Women play an essential role in peacebuilding. For this year’s International Women’s Day, UNESCO dedicates a Campus to highlight women’s work in maintaining peace at international, national, and local levels.
For this celebration, six schools from six different countries joined: The Senior High School of Moudros at Moudros, Lemnos Island in Greece, The Loyola High School at Dar er Salaam, Tanzania, The English International School at Cotonou, Benin, The ISIS Mattiussi-Pertini at Pordenone, Italy, Ebedei Secondary School at Ebedei, Nigeria and Arakan Secondary School in Lusaka, Zambia. More than 1 500 students from 28 countries were also assisting at the session and interacting with the speakers via the chat.
The first inspirational story was the one offered by Franca Ma-ih Sulem Yong-Akinboboye, Founder and President of #Afrogiveness and Positive Youths Africa. Once a victim of intolerance, Franca has become Cameroon's leading voce for tolerance. She emphasizes the practices of cultivating peace within us: everyone has the responsibility to share their engagement in peace building and their beliefs in a better world. Gratitude, self-acceptance, tolerance, empathy, and diversity are important values in building and promoting peace.
The students were particularly curious about the importance of the psychological dimension, the selfcare of the individual required to being a vector of peace.
It begins with you: learn to choose your thoughts carefully. Make sure you develop values that make you at peace with your peace.
Local action remains essential for peace. After daily exposure to violence, Khadija Mayman, Conflict Resolution Education Trainer at the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative dedicated her career to bringing about peace in the same community where she was exposed to violence. She shared with the students that being a WPDI Youth Peacemaker contributed to positive changes in the local schools and communities where she worked within Cape Flats. With her journey, she reminded the students of their capacity for positive change and transforming their local communities.
I believe that peace is possible, but it requires action and young people owning their power.
Women’s contribution to peace is not limited to the individual and local level. Many inspiring women are working at the global level to bring about peace actions, including UNESCO’s very own Chiara Dezzi Bardeschi, Head of UNESCO Desk in Ukraine. Chiara has over 22 years of professional experience with UNESCO, mainly working in fragile states and emergency contexts. She worked for different missions in Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Iraq, Mozambique, Namibia, among others. For UNESCO, she contributed to strategic papers in heritage protection.
Students and teachers were interested in the role and concrete actions that UNESCO does in conflict areas. Chiara put the focus of her discussion on the importance of the Education: international organizations work to protect cultural heritages, to respect the collective memories and to safeguarding the access to information... but she also pointed out that the first action to do in case on conflict is empowering the youth.
Preserving cultural identity is essential, but the only way to reach this aim is with youth education.
If you educate a man, you educate an individual. But if you educate a woman, you educate a nation.
Inspiring women working for peace exist at all levels. This International Women’s Day, their works are highlighted and celebrated among young students from all over the world.
Everyone deserves the same chances, choices, and knowledge regardless of gender. It's all about creating a future where everyone is equal.
This event was realized with the support of TECH4ALL and the collaboration of 6C-Conseil.
