In the Upper West Region of Ghana, WA, a group of High School students encountered an issue that seemed hopeless to the teachers. It was about one of their classmates – a teenage girl – who got pregnant and started dropping out of school, from her family, and from her future life altogether. But while adults abandoned the girl, her PeaceJam friends decided to help.
Applying the dialogue skills that the PeaceJam program provided them with, the teens were able not only to talk to the girl, to listen to her without judgment but also to make her family return to the discussion table. Through mediation, they helped restore relationships between the girl and her parents, making her return to school and to her family and her future life again.
No politician. No committee. Just youth, with the right tools.
Come prepared to:
- Listen to the hidden story of young Ghanaians who transformed conflict into trust within their communities
- Learn how to engage in actual dialogue and mediation that you will be able to apply immediately after leaving the room
- Get insight on how the global movement of Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi is being implemented right where you live, through young people like you, in schools and communities in Ghana
- Take away at least one concrete step you will implement in your own school or neighborhood
Peace-building does not require someone to become a president; all it requires is willingness to initiate the conversation.
If you are a student who has ever felt helpless due to conflict situations, or a leader looking for a movement worth joining, or an educator who knows that youth are part of the solution rather than part of the problem, this session was designed for you.
Come. Listen. Act. Lead.
Speaker: Wisdom Addo, Executive Director - West Africa Centre for Peace Foundation
