The following is an excerpt from an article written by ‘iDover’ Nayasha Freeman for The Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers. Youth in Action for Peace (YAP) is an initiative of Global Peace Foundation (GPF) Tanzania in partnership with iDove that aims to build understanding between people of diverse religious beliefs and faith traditions.
Participants in the Youth in Action for Peace project
In June, three “Scriptural reasoning workshops” were hosted in Tandahimba District under Youth in Action for Peace Project, which equipped youths with tools to initiate peer-driven, localized training that helps communities to build resilience. In addition, five members of trained peace ambassadors embarked upon community outreach to gain support and interest for a youth-led-inclusive platform for interfaith dialogue within the border areas of northern Mozambique and southern Tanzania.
The Peace ambassadors congregated in Miuta village and were joined by wards leadership, villagers, religious and traditional leaders, as well as government officials. Local indigenous dance groups showcased their work while also showcasing how music can be effectively utilized as a communicative tool in PVE work. A total of 674 young people were reached in the process, this being introduced to various conflict resolution mechanisms at the community level and local leadership.
The project effectively utilized storytelling in promoting community healing and tolerance. It held a screening of a local drama film “UDINI” (religion). The drama medium aimed to facilitate the interfaith dialogue process through learned experiences with a focus on religious scriptures.
Later in June, a total of 125 youths participated in three Ball Games for Peace events in Tandahimba. These events were organized and hosted by the local Peace ambassadors as part of YAP’s peer-driven approach. Additionally, two webinars were conveyed under the theme of “Youth Interfaith Dialogue Series”. The topics covered included “Creating pathways to Youth, Peace and Security in the Horn of Africa”; “Opportunities, challenges and intergenerational dialogue” and “My commitment to Peace.”
July marked the last month of the implementation. Accordingly, the Youth in Action for Peace project convened the following activities: 1. Publishing and distributing project magazine copies to showcase the project work and create a communication tool that raises awareness about the project’s work beyond its vicinity, 2. Youth Interfaith webinar, 3. two community outreach – activities, and finally, the documentation of success stories.
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