Peace and education are inseparable aspects of civilization. No civilization is truly progressive without education and no education system is truly civilizing unless it is based on the universal principles of peace. However, our educational institutions—families, schools, and communities—have become increasingly conflicted and violent. The foundation of the family is weakening in many societies. Schools are becoming increasingly unsafe environments not conducive to learning. Civic and governmental institutions are burdened with seemingly intractable conflicts. While we rightly expect families, schools and communities to be safe and violence-free environments, in reality many of them are the opposite—unsafe and violent. We, therefore, inadvertently promote a culture of conflict and violence, and our children and students do not learn the ways of peace.
EFP seeks:
- To conduct community and social development projects in any part of the world with a focus on creating a more peaceful and violence-free world;
- To provide the structure for the development and implementation of the peace education projects around the world;
- To offer both community-specific in-class and international web-based Education for Peace programs for school communities and leaders in various countries of the world where the ravages of war, prejudice, terror and rapid social, economic, and cultural change have created conditions of insecurity and conflict in families, schools, and communities alike;
- To establish a comprehensive on-line library on issues pertaining to Education for Peace and make it available to educators and policy makers everywhere;
- To conduct research on the principles of Education for Peace and make the findings available globally;
- To develop curricula of Education for Peace based on established universal scientific principles and the unique cultural and social circumstances of each participating group, making the curricula accessible to all through the Web, in as many languages as possible;
- To train educators and Education for Peace specialists who would, in turn, use their knowledge and expertise in pursuit of peace through peace education;
- To offer expert consulting services to governmental and non-governmental agencies regarding issues of conflict, violence, and peace.
Below is an interview with founder, Dr. H. B. Danesh, discussing the objectives of Education for Peace.
