The PBEA Post. Peacebuilding Through Education. Issue 1 November Regional Update - Eastern & Southern Africa

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1 The PBEA Post - Eastern & Southern Africa Peacebuilding Through Education What is PBEA? Planting the Seeds of Peace UNICEF/NYHQ /Holt A girl displaced by recent fighting attends class in a tented school run by UNICEF. Mingkaman, South Sudan. Globally, more than 1.5 billion people live in fragile and conflict-affected states, where access to social services are either weak or non-existent. Fragile states tend to have the highest levels of child mortality, out of school children, malnutrition and poverty. In Eastern and Southern Africa, 12 of the 21 countries are classified as fragile states (by the OECD), many with a history of violent internal conflict. State fragility is then a major barrier to development. The effects of fragility and/or conflict often have regional ramifications, by impacting economic performance, creating pressures such as displaced populations - both internally and as refugees - and by diverting resources away from development to the containment of violence, and responding to emergencies. In most fragile states, education systems are not utilised to prevent future conflicts nor to plant seeds of peace through the promotion of inclusive, equitable and tolerant societies. Instead, education services can, at times, contribute to pressures: giving rise to violent conflict by fuelling inequities, promoting cultural and structural forms of violence against particular groups, and by failing to provide economic and culturally relevant education for minority and traditional groups. UNICEF believes that when delivered effectively and equitably, education services enable children and communities to break intergenerational cycles of poverty and communal division. Further, equitable education can support sustainable peace by promoting inclusion, by strengthening governance and by addressing political and economic factors that underpin internal conflicts. This quarterly newsletter aims to highlight how UNICEF and partners are working to build peace in the region through education. PBEA a four-year Peacebuilding, Education and Advocacy Programme is a partnership between UNICEF, the Government of the Netherlands, and the national governments of 14 countries across the globe. Participating countries in the ESA region include: Uganda, Burundi, Somalia, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya (via the Dadaab refugee camp). The goal of the PBEA programme is to strengthen resilience, social cohesion and human security in conflict-affected contexts, including countries at risk of or experiencing and recovering from conflict, through strengthened policies and practices in education. 1

2 The PBEA Post Youth Participation in Somalia The Importance of Research for UNICEF One of the most important objectives for PBEA work is to contribute to the generation and use of evidence and knowledge in policies and programming related to education, conflict and peacebuilding. UNICEF Somalia/2010 I want to go to high school then university to learn to be a doctor, says Hibaq Abdirahman, 14. Somaliland, Somalia. Following 20 years of civil war, Somalia s education system lay in tatters. Today UNICEF s support to the education sector in Somalia includes construction and rehabilitation of schools and temporary emergency structures, teacher trainings and provision of supplies. Nevertheless, access to quality education continues to favour urban areas. The pastoral livelihoods of many Somalis livestock herding and seasonal migration, and early marriage for girls all lead to lower rates of school attendance. Ongoing conflict, inability to afford school fees, and lack of transport have the same effect. Even among those who finish school there is often the perception that the education system has failed them, as they are unable to secure employment. At the root of youth disaffection is the realisation that they are politically and economically marginalized. Through a holistic approach of peacebuilding through education, PBEA is helping develop positive public perceptions of the place of youth in Somalia: contributing to a new enriched curriculum framework that empowers youth by entrusting them with facilitating community consultations to gather input for the curriculum design. By giving a role to youth as facilitators, half of them being young women, and a voice to all sectors of the communities across Somalia, PBEA is helping to ensure that the curriculum adopted will be one that reflects the values, learning area aspirations and competencies craved by youth and the wider society. There is therefore a continual need to both extract and showcase solid examples of change brought about by PBEA, a comparatively new programme, and to invest in quality research. To this end, UNICEF contracted an in-depth case study sequence of South Sudan, Somalia and Uganda, with a consortium with the universities of Amsterdam, Sussex and Ulster. Watch this space for the outcomes and updates! Initial reluctance at times on the part of clan elders or religious leaders was overcome through open and evidence-based consultations. Indeed, just as Islam and poetry are often said to be the twin pillars of Somali culture, at the close of one consultation, members of a community spontaneously composed a poem for the youth facilitators to express gratitude for their work! 2

3 The PBEA Post ECD in Uganda Peace: Adolescents and Youth Have Their Say... Peace to me means being free from internal and external conflicts, like wars, insecurities and quarrels, Andrew, Adjumani, Uganda Peace is when there is no war, Raymond, Juba, South Sudan UNICEF/UGDA /Znidarcic Children draw in the Nursery Classroom of Wakiso Islamic Primary and Nursery School. Wakiso, Uganda. The eastern districts of Uganda s Northern Region, Karamoja, are largely pastoral, and face challenges common among African pastoral societies: high levels of poverty and insecurity resulting from endemic cattle raiding; and weak social services and public infrastructure. These challenges are further compounded with increasing competition over water and pasture due to population growth and climate change. The area is also one of the most conflict-affected regions of Uganda with a population that is still recovering from years of civil war. Enter UNICEF s Early Childhood Development programme. ECD has long been touted as a way of ensuring individuals live up to their full potential. Today in Uganda its benefits are even broader, as it has the scope to strengthen society as a whole. Based on research case studies being completed, evidence shows that its rapid acceptance and development is a strong signal that communities believe they can be actors in effecting positive change, and that education holds the key to building peace. While providing the usual benefits for children, and parents, ECD is giving new value to education in the eyes of Karamoja parents, who have tended to see education as irrelevant to the pastoral or domestic roles they saw destined for their children. ECD has also brought together divided communities, strengthening bonds of trust and tolerance. The right to peace means being able to have a say in how our country is run, Sicola, Kampala, Uganda Peace is when you are with your family, no separation, Lang, Protection of Civilian camp 1, Juba, South Sudan Peace is the harmonious coming together of people in joy, Daniel, Gulu, Uganda Peace is living a good life where there is no domestic violence, Stella, Gulu, Northern Uganda Meanwhile, in some districts of Uganda s Western Region, inter-ethnic violence has flared between pastoralists and agriculturalists belonging to separate ethnic groups sharing the same territory. ECD centres and churches are among the few neutral spaces where the opposing sides can meet and work out their differences. A few centres are able to shield children from violent clashes and to later ensure they are reunited with their families. ECD caregivers are playing lead roles in efforts to restore dialogue across communities, using preschool education as the entry point. The peacebuilding impacts of ECD in Uganda are therefore both direct and indirect. Children learn to be polite, respectful of others and to take turns. They bring home everything from hygiene tips, to life skills, and peacebuilding lessons received in school. And the programme includes peacebuilding training for parents and community members in the after-school hours. 3

4 The PBEA Post Youth aim to re-write history in South Sudan PBEA Believes Education Can: if provided in an equitable manner, have the potential to redress historical inequities and political marginalization of minority groups that underpin violent intrastate conflicts UNICEF South Sudan A youth explains what Peace Club means to him. Nile Model Secondary School, Juba, South Sudan. In a classroom in Juba recently, a group of school students were split into three groups: two groups dramatized opposing sides of an issue (whether pastoralists should settle down and do agriculture or not) and a third team acted as mediators. Part of UNICEF South Sudan s PBEA initiative, the groups were animated, engaged, and yes, spirited. However, critically, they were also ready to listen to the others point of view. Less than a year after conflict broke out in the world s newest nation, the challenges for the children of South Sudan are immense. Conflict appears entrenched, thousands are dead, and 750,000 children are displaced within their own country. Youth are often touted as holding the key to a nation s future in South Sudan, this burden is being embraced. After 15 December, PBEA rapidly deployed various educational services: supporting schools as Zones of Peace (with a concerted focus on protecting girls and giving them a voice); engaging disaffected youth and giving them ownership to constructive activities in their communities. In doing so PBEA seeks to address the root causes of conflict and promote social cohesion and resilience. In this context this occurs through restructuring school curricula so as to make it more relevant to South Sudanese, based more on their own traditional values and livelihood needs. During a curriculum development workshop in September 2014, the youth head of the History Subject Group explained how peacebuilding is now integrated into each grade: We build on the local level and expand to the rest of the world. There are a lot of elements that go into History, including peace education, conflict resolution and mitigation. We have a lot of challenges as a new nation and we try to ask the learners to suggest ways that reconciliation can be achieved. Life skills, environmental awareness and sustainability have been cross-cut into all subjects, while dramatizations are used for exploring conflict and reconciliation strategies. Transition Education has also been implemented for serving excluded groups such as pastoralists, which shifts the focus from knowledge to that of relevant skills. 4 if economically and culturally relevant, provide a powerful peace dividend that increases resilience in communities, also support livelihoods and employment opportunities if based on participatory policy development, have the potential to increase the accountability and effectiveness of governments social services promote social cohesion between groups by fostering constructive citizenship and positive coping strategies for constructive dispute resolution

5 The PBEA Post Dadaab, Kenya PBEA SOME FACTS Believes ON PEACEBUILDING AND EDUCATION Education Can: Fragile states account for 36% of all people living in extreme poverty, 33% of children with no primary education and 39% of all infant deaths. 12 of 21 countries in the ESA region are classified by the OECD as fragile states The 10-year trend of the Peace Fund fragile state index shows that state fragility in the ESA region has increased UNICEF Kenya Between 2000 and 2008, 35 countries experienced armed conflict, of which 30 were low income countries Empowering girls through competitive sport as part of PBEA. Dadaab, Kenya. Hodhan is a form four student in Dagahaley refugee camp, Dadaab, Kenya. She is one of close to half a million Somali refugees in Dadaab, where tensions at times rise between communities, and where, therefore, there is a great need for services and programmes that support tolerance and understanding. Hodhan is an active volleyball player and was instrumental in mobilizing girls in the camp to play sport, overcoming many challenges to do so, from those who viewed participation in sports as inappropriate for girls, and so attempted to intimidate her. Hodhan received support from her parents, especially her mother, who advocated with the community. Additionally, officers from Windle Trust Kenya (WTK), who manage the secondary education programs in the refugee camps, liaised with CARE and UNHCR protection teams to support Hodhan. Together with Hodhan, the partners engaged in community mobilisation with local leaders, ultimately creating a conducive environment to start a girls volleyball team with 10 players. And after much practice, the girls compete with another girls team from a camp comprised of Sudanese refugee girls. Poverty and poor education, along with injustice/inequality and corruption, are seen as primary drivers of conflict by citizens Of 58 million Out-of-School Children (OOSC) at primary level globally, 20.8% (some 12.1 million) are in the ESA region 85.6% (or 10.2 million) OOSC at primary level in the ESA region are concentrated in 10 fragile and conflict affected states Hodhan now coaches girls at Dagahaley Secondary School and in the Dagahaley community, where Nike helped build an enclosed playing field for women. Pilot interventions in Dadaab are being used to inform broader refugee response strategies, with the aim of supporting sustainable peace and development, together with the resilience of communities. Volleyball has provided Hodhan with opportunities she would otherwise not have had, including making friends within the host community. Here she exchanges ideas, and seeks advice. It is the beginnings of a bridge between the refugees and the host community. Hodhan is but one example of how interaction between programme beneficiaries and youth from host communities can help increase understanding, mutual respect, and tolerance across previously divided communities. 5

6 6 Above is a peace building poster developed for ESARO s PBEA programme. We will soon release additional advocacy materials along with this quarterly newsletter. Among them is a film called "Raymond" - the story an 18-year-old survivor and now peace builder living in a Protection of Civilian camp in Juba, South Sudan.