Download the ICGLR-Governance Peace Education Handbook HERE 

The Peace Education Handbook is a product of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR)’s Regional Peace Education Project. It was developed in the framework of the Regional Project on Peace and Security co-funded by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by GIZ.

The handbook is a compilation of different topical areas covering a wide spectrum of areas that attest to the nature of conflicts in Africa especially in the great lakes region.

The Handbook emphasizes the importance to shift our focus from violence and conflict and towards alternative solutions. By thinking and discussing, by analysing and debating how to actively build peace in our society, our minds can learn to refocus on the positive. Building a culture of peace means to actively imagine and create more encouraging, respectful and appreciative ways of living together, which are beneficial for everyone in a society.

The Peace Education Handbook is addressed to teachers, facilitators, trainers and educators in general who are looking to integrate peace education into their work and curricula. It assumes that its users bring substantive experience in teaching in general – hence leaving out general pedagogical advice. Nevertheless, it gives many practical examples on how to integrate peace education into various subjects, how to carry out activities and how to adapt them to different target groups.

The beneficiaries of the peace education content here may include but are not limited to learners and other users of the handbook such as: primary or secondary school children, children who dropped out of school but can be reached in other ways, youth clubs, social clubs and social groups, churches and other religious centres, and many more. Since the handbook builds on much of the material that is already available in the four pilot countries, it focuses primarily on youth but the majority of activities can be implemented with adults just as well.

The Peace Education Handbook provides tools that can be used in a number of contexts such as schools, universities and non-formal education settings on varying occasions. However, it is the responsibility of the peace educators themselves to determine which of the topics and modules as well as which of the tools and activities are the best match for their specific audience. It aims to provide teachers, trainers, facilitators and peace educators with both a theoretical Peace Learning Framework as well as a Toolbox of practical tools to implement peace education. The Framework as well as the Toolbox are designed specifically for the Great Lakes Region and include approaches and tools.

This Handbook was developed building on existing resources from the Great Lakes Region and elsewhere in the world. By including local and national resources and featuring the region’s peace education actors, readers and users within the region know whom to approach for expertise on the respective matter. Furthermore, peace education actors outside the African Great Lakes Region or even outside Africa may be inspired and benefit from the region’s tools and approaches. The Handbook thus is a prime example to enhance learning from the Global South. 

The Peace Education Handbook includes both knowledge and skills on various topics connected to peace education, but most of all focuses on the values and attitudes that need to be transferred in order for peace education to have a lasting impact. This has been done by presenting the different topics as modules which an educator can ably use in any context of learning both with practical examples and references to other resources on the subject of study. Each of the modules provides some basic background on the topic at hand. This can in no way be comprehensive; rather, the aim is to provide the peace educator with enough general knowledge so that they can decide in which context and in which way to introduce the module to their learners. The content of each activity can easily be adapted to different contexts (level, age, proficiency).

We hope that all readers will enjoy reading and working with our Peace Education Handbook. We welcome each and everyone of you to act as a multiplier and promoter of peace education and support our work towards a culture of peace! 

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The PSCF Guarantor Institutions call upon the ex-M23 rebels to silence their guns, once and for all; to cease all hostilities, in line with the Nairobi Declarations of 12 December 2013; and to engage resolutely and peacefully in the process of voluntary and unconditional disarmament, in accordance with the Disarmament, Demobilization, Community Recovery and Stabilization Program (PDDRCS) and its implementation strategy as well as the decisions of the Summits of the Regional Oversight Mechanism of the PSCF, particularly those held in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, on 19 October 2017, and in Kinshasa, DRC, on 24 February 2022.

The PSCF Guarantor Institutions deplore the fact that the activities of armed groups operating in the eastern DRC continue to fuel a climate of mistrust between the countries and the populations of the region, thus hindering their collective efforts towards a Great Lakes region free of the horrors of war and resolutely focused on sustainable development. They call on the various stakeholders to maintain the promising momentum that has characterized relations between the countries of the region in recent years and to prioritize regional frameworks for resolving differences, particularly with a view to eradicating the threat posed by these armed groups, through a comprehensive approach, including non-military measures aimed at also tackling the root causes of persistent instability.

In this regard, the PSCF Guarantor Institutions welcome ongoing consultations at various levels within the region for a sustainable solution to the presence and activities of negative forces in the region. They reiterate the need for dialogue and sustained efforts to strengthen trust among all stakeholders of the region and encourage them to mobilize existing bilateral and regional mechanisms and frameworks, such as the Expanded Joint Verification Mechanism (EJVM), with a view to further strengthening information exchange, coordination and cross-border collaboration. They also reiterate their full commitment to accompany the efforts of the DRC and all the countries of the region to preserve the progress made to date in regional relations and to put an end to the threat posed by the armed groups.

The PSCF Guarantor Institutions express their condolences and their solidarity with the families of the victims, the FARDC soldiers who died during the attacks and the peacekeepers of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (DRC) who lost their lives in a helicopter crash during a reconnaissance mission in the conflict zone.

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This year’s IWD is characterized by hope! Particularly in the wake of the deadly Covid 19 pandemic from which we seem to be recovering very gradually. It is a well-known fact that women have faced a greater social and economic burden. Before the emergence of the COVID 19

Pandemic, women continued to face significant barriers to gender equality, especially around finances, employment, education, unpaid labour  and  gender-based  violence.  The  Pandemic  only  served  to deepen   those   divides.   This   year’s   celebrations   accord   us   an opportunity to reflect on a sustainable tomorrow.

The theme for International Women’s Day, “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”, recognizes the contribution of women and girls around the world, who are leading the charge on climate change adaptation, mitigation, and response, to build a more sustainable future for all.

The issues of climate change and sustainability continue to have severe and lasting impacts on our environment as well as on the economic and social development. The most vulnerable and marginalized group such as women, girls and children experience the deepest impacts. Women are increasingly being recognized as more vulnerable to climate change impacts than men, as they constitute a higher percentage of the world’s population and are more dependent on the natural resources that climate change threatens the most.

Nevertheless, women and girls are effective and powerful leaders and change-makers for climate adaptation and mitigation. They are involved in sustainability initiatives around the world, and their participation and leadership results in more effective collective climate action. Continuing to examine the opportunities, as well as the constraints, to empower women and girls to have a voice and be equal players in peace building process, leadership, decision-making process on the issues related to climate change and sustainability is essential for sustainable development and greater gender equality. Without gender equality today, a sustainable future, and an equal future, remains beyond our reach.

Attaining Gender equality has been at the core of ICGLR functions. Member States have undertaken a number of measures to uphold women’s rights through the enacting various laws, policies and structures that respond to issues concerning women in the Great Lakes region.

Some of these measures include, among others, the Pact on Security, Stability and Development in the Great Lakes Region (2006) that establishes the Protocol on Prevention and Suppression of Sexual Violence against Women and Children (2006) (Art 11), the Goma Declaration on Eradicating Sexual Violence and Ending Impunity in the GLR (2008), and the Kampala Declaration on SGBV 2011.The Protocol is one of the few regional and internal legal binding instruments to combat sexual violence by protecting victims as well as prosecuting and punishing perpetrators both in peacetime and in time of war. It provides practical recommendations that can be undertaken by  Member States  to respond  to SGBV and  end  impunity. These measures seek to find a sustainable solution for the bias against women, and Member States still affirm their commitment for Gender Equality, Women, Peace and Security.

The ICGLR appeals to the world and Member States in particular to enforce the policies and systems that accommodate the inclusion and restrict marginalization of women and girls. NOW! Women must have the opportunity to play a full role in shaping the pivotal decisions which impact their wellbeing and the world at large.

We must change the narrative and re-write a new story for women and girls. A story of hope to live in a world free from discrimination and abuse.

Happy International Women’s Day!

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Based on the ICGLR Third Party Audit Methodology, this audit aims to assess the level of compliance of Alphamin Bisie Mining with the ICGLR Regional Certification Mechanism requirements and standards.

More specifically, the audit is expected to provide insight in order to ensure that the different requirements of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance and ICGLR certification process are integrated into the company management procedures to constitute useful tools that would help strengthening the operations in a responsible and sustainable way considering the different risks and …(click here for more details) 

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The Host Country Agreement comes as President of the Republic of Kenya, H.E. President Uhuru Kenyatta offered to host the Secretariat of the Region Youth Forum and to meet the initial cost of its establishment during the ICGLR Special Summit held in Nairobi on 24^th July 2014.  Thus, the Agreement provides for regulation on the establishment and functioning of the Regional Youth Forum and its relations with the Republic of Kenya. 

The ICGLR Heads of State and Government endorsed the creation of the Regional Youth Forum to champion the interests of the youth at the national, regional and global level.  This Agreement, further, ensures that the youth are not only involved but are actively engaged in all political processes and decision-making that affects them and the region at large.  It will also strengthen young people’s role in preventing and resolving conflicts, violence and extremism is essential to building sustainable peace and development for all the people in Great Lakes region.  In addition, it will also boost the exchange of ideas, networking and interactions between the youth in the region and within Member States.  Above all, the Host Country Agreement will greatly contribute to the realization of the Pact on Security, Stability and Development signed in 2006 by the Heads of State of the Great Lakes region.

By Dr. Emmanuel Makumba Mali

ICGLR, Director, Democracy and Good Governance

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