Ismeta Begić, President, UŽ “Mozaik,” and GNRC Coordinator – Bosnia and Herzegovina

Religion in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and across Europe, is treated as a private matter, making it difficult to engage in interfaith activities that protect children. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, GNRC’s interfaith engagements began on the World Day of Prayer and Action for Children in 2012, when we mobilized children and religious leaders around advocacy and promotion of children’s rights.
Bringing religious leaders from different faith traditions to a common platform wasn’t easy. To encourage cooperation, we picked a topic they could comfortably speak about publicly.

unnamed.jpgThe International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (IDEP) in 2013 also created a wonderful opportunity for interfaith cooperation. For the first time ever, religious leaders visited and supported vulnerable families. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we organized online activities to promote the role of religious leaders in providing guidance in this critical time. We now have three religious leaders from the Muslim and Christian faiths as members of GNRC Bosnia and Herzegovina committee.

In my academic studies, I conducted research which clearly showed that learning about others and cooperation are crucial to peacebuilding. We believe there is much to be done for interfaith cooperation to gain full acceptance. However, what hold us back, is the constant uncertainty about how our messages and activities will be received in new situations, and more critically, the limitations in our technical and material capacities. Working for and with children through the GNRC interfaith platform has facilitated and made it easier for us to bring faith leaders from across religious traditions to speak together, thus increasing mutual understanding.

The post Interfaith Cooperation in Europe appeared first on Global Network of Religions for Children.

The post Interfaith Cooperation in Europe appeared first on Arigatou International.

A four-day capacity building workshop was carried out in Douala, Cameroon on Transformative Pedagogy to Build Peace and Resilience, and Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) in Africa.

The workshop, held from 10 to 13 May 2022, was organized by the UNESCO International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa – IICBA in collaboration with the UNESCO Office in Yaoundé and Arigatou International – Geneva. This activity is part of the project “Peace and Resilience Building and the Prevention of Violent Extremism in Africa through Teacher Training” led by UNESCO IICBA and supported by the Government of Japan.

The project builds on lessons learned from previous interventions carried out in the Horn of Africa in 2017 and the Sahel region in 2018, also with the support of the Government of Japan. Since the beginning of these interventions, over 6,500 teacher trainers and teachers have been trained in transformative pedagogy, and four teaching guides have been developed.

This workshop was custom-made for French-speaking participants from Burundi, Cameron, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo and Chad. Participants included more than 40 university lecturers and representatives from UNESCO offices in the region.

The workshop sought to build capacities to instill peace, build resilience, and prevent violent extremism through education with a focus on teacher training. Specifically, the training targeted faculties of education and university peace institutes in the region. The workshop was based on the guide Youth Empowerment for Peace and Building Resilience and Preventing Violent Extremism in the Sahel and Neighboring Countries: A Guide for Teachers (2019) and its activities.

“The aim of the workshop is to promote within the school, which is a sacred space, the understanding of all the dangers surrounding violent speech and discrimination,” said Mr. Paul Coustere, Director, UNESCO, Regional Bureau for Central Africa.

During the workshop, a group of representatives from civil society organizations and youth-led groups was invited to share their views and reflections on the topic of Education for Peace. “We also have invited a group of young people, because we are talking about violent extremism, and we know that violent extremists recruit, in general, among youngsters because they are vulnerable, they are not rich, and the temptation is very high for them to be recruited through monetary means,” stated Mr. Saliou Sall, Senior Program Coordinator, UNESCO-IICBA.

The workshop equipped participants with the knowledge and skills to understand how issues of peace, resilience and PVE through education manifest and intersect in the region. Through the activities, they identified strategies for peace, resilience building and PVE through education in their own contexts and developed a training session plan using Arigatou International’s transformational pedagogical approach. By the end of the workshop, participants developed a localized action plan to integrate the teacher training curriculum guide into their higher education institutions.

We thank UNESCO IICBA for inviting Arigatou International – Geneva once again, as a technical partner in this project. We thank the facilitators for their dedication and shared wisdom and the participants for their commitment and enthusiasm.

The post Workshop on Peace and Resilience Building in Cameroon to Help Tackling Violent Extremism in Africa appeared first on Ethics Education for Children.

The post Workshop on Peace and Resilience Building in Cameroon to Help Tackling Violent Extremism in Africa appeared first on Arigatou International.

A four-day capacity building workshop was carried out in Douala, Cameroon on Transformative Pedagogy to Build Peace and Resilience, and Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) in Africa.

The workshop, held from 10 to 13 May 2022, was organized by the UNESCO International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa – IICBA in collaboration with the UNESCO Office in Yaoundé and Arigatou International – Geneva. This activity is part of the project “Peace and Resilience Building and the Prevention of Violent Extremism in Africa through Teacher Training” led by UNESCO IICBA and supported by the Government of Japan.

The project builds on lessons learned from previous interventions carried out in the Horn of Africa in 2017 and the Sahel region in 2018, also with the support of the Government of Japan. Since the beginning of these interventions, over 6,500 teacher trainers and teachers have been trained in transformative pedagogy, and four teaching guides have been developed.

This workshop was custom-made for French-speaking participants from Burundi, Cameron, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo and Chad. Participants included more than 40 university lecturers and representatives from UNESCO offices in the region.

The workshop sought to build capacities to instill peace, build resilience, and prevent violent extremism through education with a focus on teacher training. Specifically, the training targeted faculties of education and university peace institutes in the region. The workshop was based on the guide Youth Empowerment for Peace and Building Resilience and Preventing Violent Extremism in the Sahel and Neighboring Countries: A Guide for Teachers (2019) and its activities.

“The aim of the workshop is to promote within the school, which is a sacred space, the understanding of all the dangers surrounding violent speech and discrimination,” said Mr. Paul Coustere, Director, UNESCO, Regional Bureau for Central Africa.

During the workshop, a group of representatives from civil society organizations and youth-led groups was invited to share their views and reflections on the topic of Education for Peace. “We also have invited a group of young people, because we are talking about violent extremism, and we know that violent extremists recruit, in general, among youngsters because they are vulnerable, they are not rich, and the temptation is very high for them to be recruited through monetary means,” stated Mr. Saliou Sall, Senior Program Coordinator, UNESCO-IICBA.

The workshop equipped participants with the knowledge and skills to understand how issues of peace, resilience and PVE through education manifest and intersect in the region. Through the activities, they identified strategies for peace, resilience building and PVE through education in their own contexts and developed a training session plan using Arigatou International’s transformational pedagogical approach. By the end of the workshop, participants developed a localized action plan to integrate the teacher training curriculum guide into their higher education institutions.

We thank UNESCO IICBA for inviting Arigatou International – Geneva once again, as a technical partner in this project. We thank the facilitators for their dedication and shared wisdom and the participants for their commitment and enthusiasm.

The post Workshop on Peace and Resilience Building in Cameroon to Help Tackling Violent Extremism in Africa appeared first on Ethics Education for Children.

The post Workshop on Peace and Resilience Building in Cameroon to Help Tackling Violent Extremism in Africa appeared first on Arigatou International.

A group of 14 educators and representatives of organizations participated in a training workshop on the Learning to Live Together program in Guatemala.

The workshop was held in a blended format in Guatemala City on 9, 10, 11 and 13 May 2022. The activity sought to train facilitators belonging to Puerta de Esperanza, Fe y Alegría and ODHAG, both members of the Global Network of Religions for Children (GNRC) in Guatemala.

During the workshop, the participants were able to become familiar with the main concepts of the Learning to Live Together program, its methodologies and its educational approach. “I found particularly interesting that with this approach children are at the center. It reflects on their realities, it provokes transformation,” asserted a participant.

The participants reflected on the violence that affects children and adolescents in the contexts in which they work, and the role that values-based education can play in promoting peace and resilience. “Educating is not just being in front of a group of students, but living together in unity and fraternity,” shared another participant at the end of the workshop.

The workshop is part of a project carried out by Puerta de Esperanza with the support of Toybox, an international NGO that has been working for more than 25 years to help children and young people around the world get off the streets. The project aims to strengthen the protection and resilience factors in children and adolescents who work, live or operate in the “Mercado La Terminal, zone 4” of Guatemala City, through the implementation of Learning to Live Together and its transformative pedagogy.

We thank the facilitators and participants for their commitment and enthusiasm. We hope that this training workshop can provide a basis for the implementation of the project with the children of Guatemala.

The post Members of GNRC-Guatemala Participate in a Training Workshop appeared first on Ethics Education for Children.

The post Members of GNRC-Guatemala Participate in a Training Workshop appeared first on Arigatou International.

A group of 14 educators and representatives of organizations participated in a training workshop on the Learning to Live Together program in Guatemala.

The workshop was held in a blended format in Guatemala City on 9, 10, 11 and 13 May 2022. The activity sought to train facilitators belonging to Puerta de Esperanza, Fe y Alegría and ODHAG, both members of the Global Network of Religions for Children (GNRC) in Guatemala.

During the workshop, the participants were able to become familiar with the main concepts of the Learning to Live Together program, its methodologies and its educational approach. “I found particularly interesting that with this approach children are at the center. It reflects on their realities, it provokes transformation,” asserted a participant.

The participants reflected on the violence that affects children and adolescents in the contexts in which they work, and the role that values-based education can play in promoting peace and resilience. “Educating is not just being in front of a group of students, but living together in unity and fraternity,” shared another participant at the end of the workshop.

The workshop is part of a project carried out by Puerta de Esperanza with the support of Toybox, an international NGO that has been working for more than 25 years to help children and young people around the world get off the streets. The project aims to strengthen the protection and resilience factors in children and adolescents who work, live or operate in the “Mercado La Terminal, zone 4” of Guatemala City, through the implementation of Learning to Live Together and its transformative pedagogy.

We thank the facilitators and participants for their commitment and enthusiasm. We hope that this training workshop can provide a basis for the implementation of the project with the children of Guatemala.

The post Members of GNRC-Guatemala Participate in a Training Workshop appeared first on Ethics Education for Children.

The post Members of GNRC-Guatemala Participate in a Training Workshop appeared first on Arigatou International.