History
Education for Peace grew out of a challenge – how to help alleviate the impacts of entrenched and enduring ethnic and religious divisions on children and youth in Bosnia and Herzegovina after the cessation of active war and violence.
The response to this challenge was to pursue a transformation of the school system of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The substance of the program was to create a culture of peace within the school communities through changes in how subjects were taught, teachers were trained, and students were challenged.
What started in 2000 as pilot program in six schools grew over a decade to include all 2200 schools, involving over a million students and 110,000 teachers and school staff. Throughout its implementation the project gained the support of governments, the international community, and NGO’s.
Out of that work in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Education for Peace has undertaken projects around the globe. Examples of this work has included training of government leaders in peace-based leadership in Malawi, the establishment of networks of youth peace-builders in North America, and the implementation of a program for school transformation in Mexico.