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United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC)

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Young Peacebuilders in West Africa

You are here: Home / What We Do / Projects and Initiatives / Young Peacebuilders in West Africa

Young Peacebuilders in West Africa

Click here to download the Young Peacebuilders in West Africa 2016 Brochure

The pilot edition of UNAOC’s Young Peacebuilders was launched on International Youth Day 2016, focusing on the region of West Africa.

UNAOC acted as the main convener of this initiative and worked closely with different stakeholders who are active in the region or internationally, at civil society and inter-governmental level: the programme was implemented in collaboration with the United Network of Young Peacebuilders (UNOY Peacebuilders), an example of the meaningful partnerships between young people and United Nations agencies on all issues related to peace and security, which the UN Security Council called for when it adopted resolution 2250 in December 2015. UNAOC also counted on the participation of the Economic Commission for West African States, and the UNAOC network of alumni.


THE PARTICIPANTS

Through a competitive call for applications, 20 young men and women from 11 countries in West Africa were selected among more than 450 applicants to take part in the programme. The group was balanced in terms of gender and reflected diverse religious and cultural backgrounds. Bios of Participant and Trainers


THE PROGRAMME

The programme took place in three phases of learning, to maximize the outcomes that can be achieved trough a single one-week training and encourage participants to apply the lessons learned:

Phase 1: Online Engagement

An online platform was created for exchange and learning among participants, supporting participants to come better prepared to the workshop: the network had started forming and collaborating, and the group had basic common references for some key terms and concepts.

Participants were encouraged to start getting to know each other and the programme team in order to foster a positive learning environment and create linkages among the group before meeting in person. They were presented with content and were also challenged to contribute to this content and its understanding by sharing their own experience and exchanging ideas with each other. The participant-friendly methodology kept participants motivated and engaged and connected the content to their own life and experience.

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Phase 2: Face-to-face Workshop

The workshop for 20 participants from West Africa was held at the Hawthorn Suites Hotel in Abuja, Nigeria, from November 20-26, 2016. The overall aim of the workshop was to consolidate and leverage the learning from the online phase of the programme and use it as a basis for deepening reflection and skills acquisition in the field of peacebuilding, intercultural dialogue and conflict transformation.

Methodology: Experiential learning, using games and interactive methods as a basis to introduce the topics. Each activity was debriefed to stimulate reflection and encourage participants to make sense of the experience, introduce or review concepts, tools and frameworks, and draw conclusions to inform future action.

Main outcomes: Consolidation of the network and creation of personal action plans in which participants outlined specific actions they would take in the following months. Participants were empowered to translate the learning into specific actions that can benefit their organizations and advance intercultural dialogue and peacebuilding in their communities, thus increasing their contribution as agents of peace.

“This training has really showed me how one-on-one interactions and personal connections can really make strong impact in somebody’s worldview and mindset. I’m going to teach 50 adolescent girls in Lagos to use theater to communicate to fellow students about intercultural and interreligious coexistence.” (Olaoluwa Abagun, Founder and Executive Director of Girl Pride Circle, Lagos, Nigeria, an NGO that advocates for girls’ rights and empowers girls with leadership and advocacy skills.)

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Phase 3: Applied Learning

Each participant of the programme developed a personal action plan in Abuja and in the months following the workshop, they were challenged to make it come to life. Participants were encouraged to reinforce and integrate the learning through concrete practice, and to multiply the messages and benefits of their intercultural learning experience.

Together, the group reached more than 800 additional persons by organizing step-down trainings in their own organizations, sharing sessions and workshops with schools, colleges and universities, participating in radio talk shows, creating poetry videos and facilitating peace drawing campaigns and theatre plays in schools. These actions were undertaken individually or in collaboration with other members of the YPWA group.

The phase was also intended to encourage a sense of accomplishment, by empowering participants to translate the learning into specific actions that can benefit their organizations and advance intercultural dialogue and peacebuilding in their communities, thus increasing their contribution as agents of peace.

“I’m now back at school, as a final year student in my hall of residence. Issues are always brought to me to decide who was right or wrong; who should be punished or not. The tools I learnt in peacebuilding have just been so useful. I cannot overemphasize how timely the training was, as it has equipped me for a time like this.” (Praise, Nigeria)

“I used to explain whatever I’ve to explain like I’m holding a speech. After this holistic learning with the YPWA programme, I adopted this new method to discuss with my fellows and exchange ideas instead of trying to give all the answers by myself. And sincerely, it worked.” (Mamadou, Guinea)

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“The YPWA programme has much more to offer for West Africa and beyond. These recent weeks have informed me that themes on youth, peace and security are grey areas our societies should be informed of and certainly, youth are the key drivers.”Participant, Young Peacebuilders in West Africa 2016
“I realized during this programme that in my community people often use violence without paying attention. That is why I decided to share with members of my organization about violence and conflict and transforming narratives.” Lamine, Senegal
“My main learning from this experience was how being a peacebuilder is not a title or a one-off job, but a lifestyle. I learnt that I needed to be a peacebuilder everywhere and every time.” Caleb, Nigeria

IMPACT


  • 95% of respondents think the programme achieved its objectives;
  • 100% of respondents think that their competences in peacebuilding have improved a lot thanks to the programme;
  • 100% of respondents would recommend the programme to other young people;
  • Participants reached all of the learning goals they set for the workshop (63%) or two out of three of these learning goals (37%).
  • 800 additional persons reached by participants through organizing step-down trainings in their own organizations, sharing sessions and workshops with schools, colleges and universities, participating in radio talk shows, creating poetry videos and facilitating peace drawing campaigns and theatre plays in schools.

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