Mr. Khalid 27 years old an internal displaced youth from Zerok district. his family was Obliged to flee from its habitual residence Zerok because of armed conflict in 2021 and settled in Orgun district. he lives in Manda village Orgun now, participated in peace building and peace promotion workshop in Orgun. Mr. Khalid, stated; that this was his first time witnessing this kind of peacebuilding workshop. He felt that the training would go a long way to foster peace, women rights, importance of education, mediation and the culture of disputes resolution in the community as, at the very moment, the community was going through a series of crises. Mr. Khalid promised to go back and involve all the key players within his community and bring about a positive change. He says; this kind of workshop was very important for me because the workshop taught topics such as child protection, women rights, human rights, mediation, dispute resolution techniques, importance of education, peace and conflict. Mr. Khalid in his remarks mentioned that the crucial thing he has learned was about the importance of volunteering and communication, even if volunteering requires time, energy, and sacrifice. He stressed that he is now ready to return to his community and become a peace ambassador. Mr. Khalid commended AWEC for their endless efforts toward peacebuilding and development. He shared that one of the other most valuable things he has learned in the course of the workshop is that we are all “One human Under God and no difference between men and women.” He reflected that if everyone can have the mindset that every human being has the same common origin, then the peace and development in homes and larger society can be actualized. He promised to return to his community and share with them the knowledge he acquired during the program. He also encouraged the trained beneficiaries to use the skills from the training to positively impact the lives of other community members and promote a culture of peace for meaningful development, as there will never be development in a society without peace. The participants of this program also expressed their views on creating an atmosphere of peace and support for, women rights, dispute resolution, human rights, children rights, importance of education through group work. While supporting such programs, they called for more programs to spread the culture of peace in the community. The AWEC workshop was aimed at strengthening participants’ capacity in peacebuilding and conflict transformation, increasing their understanding of women, children’s and human rights as well as enabling them to acquire knowledge and skills in mediation, communication and especially importance of women education. The training model which was based on adult learning approaches included sessions delivered through; in-person workshops, lectures, role play, storytelling and reflection, group work and presentations, brainstorming, and illustrations among others. In conclusion, participants suggested different roles of leadership they could participate in once they got back to their communities. These included; advocacy work for women, children rights, importance of education, influencing media dialogues for attitude change, stopping youth from participating in violent conflict, facilitating community dialogues on issues affecting youth in their communities.

08-14-2024