Nearly 800 people from Ethiopia have signed-up for a Positive Peace programme devised by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), and supported by local Rotary Club Addis Ababa West.
The Ethiopian Positive Peace Ambassadors Programme will provide participants with an opportunity to gain concrete knowledge and resources to foster peace in their communities.
Through a series of three webinars, the ambassadors will learn about IEP’s data and methodology, while gaining an understanding of how to communicate peace research.
The programme also includes an introduction to Positive Peace including the IEP-devised model for practical implementation or peacebuilding, known as the Pillars of Positive Peace.
To complete the programme, participants will put their newly acquired knowledge to use by preparing a final project that applies Positive Peace in their communities.
A cost-free programme provided in collaboration with the local Rotary Club of Addis Ababa West, Entoto, and the Ethiopian Reconciliation Commission has attracted local Rotarians, artists and entrepreneurs.
The programme will be implemented at a time when Ethiopia grapples with an outbreak of violence in the Tigray region of the country.
The conflict between federal and regional forces that began in November 2020 has pushed more than 50,000 refugees into neighbouring Sudan and developed into a humanitarian crisis.
IEP’s Ambassador Programme began in 2016. Offered twice a year to applicants from around the world, it brings a range of peacemakers and other professionals together to create an international network of leaders who are creating a paradigm shift in the way the world interacts with, and understands peace.
Positive Peace is defined as the attitudes, institutions and structures that create and sustain peaceful societies, and represents a holistic approach to developing peace. It not only reduces violence and the level of grievances, it also provides a framework for robust human development.
Well-known for producing the Global Peace Index, IEP’s research represents some of the most comprehensive, data-driven analyses within the field of peace and conflict prevention and resolution.
IEP’s Ambassador program is now taking expressions of interest. Find out more and apply here.
For more information on the different ways Rotary and the Institute for Economics & Peace partner together, visit the Rotary International website.
Rotarians in Ethiopia have been serving humanity with the motto “service above self” for 66 years, implementing varied, life-changing projects in areas such as water drilling, sanitation and hygiene, literacy, and health in both the urban and rural settings.
Ethiopia’s Rotarians are now focusing on peace and conflict prevention, and resolution, as one of Rotary International’s six areas of focus.
Next up: Read about the Battle for Resources in Ethiopia – Dam Plans Raise Tensions
Contemporary visual art is a powerful peacebuilding tool, according to IEP ambassador Alden Jacobs.
The Positive Peace framework can change attitudes, writes IEP Ambassador Jelena Starcevic.
