Youth in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are using their creative talents to advocate for sustainable peace.  Young peace advocates are educating their communities about protecting the environment, promoting human rights and stopping the exploitation of child soldiers as weapons of war.

Never Again International – Canada is supporting youth peace builders to receive an education in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  In a country that has experienced one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises and is teetering on a fragile and often violent peace, NAI-C is empowering the next generation of peace makers.  

Never Again International – Canada equips youth with the necessary school fees and supplies to graduate and become the peace builders of tomorrow. 

                                                                         

In the DRC, there are currently over 7.5 million children who are unable to attend school because of a school fee of approximately 150 dollars that each student has to pay in order to enroll in school for the year. 

For a country that is known to the outside world as “the rape capital of the world,” and the “world’s worst place to be a woman,” empowering these young peacebuilders can offer hope for an entire nation and beyond.   

Your donation can help young peacebuilders engage in the Democratic Republic of the Congo engage in peace building activities in one of the most traumatized nations on Earth. 

                     

In September of 2019, Never Again International – Canada supported 16 more young girls in our peace building program to attend school.  You can send a young peace builder to school and create hope for former child soldiers and war-affected youth.  Your donation enables a child to receive an education and engage in exciting new youth peacebuilding projects around the world.

                                  

NAI-C supports a youth football tournament for peace that occurs every year in Rwanda.  This tournament is an important tool to spread peace and unity among young people.  Youth are teaching their peers and their communities to play and live peacefully.

Never Again International – Canada hosted a delegation from the Office of the Governor General of Canada to meet with youth in Rwanda and share ideas about peace and reconciliation.  This was an opportunity for youth to create a dialogue across cultures by meeting with representatives of the delegation team of Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada.  The event was part of a multi-country visit by the Governor General to Africa.  In official attendance were officials Kanika Gupta, Founder and Director of Nokoko and Youth Activist and Peter Flegal, Special Advisor on Youth Affairs to the Governor General.

Members of the delegation gathered ideas from the Rwandan youth that were then shared with youth in Canada. By creating a dialogue between youth in both countries, Never Again International – Canada is bridging a cultural divide and helping construct a roadmap towards a sustainable peace.

 

NAI-C works directly with survivors of genocide and empowers children who were orphaned during the genocide. NAI-C facilitated training of genocide survivors and youth born of sexual gender-based violence through peace empowerment training and entrepreneurial skill building in weaving and performing arts.

Never Again International – Canada provides support to integrate youth into vocational training schools and equip them with the toolsets to become peace advocates and establish their own businesses.

Youth galvanize their peers through education about the causes and effects of genocide and mass human rights violations to take action to make the concept of “never again” a reality.

Training youth to become peacebuilders

Never Again International – Canada is working with youth to become peacebuilders to help build a peaceful and more sustainable world.

Never Again International ­– Canada supports the demobilization of child soldiers and provides them with employable skills so that they are not re-recruited by armed groups. NAI-C presses both the government and the international community to look at the reparation package offered to former child soldiers.  We provide them counselling and train former child soldiers and street children who have been separated from their relatives.  NAI-C also provides computer training that allows former child soldiers to obtain employment.

Peace through Art

One way that Never Again International – Canada works to promote peace is through art, music and photography.  The youth are encouraged to express their feelings about peace, their ideas about the concept of Never Again and genocide prevention in all forms of art.

Former child soldiers and war-affected youth in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sierra Leone drew pictures representing what peace means to them.   Take a look at some of the creative ways youth are using art to describe what peace means to them! 

Children in school are shown in their classroom, yearning for a peace studies course to be introduced and incorporated into their studies.  They believe that education is the main way for them to achieve a successful life.

Former child soldiers in Sierra Leone drew this picture to illustrate building peace through sport. This football game represents their desire to live as children in peace and to not have to relive the horrors they witnessed.

Click here to view some more of the youth‘s creative artwork representing their interpretations of peace!

Peace through sport

Never Again International – Canada in Rwanda runs a football academy where we train children to use football as a tool for peace.  Youth clubs across Rwanda and the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo have been exploring themes of genocide prevention, the elimination of the proliferation of child soldiers and building human rights through education.

Never Again International – Canada organizes a youth tournament in Rwanda on an annual basis.  This tournament gathers youth from across Rwanda and aims to encourage students to become positive agents of change in society.  The tournament is an opportunity for the youth clubs to unite around the themes of preventing the spread of genocide ideology, peace building, and unity and reconciliation and building conflict management through sport activities.

The tournament is an opportunity for Never Again to talk and address our message to not only the youth, but also to the spectators from the local communities.  Never Again International – Canada uses this opportunity to educate a captive audience about the phenomenon of child soldiers and advocate for the elimination of the use of children as weapons of war.  The audience is interested in the tournament and wants to know more about Never Again and its impact in society.

Commemorating the International Day to End the Use of Child Soldiers.

Never Again International – Canada youth activists from around the world are committed to sustainable peace and stopping the use of child soldiers.

February 12th marked Red Hand Day, a day for the international community to unite against the use of child soldiers.

Youth used their creative talents to draw attention to the situation of child soldiers throughout the world.  You can join with the youth of NAI-C and educate your peers about stamping out the use of child soldiers & raise awareness about the effects of recruitment of children by armed groups.

You can help our peace builders get to the heart of the problem to prevent future genocides and engage with youth by supporting a peace building initiative.  With your help we can change the conversation to stopping the use of child soldiers as weapons of war and create an international discussion to eradicate this social injustice. 

           

Donate to impact change today

 

Echoing the words of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, “Peace is something we must all work for, every day.”  

Join the youth of Never Again International – Canada in committing to participating in activities every day that help to build sustainable peace.