Education for conflict prevention and peacebuilding: Meeting the global challenges of the 21st century. IIEP Occasional Paper

Conflicts can have devastating effects on education systems and impair the ability of governments to provide quality education for their citizens. Yet, when governments and ministries of education analyse and anticipate the risk of such events through careful planning, education can play an important role in preventing violent conflict, and in supporting peacebuilding efforts. The paper describes a range of conflict prevention initiatives and examines the role of policy-makers, youth, women, and the media in maintaining and restoring peace as part of a holistic vision of education. International institutions, governments and civil society are increasingly developing conflict prevention mechanisms and utilizing political and economic incentives to avoid conflicts. The paper argues that educational planning must go beyond traditional mechanisms and take into consideration the unpredictable nature of our times, be flexible and rapid in implementation and responsive to local needs.