professors, educators and policymakers trained

onsite and online training of trainers’ workshops

guides and 1 online course developed

youth dialogues reaching 100 young people

thematic webinars with 240 participants

countries

Our contribution to the different interventions included technical support for onsite and online training of trainers’ workshops, the development of guides for teachers, guiding thematic webinars and youth dialogues, and providing technical support in the implementation at the local level.

This collaboration was developed to build the capacity of secondary school teachers and teacher educators at universities to integrate competencies for Learning to Live Together using the Transformative Pedagogy Approach.

The training workshops and guides examined the role of education and teachers in facilitating holistic learning experiences that foster the knowledge, skills and attitudes essential for the promotion of mutual understanding and social cohesion.

Special attention was put into reaching youth at higher education institutions. Such institutions can play a critical role in shaping the political and socio-economic environments of a country. Harnessing this influence can help transform social structures. In addition, young people have become sources of hope for a peaceful African continent, as they lead positive change across the region.

These UNESCO-IICBA projects were funded by the Government of Japan, and are aligned with AU’s Agenda 2063, which promotes increased regional integration, peace stability, and equitable economic development. They also contribute to SDG 2030 Goal 4 on inclusive and quality education, particularly Target 4,7 to ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, and Goal 16 on promoting peaceful and inclusive societies.

A transformative pedagogy empowers both teachers and learners. It encourages learners to be reflective and critical thinkers who can contribute meaningfully as members of local and global communities. Teachers become facilitators with the disposition, knowledge, skills and commitment to support students to develop their full potential as peacebuilders.

2017-2018

Teacher Training and Development for Peacebuilding in the Horn of Africa and Surrounding Countries

This project sought to develop a critical mass of teachers able to educate for peacebuilding through a transformative pedagogy. After participating in a week-long training workshop, 29 educators from 6 different countries were equipped to carry out educational programs based on a transformative pedagogy. The program was cascaded to 8,000 secondary school teachers through each country’s Ministry of Education. A guide was developed as a practical tool to support the educators.

2018-2020

Youth Empowerment for Peace and Resilience Building and Prevention of Violent Extremism (PVE) in Sahel countries through Teacher Development

Building upon the previous project, this intervention was contextualized to the Sahel region and surrounding countries. It aimed to support the capacity-building of secondary school teachers and teacher educators, seeking to engage, support and educate African youth on peace, resilience building and the prevention of violent extremism. The project provided key elements and tools for 94 teachers, and teacher trainers to cascade the methodologies in their own countries, reaching 6,500 educators through the local Ministries of Education.

2020-2021

Silencing the guns in Africa by the year 2020 through education– African Union theme for 2019 and TICAD VII follow-up

This project supported the African Union Commission’s (AUC) initiative on “Silencing the Guns in Africa.” With special emphasis on education as a tool for transforming minds and societies, this project aimed on strengthening advocacy and training for peace and prevention of violent extremism in Africa.

A series of advanced training workshops provided concrete tools for teachers to become facilitators with the disposition, knowledge, skills and commitment to empowering learners to transform their communities. Guides were developed to help secondary school teachers and teacher educators to integrate competencies for learning to live together using a transformative pedagogy approach.

2021-2022

Prevention of extremism and its resurgence amid the COVID-19 pandemic through education in Africa, aligned with the spirit of TICAD7 and NAPSA

Based on the lessons learned from the previous four projects, UNESCO IICBA extended its intervention, this time targeting: Ethiopia, Djibouti, Nigeria, Libya, Tunisia, Namibia, Morocco, Mozambique, Senegal and Lesotho. This project provided concrete tools for teachers to become facilitators with the disposition, knowledge, skills and commitment to empower learners to transform their communities. It introduced citizenship education as a lens to look at oneself, relationships, causes of conflict and violence, and to build the capacity to respond critically and positively to those challenges.

GUIDE LINK COMING SOON