Africa

Capacity Building Training Seminar Nairobi, Kenya 2008

The capacity building project for young Peacebuilders from African members of UNOY Peacebuilders in Nairobi, Kenya is still underway! The current outbreak of violence and future volatility has meant that the training will be postponed tentatively until August 2008. The crisis in Kenya means that it is even more important for this training to take place to support young African Peacebuilders. The 9-day training will focus on building skills and expertise in the areas of peacebuilding, organisational development, and networking specific to the African region, and will invite participants from all the African member organisations and several affiliates. The training will be implemented by the International Secretariat with Kibera Youth Programme for Peace and Development (KYPPEDE) as the main partner along with Kenya Youth Foundation (KYF). The specific content of the training is yet to be decided and will involve input from African members on the organisational committee, which is made up of several of the African members.

There will be a follow-up meeting eight months after the training to evaluate the training, further the implementation of action plans and improve activities in relation to long-term visions.

We are currently in the fundraising stage and will keep you updated!

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 organized 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 organized 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 organized 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.