Lively discussions explored the links between emotional regulation, school climate, and student well-being, offering concrete strategies to support children in their educational journey.

The evening also provided an opportunity to present the Foundation’s pedagogical approaches and to build trust with local stakeholders. Several spontaneous ideas for collaboration emerged, reflecting strong interest in our expertise.

The Foundation extends its warm thanks to the municipality of Saint-Sulpice for their kind welcome and the genuine interest shown in its educational work.

Graines de Paix was invited to take part in the event and hosted a stand on site. This presence offered the opportunity to present the Foundation’s educational resources—including Growing Up in Peace, which was mentioned during the discussions—and to engage with various stakeholders committed to preventing school violence. It was also an occasion to strengthen ties with key partners such as ASLEC, CIDE, the Morane Association, and the Valais Education Department.

The Foundation warmly thanks the organizers for their welcome, and all those met during the evening for the enriching exchanges and their shared commitment to preventive and inclusive education.

In the premises of the Life for All Foundation, an organization that shares our goals for inclusion and quality in education, participants gathered educational advisors, inspectors, principals, social workers, representatives of parent-teacher associations, religious leaders.

The workshop has served as a valuable opportunity for participants to reunite, to get involved and to be productive, says our international project manager.

 

The workshop focused on the validation of the problematic through the collection of testimonies from communities that have experienced violence and extremism. The results show elements already pinpointed by UNESCO:

1.  Some forms of violence persist in education.
2.  Students feel potentially excluded and discriminated.
3. Students may be susceptible to simplistic and one-sided messages that condone or glorify hatred and the use of violence as a solution to problems.
4. A lack of trust could arise between the different entities in charge of education: school, religion, parents.

These elements require special attention in the Learning in Peace, Educating without Violence-Innovation project in Benin.

Indeed, the information collected will be used to guide the conception of pedagogical resources that will be used in the project for the training of the stakeholders (pedagogical advisors, teachers, social workers), for the activities to be carried out in the classroom with the students and within the community.

The assessment of the workshop showed a great satisfaction from the participants. We were honored by the presence of the Secretary General of the Ministry of Pre-School and Primary Education who represented his minister during the workshop.

JIVEP also invites countries to further promote reconciliation to help to ensure peace and sustainable development, including by working with communities, faith leaders and other relevant actors, through reconciliatory measures and acts of service and by encouraging forgiveness and compassion among individuals.

Watch the documentary:

English

Arabic

Other languages
 

Beyond the celebrations, JIVEP is also an opportunity for everyone to be an actor of peace. We therefore invite you to sign the Universal Declaration of Living Together in Peace.

This focus allows us to share our achievements and lessons learned with other partners around the world that put in place all their efforts to provide a violence-free childhood.

Graines de Paix started its journey in violence prevention and peace culture education in Switzerland in 2005. Since 2012, our action has been extended to Côte d’Ivoire and then Benin. External evaluations of our work provide valuable information on success stories and difficulties for the larger “end violence” community.

• In Côte d'Ivoire, research conducted in partnership with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, on the program "Learning in Peace, Teaching without Violence", has shown positive results on the non-acceptance of violence as an educational method.
• In Switzerland, a school in the Canton of Vaud evaluated the resources of the "Growing Up in Peace" collection. The use of "Growing Up in Peace" for two semesters showed an improvement in the school and classroom climate.

Read the article from the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children

Partners

UBS Optimus, City of Geneva, Commune of Meyrin, Commune of Lancy, UNICEF Côte d'Ivoire, Open Road Alliance, HEP Vaud, SMARTPEACE Foundation and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Useful links

Graines de Paix programs in Côte d'Ivoire and Benin.

Summary of findings from the formative evaluation of APEV

The pilot days took place in two schools: Collège le Joran (France) and Villeneuve (Vaud). At Joran College, the "Little and Big Happiness" activity brought on board the Principal Education Advisor, as well as a dozen students from the Student Council. The sharing of positive experiences around this activity appears to build a lasting foundation that allows students to engage in a common and hopeful project.

The activity is composed of a string garland upon which young people and adults hang recycled pieces of fabric whenever they perform a positive action within their learning environment or when they are having a good time. The students share their little positive actions of the day with great enthusiasm. Happy and intimidated at the same time, one of the young participants opened the event by placing his piece of fabric on the garland, under the benevolent gaze of his peers. Other students expressed themselves in these words "This activity is cool, for once we are not judged by spelling mistakes;" or "I helped a friend on crutches to carry her tray to the canteen."

Other pilot days are planned in Switzerland and France during the year.

Contact our colleagues if you would like more information on "The Happy School Guide (12-15)"

Read a feature article on The Happy School Guide”.

Find all of our educational resources here.

Support our projects in Switzerland or abroad.

With his iconoclastic style and eccentricities, Nigel Kennedy has brought together the general public and music lovers, thus fulfilling his mission: to reconcile "great music" with a public composed of young people and neophytes.

Nigel Kennedy will perform four Concerti by Bach with the top students from the Hautes Écoles de Musique in Geneva, Lausanne, Sion and Zurich.

An evening celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Children’s Rights Convention.

Speaker: Prof. Philip Jaffé, Member of the UN’s Committee for Children’s Rights.

The two concerts will benefit from an honorary committee that include the Cantons of Geneva and Vaud, the towns of Geneva and Lausanne, and distinguished scholars and diplomats.

Tickets

Tickets for support

Tickets are not on sale yet for the concert in Lausanne and a link will be added to this page once sales open.

Do you want to support our work for the transformation of education? We will be selling tickets directly for CHF 260, available at our headquarters in Geneva, for rows 5 and 6, also giving you access to the following reception attended by Nigel Kennedy.

RSVP

Please do not hesitate to contact us by email at or by phone at +41 22 700 9414.

All other tickets:

Tickets at different prices, with discounts for students and seniors.

FNAC: Geneva and Lausanne

Monbillet.ch: Geneva and Lausanne

We look forward to having you join us for these two exceptional events.

More information on this event...

Objectives of the Sectoral Plan for Education post-2015

They are defined by the Beninese Ministry of Education:

• Difficulty in meeting increasing demand for schooling
• Need for equity measures in certain areas and social categories
• Insufficient attention to alternative education
• Literacy
• Adult education and training
• Improved governance of the sector

Response to National Objectives

The actions led by Graines de Paix are aimed at:

1. Increasing access to preschool education, especially in ensuring the well-being of children and teachers in basic education
2. Providing children ages 3 to 15 with a fair and inclusive basic education
3. Providing children ages 4 o 15 with a basic quality education, including training teachers and supervisory staff. One of the strategies put forward is the training of teachers and supervisory staff, including strengthening initial and continuing training (Graines de Paix’s field of expertise).

Denis Hazoumé, the President of Graines de Paix-Benin and the Minister of Pre-School and Primary Education in Benin, Mr. Salimane Karimou

To achieve these goals, 701 organizers and 2,301 pre-school educators (in public and private schools) will be trained in the Atlantique and Littoral departments, and 1,800 teachers in the Alibori department.

The 13th and 14th of August, Community Engagement Program Officers, representatives from the Departmental Directorates of the MASM (Ministry of Social Affairs and Microfinance), as well as parents of students and opinions leaders met in Grand-Popo. It was an opportunity for Graines de Paix to validate program objectives with the assembled group, since they are the main actors.

Schooling for Girls in the SDGs

This goal is outlined as follows (target 4.1)''By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes.''
In addition, (target 4.5): “By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations”
Source: Sustainable Development Agenda 2030, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Website
Graines de Paix is therefore looking to support governments working towards these objectives

« A Better School for Girls »

In 2019 and 2020, Graines de Paix focuses on improving girls’ education and violence prevention in schools. We expect that the project will be conducted in primary schools in the Man region (northwest) and Odienné (north), and secondary schools in Abidjan (south). Graines de Paix’s efforts with not only benefit 740 teachers and nearly 40,000 students, but also social workers and parents of students.
Through ongoing training of primary and secondary school teachers, development of educational resources that support teachers’ classroom practices, and raising awareness in parents, Graines de Paix aims to improve girls’ academic achievement, safety, and well-being in school.
 

Boosted Change

Our team is therefore mobilized to understand the needs on the ground. In Odienné (in the northwest), our project manager Sorana Secasiu, accompanied by our national coordinator Tiemele Kouassi, gave the floor to teachers and educational counsellors.
“We absolutely had to check the reality of what was happening in the classroom to see if our assumptions were correct or not,” explained Sorana. “This first meeting allowed us to define our general objectives, intermediate objectives, and finally the concrete actions that need to be implemented.”
«Quality tools that respond to teachers' needs

Since 2017, Graines de Paix has worked in Man (in the west) in teachers’ ongoing education. A formative evaluation of our program carried out by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine statistically showed significant and very encouraging results in changes in teachers’ behavior and in their perception of violence as a method of classroom management. Teachers are less inclined to resort to violence as a method of classroom management and they are now aware of the consequences of the use of violence towards children.
Our training and pedagogical mission manager, Frédérique Boubakeur, went to Man in the month of July, accompanied by Mustapha Dally, head of field training in Côte d’Ivoire. Graines de Paix and the beneficiaries in the field brainstormed together on improvements that could be made to the educational tools for the project. The students’ parents were also included in the process in order to create continuity between school and home.
 

This is a smart-play book with a treasure hunt that leads young readers from story to story and from emotion to emotion in a stunning set of imagery.

Young readers embark on three exciting journeys:

• A recreational journey, during which they wander through the book as if in the heart of an untouched forest.
• A lively journey that awakens their imagination and ability to invent incredible stories each time they open it up.
• An educational trip, which develops and strengthens the many facets of emotional intelligence.

“Leon, the unbelievable chameleon” is especially designed for children aged 4 to 12 and their parents.

It can also be used in pre-schools, primary schools, day centers and vacation centers, and it can thus be combined with the "Leon and his emotions" school exhibit. And then, you can be sure that your children's emotional intelligence will leap ahead.

Where We Are Currently

We've designed the environment where the adventures will take place : deep jungles full of fun and surprising clues to be found and now, we're keen to finish the stories and go to print!

Next steps

Goals

• Crowdfunding: reach 12000 CHF by end of year.
• Publish date: early 2020
• First edition: 1000 copies
• Pages: about 40
• Retail price: between 16.00 and 19.50 CHF (13-15 EUR).
• Translations: will follow through specific crowdfunding.

Budget: 12,000 CHF (about 1/3 of the global budget remains to be financed)

Book Structure

This book explores seven emotions that are typical of children’s experiences and hints at strategies to modulate each of them.

• The child walks through the book in Leon’s footsteps and looks for clues that he left behind…
• When the child finds one, he or she will ask, “What could have happened here?”
• Then the child will imagine, “What was Leon feeling?”
• Depending on the child’s answer to the above question, he or she will go to the page of the corresponding emotion.

Differentiation

This book differs from other children books on emotions:

• With its circular design, children are constantly stimulated: they go through the pages again and again in ever-novel ways.
• As they grow up, the young readers realise that their emotional reactions have evolved and that they're smarter emotionally.

Especially, the objectives go beyond a focus on vocabulary:

• They can focus on a wider range of emotions, including shame and stress, that are often lived by children, but rarely talked about.
• When doing this in a family or school setting, they develop their empathy by realising that there is a wide variety of emotional reactions and underlying needs.

Surely, you know of some children or parents to whom to offer this book!

Your gift can be a presale if you wish: you can get a copy and maybe more for most levels of donations if you use our crowdfunding platform. No children around you? Think of offering it to your nearby school or library, or to a children's NGO.

I'm keen to support!

Launched in January 2019, this prestigious award recognizes Graines de Paix (Grains of Peace) for its innovative and replicable educational work. Of the 30 applicants, the NGO Graines de Paix stood out as the one with the most developed pedagogy to promote peace and to prevent violent behavior, including for early childhood. The awarding jury was composed of prominent members of the international board, including Jean-Pierre Raffarin, former French Prime Minister and founding President of the foundation, Ban Ki-moon, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Tertius Zongo, former Prime Minister of Burkina Faso, and Assia Ben Salah, Goodwill Ambassador of King Mohammed VI Morocco. Other members included experts in education and impact assessment.

"Integrating peace education into basic education appears essential to changing attitudes and making future generations more skilled in peace competencies and concerned with the stability of the world," states Leaders for Peace.

Delia Mamon, President and founder of Graines de Paix, and co-designer of its pedagogical principles, accompanied by the Head of Programs in West Africa, Sorana Secasiu, and the National Coordinator in Côte d'Ivoire, Tiemele Kouassi, were all three applauded at length following their acceptance speeches. The Smart Peace Prize is symbolized by a meaningful work of art by sculptor Anilore Banon during the ceremony (to the left in the picture below).

Delia Mamon, President and Founder of Graines de Paix with the Smart Peace Prize

The award recognizes the work of Graines de Paix for its innovative educational pedagogy and its implementation, as well as for its proven ability to replicate it, as it already does in several countries in Africa, Switzerland and France. In the Ivory Coast, Graines de Paix's pedagogy has served to reduce violence in schools and to provide quality education for all students. The program has been evaluated by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Their study clearly shows the positive results from changing teachers' attitudes toward their students.

Graines de Paix is the technical partner of the Ministry of Education for the training, respectively of student teachers and of practising teachers. It has been mandated to embed the peace culture education methodology into the curriculum and the initial training of preschool and primary teachers. It develops educational resources that provide effective, practical guidance to teachers for nurturing the positive development of their students, for preventing violence and radicalization, and for fostering societal peace.

Graines de Paix by the numbers...

• 23,500 teachers trained in the Ivory Coast between 2012 and 2019 in teaching with the values, contents, postures and practices that foster the culture of peace.
• More than 1,000,000 children have benefited from the program in the Ivory Coast between 2012 and 2019.
• 500 teachers in Switzerland trained in Graines de Paix's methodology integrating the values, contents, teaching postures and practices that foster a culture of peace for the academic year 2019-2020.
• 80,000 primary school students in Switzerland and neighbouring France who have benefited from Graines de Paix's learning exhibitions and workshops.

CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT GRAINES DE PAIX

Read more about the Smart Peace Prize

AtlasInfo

La Tribune Afrique

“A marvelous musician with astonishingly brilliant technique” Gautier Capuçon.

Joseph-Maurice Weder entered the Basel Musikhochschule at the age of 12, under the tutelage of professor Adrian Oetiker. From 2011 to 2015, he studied with professor Filippo Gamba. He followed Master’s coursework with Piotr Anderszewski, Dmitri Alexeev, professors Homero Francesch, Gérard Wyss and Louis Lortie.

Winning the prestigious Swiss Ambassador’s Award from his first recital at Wigmore Hall in London in 2013 allowed Joseph-Maurice Weder to begin his international career. He captured the attention of critics and the public since then.

He performed in prestigious concert halls such as the Berlin Philharmonie, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Hamburg Laeiszhalle, Wigmore Hall in London, the Tonhalle in Zurich and the Konzerthaus in Vienna. Weder completed multiple tours in South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia, Peru, Ecuador, Uruguay) and Europe (United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Spain, Norway and Switzerland).

Round Table Discussion

For this event, Graines de Paix has been selected to organise a panel, allowing discussions around current approaches adopted by the Côte d'Ivoire and Senegal Ministers of National Education (MEN). They aim to include Peace Culture Education into their countries education system. 

Title: “Innovating For Peace and Quality Education in Africa: Perspectives From The Field.” 

Moderator: Dr. Frédérique Guérin, Director of Programmes and Development, west Africa, for Graines de Paix.

Speakers brought together by Graines de Paix:

• M. Kouadio Méa, Director for Schools, High Schools, Colleges and Minister of Education, Côte d'Ivoire.

• Dr. Babacar Diouf, Director for Continued Training, ENS, Technical and Professional, Senegal, former Inspector, Minister of Education National, former focal point UNESCO.

• Dr. Abdelijalil Akkar, Professor in International Dimensions of Education.

Information Stand

Graines de Paix will also have an exhibition throughout the event, and will also present its projects, activities and educational resources regarding peace culture education. Some examples of the Growing Up in Peace collection will be available for consultation on site. Mrs. Delia Mamon- President will elaborate on educational strategies and current programs in other countries.

This is a unique opportunity for our NGO to showcase our work and interact with other specialists from across the globe. Likewise we seek to influence and nurture international reflection on Peace Culture Education's contribution towards ECM and ESD.

Similarly, we have been able to interview 30 educational specialists and persons in charge of curriculum to discuss their needs for training programmes that will help teachers to transform their practices and approach.

These visits and interviews have allowed us to come to an agreement with the president of CRDP. This agreement was just signed by the Lebanese Minister of Education in July.

Now it is a matter of rolling out different stages of the programme to prevent violence while also supporting academic progress.

• Experiential sessions aim to better teacher’s educational approaches and practices to avoid physical and psychological violence affecting both students and teachers. We have paid particular attention to students’ need to feel respected, considered and included, which are key factors to avoid, among other things, the risk of future radicalisation.
• Other experiential sessions will develop psychological, intercultural, and ecological competencies of students as well as their ability to reflect and understand.
• The Growing-Up in Peace Collection will be adapted and translated into Arabic and English. These volumes will serve as the foundation for teacher training and afterwards when teaching students.

These educational goals are also essential for contributing to security and harmony in Lebanon, a country which could soon become a useful model for stabilising the Middle East.

This cause brings with it significant challenges, thank you in advance for your support!

Donate now

- IBAN CHF:CH66 0900 0000 1727 9126 6
- IBAN EUR:CH24 0900 0000 9165 0896 7

To get the next ten years off to a flying start, the finalised logo was launched on 1st Janusary 2016 on our social media networks. 

Our first logo had been designed in 2005 at the very start of our organization.

La collaboration entre Graines de Paix et le Ministère de l’Éducation nationale de Côte d’Ivoire se poursuit et prend une nouvelle dimension. Au terme d’un séminaire de planification stratégique de 4 jours, qui a eu lieu dans les locaux de l’organisation à Genève du 22 au 26 mai 2016, les bases du programme de généralisation de l’éducation à la culture de la paix dans le système scolaire ivoirien ont été posées.

Les résultats positifs du programme implanté en Côte d’Ivoire depuis 2012, qui a permis de former plus de 20 000 enseignants aux contenus et pratiques de l’éducation à la paix, a justifié la conception d’un nouveau projet plus ambitieux encore, celui d’intégrer l’éducation à la culture de la paix dans la formation initiale des enseignants. Le séminaire a été l’opportunité de présenter le bilan positif de ce programme de formation auprès du Ministère de l’Éducation ivoirien qui a réitéré son intérêt et sa volonté de travailler avec Graines de Paix, et de discuter les modalités de l’intégration formelle de l’ECP dans la formation initiale des enseignants.

Le séminaire accueillait une délégation ministérielle de haut niveau composée de M. Assoumou Kabran, Directeur de Cabinet de la Ministre Mme Kandia Camara, M. Kouadio Mea, Directeur des Ecoles, Collèges et Lycées, M. Marc Sahoure, Sous-directeur chargé des Centres d’Animation et de formation pédagogique (CAFOP), M. Georges Konan, Coordinateur pédagogique de la Direction de la Pédagogie et de la Formation Continue (DPFC), Mme Eugenie Niango N’cho, Coordinatrice du primaire et préscolaire, DPFC, M. Ignace Ake, Chargé d’études au CAFOP, M. Baba Hili Sous-directeur chargé des programmes de la DPFC. Différents experts externes ont aussi pu intervenir lors des discussions: Dr Babacar Diouf, enseignant-chercheur et représentant de Graines de Paix au Sénégal, Dr Thibaut Lauwerier, collaborateur scientifique à la Faculté de Psychologie et des sciences de l’éducation de l’Université de Genève, Dr Marie-Anne Broyon, professeure en Politiques et économie de l’éducation et en Approches Interculturelles à la Haute Ecole Pédagogique du Valais, Dr Zoé Moody, professeure à la Haute Ecole Pédagogique du Valais et collaboratrice de recherche au Centre Interfacultaire en Droits de l’Enfant de l’Université de Genève et Mme Claire Hayoz-Etter, responsable de projets à Education21.

C’est avec satisfaction et sympathie que le séminaire a été clôturé. Le Ministère de l'Éducation nationale de Côte d’Ivoire a une nouvelle fois prouvé son engagement à soutenir l’éducation à la paix dans le système scolaire ivoirien et à faire de Graines de Paix un partenaire de référence dans ce processus, qui s’occupe déjà de concevoir la mise en œuvre de ce projet de grande ampleur.

We are growing and our new program for Benin has been selected to participate in the GlobalGiving accelerator. Participate in the challenge that's been launched:

We need you to raise $ 5,000 by December 31, 2018. All your donations will go towards financing our Benin Program, with the goal of ensuring quality non-violent education for more than 100,000 children in Northern Benin, a region particularly exposed to violence and the risk of radicalization.

Join our Benin Program and help us reach our goal of $ 5,000! Be one of the first to make a donation, click here:

https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/empower-100k-children-through-education-in-benin/

Do you have friends and loved ones who are sensitive to violence prevention? Share this campaign with them!

Thank you for your support !

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We would not have reached our 2018 milestones without you! Thanks to you, we are growing all over the world. We are expanding and our new Benin Programme has been selected to participate in the Global Giving Accelerator.

Take on the challenge with us: Our goal is to collect $ 5'000 by December 31st 2018. All donations will go towards our Benin programme. Our objective is to provide quality violence-free education to over 100'000 children in northern Benin, a region plagued by violence and radicalization.

Find out how you can participate and help us reach our $ 5'000! Go ahead and click here:

https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/empower-100k-children-through-education-in-benin/

Your family and friends also care about violence prevention: share this campaign with them!
Thank you !

Here are the key elements that we accomplished during our trip in the month of April:

April 7th-9th

Candidate training for the positions of Training Officer, Pedagogical Resources Officer, and Logistics and Finance Officer was organized in the Graines de Paix offices in Abomey-Calavi.

Participants attended a presentation of the NGO Graines de Paix, its pedagogy, and its methodology. Graines de Paix programs in Switzerland and in its international offices (Côte d’Ivoire and Benin) were introduced. Experimental activities of several aims were carried out: group team-building, the development of self-knowledge, and the adoption of the values and methodology of Graines de Paix.

April 10th and 11th

Graines de Paix welcomed representatives from the Ministry of Pre-Primary and Primary Education, representatives from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Microfinance, as well as the President and Secretary-General of the National Federation of Associations of Parents of Students in Bohicon. The aim of the workshop was the validation of the project’s theory of change to strengthen pre-primary education in the Atlantic and Littoral region.

We want to thank you again for your support! We would not be able to do this work without you. Follow the activities of Graines de Paix on our Facebook page and by visiting our website.

Coming Up:

The first trainings of trainers are scheduled for autumn 2019. Securing Graines de Paix contents into the teaching program and the validation of the training plan with the authorities (the two ministries) are planned for the summer.