Generational growth and generational wealth often take center stage in discussions around youth development and progress—but what about generational peace? The same way we strive to strengthen the capacity of communities to generate economic growth, should we not also be strengthening communities’ ability to foster peace? We have seen a decline in democratic values, and institutions and ultimately a rise in civil unrest globally. In this context, how can we both engender and empower a rising generation of peacebuilders to implement conflict transformation and peacebuilding strategies in times of crisis?
This question is at the heart of the PEACE-WAY Fellowship, a first of its kind collaborative initiative by PartnersGlobal and the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) in Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea and Togo. Funded by the U.S. Department of State, in Accra, Ghana, under the U.S. Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability, this transformative project aims to cultivate a legacy of peacebuilders promoting stability within the West African region.
The PEACE-WAY Fellowship enhances the capacity of community leaders, young professionals, and youth in these countries to address community conflicts. The goal of the fellowship is to build up the knowledge, skills and networks of young West African peacebuilders who have committed to addressing conflicts within their own communities. It offers in-person, virtual, and hybrid training courses in French and English on peacebuilding and conflict resolution, along with opportunities for knowledge-sharing and networking across the region. Working closely with local peacebuilding partners, the initiative seeks to empower 350 young community leaders, particularly those from communities most vulnerable to conflict and instability. Through accessible, regionally relevant, and interactive training sessions, these leaders will be equipped to launch and lead their own peacebuilding projects. Upon completing the training, several fellows from each country will receive funding to carry out peace initiatives in their communities and convene at a regional conference in Accra to share their experiences and learnings.
The PEACE-WAY Day-1, in-person training was launched in early May of this year in Guinea followed by Benin, Togo, and Cote d’Ivoire. In total, 170 PEACE-WAY fellows within these Francophone, West African countries participated in an interactive 1-day peacebuilding workshop to kick off the fellowship. Fellows engaged in dynamic discussions and interactive exercises related to peace and conflict in their contexts and analyzed the role individual biases and context narratives may have within polarized environments. Since then, the fellows have continued their learning on key peacebuilding concepts and principles online via PEACE-WAY’s online curriculum. The online curriculum combines curriculum videos, live lectures with leading peacebuilding experts, accredited reading materials, and interactive exercises to encourage learning and reflection, and foster active collaboration and participation among Fellows.
It (PEACE-WAY) is a program that is very interesting and that allows us to have essential tools in conflict management and how we can put in place strategies for effective resolution not only in our communities but also in our country. PEACE-WAY Fellow – Cote D’Ivoire
PEACE-WAY Fellows in Ghana, a cohort of 175 participants, opted to take a three-and-a-half-day intensive workshop on peacebuilding as an alternative to the online course. This approach – decided-on in consultation with WANEP-Ghana— aims to provide selected participants more time to implement their small-scale initiatives before the project closes in December. Following the training delivery of the Ghanaian cohort, participants will be invited to a series of guest lectures in the months August and September. These lectures aim to expand the participants’ networks and provide additional training on relevant peacebuilding concepts.
The PEACE-WAY program has so far had an outstanding reception from fellows and partners alike. This is evident in the enthusiastic participation of fellows online and in-person, as well as WANEP’s tremendous collaboration on PEACE-WAY curricula, ensuring that participants receive local and international knowledge on peacebuilding concepts and approaches.
I’m really satisfied with this training day. The different aspects of the conflict and the mediation techniques we discussed clarified a number of my perceptions of conflict. I am really motivated to continue the rest of the program and to be able to contribute to the resolution of conflicts. I would like to thank WANEP-Togo and PartnersGlobal for this initiative. PEACE-WAY Fellow – Togo