Africa

"African Youth in Motion for Peace" Training in Nairobi, Kenya 2008

The capacity-building training for young Peacebuilders from the African region of the UNOY Peacebuilders network took place in Nairobi, Kenya, between Saturday 6 and Sunday 14 December 2008. Participants were hosted at the Central Building of the YMCA. Representatives from all of the African UNOY member-organisations attended, as well as a number of UNOY affiliates from Kenya, Zimbabwe and Burundi. The 9-day training was co-organised by the UNOY International Secretariat, the Kenya Youth Foundation (KYF) and the Kibera Youth Programme for Peace and Development (KYPPEDE). It focused on building skills and expertise in the areas of peacebuilding, organisational development, advocacy/campaigning, gender, fundraising and networking specific to the African region. A number of participants furthermore organised and coordinated their own working-groups on issues such as HIV/Aids, Peacebuilding in Liberia, Gender and Leadership in Africa.

The opening ceremony was attended by representatives from the Kenyan Ministry of Youth and Sports, Oxfam Novib, UN-Habitat and CAFOD. The participants attended training sessions by Mr. Michael Owiso (Amani People’s Theatre) on Peacebuilding, Ms. Joy Mbaabu (Amani Communities Africa) on Gender, Mr. Johnson Awuor (Youth Initiatives Kenya) on Project Management and Fundraising and Mr. Menno Ettema (UNOY Peacebuilders), Mr. Mohamed Sillah Sesay (Young Leaders of Sierra Leone) and Mr. Odeny Odhiambo (Kenya Youth Foundation) on Advocacy and Campaigning. A day out was organised during which the participants visited Youth Initiatives Kenya (YIKE), a youth-run organisation working in the Mathare slums of Nairobi, in order to attend peace-related workshops on percussion, puppetry, dance and community theatre. A second excursion took participants to the Kibera slums, where they were able to exchange experiences with peace activists working in the various Nairobi slums, listened to the stories of people who had experienced the post-election violence in Kenya at first-hand and were able to share stories of experiencing violence in their personal lives.

The training provided the opportunity for members to meet, exchange information and experiences, and plan future initiatives together. This opportunity was very much welcomed by the members, undoubtedly strengthened the network and will lead to enhanced cooperation and coordination of efforts, especially at the regional and sub-regional levels. The training in Nairobi will be followed-up by a meeting held in 2010 which will aim at further evaluation, furthering the implementation of action plans created in Nairobi, and the improvement of long-term plans and activities.

Please check the report on the African Youth in Motion for Peace Training by clicking here.

The following training seminars have previously been organised by the network in Africa:

Youth Transforming Conflict, 2004

A Pilot project developed in partnership with The Network University of Amsterdam, consisting of two parts: a 2-weeks online training course on conflict transformation and an 11 day face to face training course in Sierra Leone (18-29 April 2004) West Africa. This training course was attended by 38 participants, representing 18 mainly West African countries and an international team of outstanding trainers, facilitators and experts.

The Online training course was attended by over 50 participants from mainly Europe and Africa as well as some from other parts of the world. It proved a very successful on-line training experience.

The courses were sponsored by the European Youth Foundation, Dutch Institute for Care and Wellbeing (CORDAID), PLAN Netherlands, Dutch Churches Acting Together.

West African Training Seminar for Young Peace-builders, Cotonou, Benin 09-16 November 2002

This training was organised by Africa Peace (Benin) in collaboration with the UNOY African Network of Young Peacebuilders. About 40 youth leaders from 13 West African countries and an international team of expert trainers and facilitators (amongst others, linked to the EMU University in Virginia (USA) and the International Institute of International Relations ‘Clingendael’ and VI@frica, both from The Netherlands) participated in the training conference. The conference consisted of training in nonviolent conflict resolution, reconciliation, diplomatic negotiation, traditional methods in solving conflicts, NGO and project management, ICT training and individual consultancy, networking and working in thematic working groups. Special attention was given to discussions on the violent conflict in the Ivory Coast. The conference became a great success. Its main sponsors were PLAN Netherlands, UNICEF and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

1st National Youth Conference on a Culture of Peace, Networking and Youth NGO/project Management

The conference was held at the National Stadium Hostel Freetown, Sierra Leone from 14-21 December 2002. This seminar was organised by UNOY Sierra Leone Network in collaboration with the UNOY African Network of Young Peacebuilders. It brought together about 65 youth leaders from all the provinces in the country. Trainers and facilitators were from Sierra Leone mainly from the Peace Department of the University of Sierra Leone, NGO operating in the country, a trainer on diplomatic negotiation from the American Embassy, and field workers. The concept of the training was an immersion into the dynamics of a culture of peace, reconciliation, role of women in conflict prevention and transformation, the integration of child soldiers into their communities, networking and project management. The emphasis was mainly on the situation in the country, a reflection on the past, what went wrong and how the situation can be improved to build a culture of peace. The sponsors of the event were mainly the Dutch Inter-church Organisation for Development and Cooperation (ICCO), The Netherlands and the UNOY Foundation.

All African Youth Peace Conference for a Culture of Peace, Franschhoek South-Africa 30 June – 7 July 2001

The conference was organised in collaboration with the Quakers Peace Centre and The Centre for Conflict Resolution, Cape Town, South Africa. 97 participants, staff and trainers from 50 countries, representing about 75 organisations participated and contributed to this event. The training conference provided training in the fields of diplomatic negations, non-violent and traditional methods in conflict transformation, NGO and project management and Networking, led by a team of outstanding and internationally well-known trainers and facilitators, amongst others Dr. Paul Meerts, Deputy Director of the Institute of International Relations ‘Clingendael’, The Hague.

The conference was a great success! The conference received welcome messages, amongst others from the UN Secretary General Dr. Kofi Annan who stated: "… Gatherings, such as those of the United Nations of Youth Foundation, help to create a culture of peace by addressing its requirements in an open, honest, and sensitive manner. Only by approaching the demands of peace in this way can we ever hope to overcome the many challenges of achieving a peaceful world and, ultimately, secure for ourselves a lasting, global peace…"

The conference was funded by a wide variety of donor organisations amongst others, Canadian (CIDA) and South African Governments/EU, UNIFEM-Nairobi, Novib, ICCO, Dutch Churches in Action, Foster Parents Plan, Cordaid.