By: Haruna Kuyateh
West Africa Network for Peace Building (WANEP) in collaboration with the UNDP and Ministry of Interior organised a daylong community outreach infrastructure for peace 14P for developing national infrastructure for peace and was funded by the UN Peace Building.
The daylong outreach program aimed to solicit support in sustaining peaceful coexistence among citizens, and was held in Kerewan North Bank Region 30 participants.
Tijan Bah WANEP Program Officer said through the slogan of “Peacebuilding and Leadership Awareness for Youths (P.L.A.Y.), Peace Education will focus on the promotion of social cohesion and building a critical mass of youths as behavioral change agents.
He said Peace Education is meant to promote a culture of non-violence and strengthen community resilience to violent conflict. And to let the Political leaders publicly endorse national unity and discredit and abandon behaviors that promote ethnopolitical discrimination, encouraging coexistence initiatives linked to national development initiative.
Further to that, he said the program aimed at addressing security challenges fostered by the complex mix of ethnopolitical and religious differences, hate speeches/incitement on social media, strained state-citizen relationships, weak state institutions, and distrust in key state agencies, as well as the erosion of socio-cultural values, are pointers to the need for a comprehensive long-term peace infrastructure strategy.
WANEP Focal Person in NBR described WANEP, UNDP, and the Ministry intervention as important in harnessing the mindset of the population.
He called on participants to be proactive in respecting infrastructure for Peace Building initiatives at the community and regional level, noting that it conforms with traditional and religious norms.
Participants thanked WANEP and UNDP for building their capacity on peace-building initiatives.
