Peacebuilding UK plans to conduct a new peace education/ conflict transformation project in Chechnya from April 2014, which will build on the work of previous projects (the ‘Little Star’ psychosocial assistance program, ‘Power of Goodness’ stories of nonviolence and reconciliation by Friends’ International Library). The project will use the internet based platform developed in 2013 (www.power-of-goodness.org) as a catalyst for conflict transformation activities in Chechnya – a region beset by violence and armed conflict over two decades. 200 teachers in 20 schools will receive training, support and resources for peace education work in schools. A peace curriculum and teacher’s training manual will be provided, based on the real-life stories of Power of Goodness with examples of nonviolence and reconciliation, some by people in the region.
The project will aim to help prevent new violence by focusing on training and supporting teachers in schools to cultivate peaceful values of tolerance, nonviolence, reconciliation and justice among young people. This is a pilot project, which Peacebuilding UK and partners (including Friends’ Peace Teams and Conscience Studio in the US) subsequently plan to conduct in other regions of the world. Funding is presently being sought to enable this project.