13 September, 2009
Source: Afrique en ligne
Mombasa, Kenya - Delegates from several African countries in conflict or post-conflict situation started jetting into Kenya's southeastern seaport city of Mombasa Sunday evening for a 14-16 Sept. regional conference on 'Education for Peace', PANA reported.
Among the first delegations to arrive were those from Angola, Cote dâ?Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Sudan, and host Kenya, while others from Mauritania, Zimbabwe and Uganda were still being expected.
Madagascar, Mozambique, Liberia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone are also on the list of the 14 nations invited to the meeting, jointly organized by the Kenyan Ministry of Education and the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA).
The facilitators and moderators of the conference were drawn from different gove rnmental and civil society institutions in Africa, as well as from other international bodies including the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
According to the organisers, the aim of the gathering is to raise the awareness of African societies on the need to transform their educational systems into a real peace-building tool with an active role in conflicts prevention and resolution.
To this end, participants will share experiences on the provision of education services in conflict and post-conflict situations, as well as build consensus on their countries' responsibilities in the development of peace education within their regions.
They will also seek to determine the modalities for mutual collaboration and networking across national boundaries and produce a final report to be shared among the participating countries.
The workshop is being presented as a step towards implementing the recommendations from an earlier conference also held in Mombasa, on 2-4 June 2004, which deliberated on the challenges of expanding education in crisis, post-conflict and difficult circumstances.
The final Declaration from the 2004 Mombasa meeting stated the commitment of African ministers and their representatives to utilize their education systems as 'agencies and forces for peace-building, conflict prevention, conflict resolution and nation-b uilding'.
The initiative was prompted by the recognition that the conflicts are a major ob stacle to the development of education in Africa with â?particularly devastating impact: destroyed or damaged infrastructures, dismantled teaching staff and traumatized, orphaned and displaced refugee children or child soldiers'.
'Conflicts go well beyond a braking effect and stagnation. They also cause regression,' ADEA said in a note released in Mombasa, noting that almost half of Africa had been devastated by armed conflicts during the last two decades.
As an example, it said, enrolment rates fell by about 30 to 40 points in many African countries which had recorded a practically universal access to primary education.
Mombasa - 13/09/2009
By Fred Cawanda, PANA Correspondent
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