he role of education in peacebuilding is the theme of the UNESCO keynote speech at a research findings seminar in Amsterdam on April 20-22.
Mr Jordan Naidoo, Director, Division of Education 2030 Support and Coordination, UNESCO will address the Research Consortium on Education and Peacebuilding on April 22 on the links and interdependence between Sustainable Development Goal 4 and peacebuilding.
UNESCO’s constitution enshrines its mission to “build peace in the minds of men and women.” The issue of peace and education is dealt with in the new education agenda in target 4.7 of SDG4 which calls for the “promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence and global citizenship.” The Framework for Action, the implementation guide for the SDG4-2030 Agenda, contains 17 references to peace.
During times of conflict SDG4 specifies that efforts must be made to:
Ensure that education institutions are protected as zones of peace, free from violence, including school-related gender-based violence;
Schools and educational institutions – and the routes to and from them – must be free from attack, forced recruitment, kidnapping and sexual violence; and
Actions must be taken to end impunity for persons and armed groups that attack education institutions.
Building global citizens
UNESCO encourages Global Citizenship Education to enable learners of all ages and backgrounds to develop into informed, critically literate, socially-connected, and ethical and engaged global citizens.
The consortium is a partnership between the University of Amsterdam, the University of Sussex, Ulster University and UNICEF and aims to contribute to UNICEF’s Learning for Peace programme.