The practice of peace education is diverse, yet the common denominator is teaching the root causes of conflict and presenting alternatives to violence among communities. The ‘Teachers for change’ project was inaugurated in 2006 and incorporated both Peace- building, Development education and Rights awareness. This initiative brought teachers from 5 schools at first and now includes over 20 secondary schools in Katsina State. This programme was organized as part of a UNDP Nigeria supported project titled, Assisting Communities Together (ACT).
Teachers were invited to participate in trainings on peace education and who attended the trainings teach the following subjects mainly: Languages (including English) Social studies, religious The sessions primarily aimed to reduce inter-faith and inter ethnic prejudice and negative stereotyping in their schools.
PADEAP Nigeria incorporated the successful UNICEF and Uganda Youth Anti-Aids Association (UYAAS) participatory peer education programme into their work. The 10-week programme incorporates peer educator training in schools for peace building, reproductive Health, HIV/Aids and Human Rights including the Millennium Development Goals.
Statistics show that in Northwest Nigeria, more than 80 percent of secondary school students exhibit complete ignorance of HIV/AIDS. 812 peer educators have been trained in 20 schools within Katsina State. 16,232 pupils directly benefited from the peer education programme, through school assemblies, and contact with trained peer educators.
Peace Network & Early warning group
One of the most significant and positive outcomes of the peace-building project was the the setting up of a Peace Network and early warning group. The group is able to identify possible hotspots within the local environment and act accordingly using various peace-building tools learnt during previous training workshops. Peace clubs were also established in secondary schools to maintain the continuum of awareness on the culture of peace and conflict resolution among young people.
