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Organization: The Prajnya Trust
The following information may be cited or quoted as long as the source is accurately mentioned and the words are not taken out of context.
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Postal address of organization/institution

B-402 Prince Villa, 7 Rajamannar Street, Chennai 600 017, India

E-mail address of organization/institution

prajnyatrust@gmail.com

Website address of organization/institution

http://www.prajnya.in

Telephone of organization/institution

91-44-2815-2954

PRIORITIES: All of the organization's domains of culture of peace activity

EDUCATION FOR PEACE
HUMAN RIGHTS
WOMEN'S EQUALITY
UNDERSTANDING, TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY
INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY

TOP PRIORITY: The organization's most important culture of peace activity

EDUCATION FOR PEACE

PARTNERSHIPS AND NETWORKS: What partnerships and networks does your organization participate in, thus strengthening the global movement for a culture of peace?

The Education for Peace Initiative at Prajnya has joined the Peace and Collaborative Development Network online, but is still in the process of contacting and joining others.

ACTIONS: What activities have been undertaken by your organization to promote a culture of peace and nonviolence during the ten years of the Decade? If you already made a report in 2005, your information from 2005 will be included in the 2010 report.

The Education for Peace Initiative at Prajnya (EPI@Prajnya) is still in a preparatory phase and is expected to fully operational mid-2010. Other initiatives at Prajnya have been engaged in campaigning against gender violence and in trying to build a documentation centre on women's participation in public affairs since Prajnya was launched in 2007. EPI@Prajnya anchors/will anchor our Culture of Peace work however, and in anticipation we have carried out three studies: (1) a mapping of local educational administrative structures designed to help us plan our interventions; (2) a survey of civil society peace education initiatives in South Asia; (3) an ideational framework for our own interventions. We hope to work with schools, teacher training institutes and communities in this area.

PROGRESS: Has your organization seen progress toward a culture of peace and nonviolence in your domain of action and in your constituency during the second half of the Decade?

Yes and no. In the long run, we see South Asia as our domain of action, and with our survey of peace education, observed that many beginnings have been made across the region. However, they are not well-networked (an area where we see ourselves intervening) and most also run out of resources.

OBSTACLES: Has your organization faced any obstacles to implementing the culture of peace and nonviolence? If so, what were they?

Our Education for Peace Initiative is still very new but based on our studies in the last year, we would like to point to two. One obstacle we have observed is that people work in pockets, usually unable rather than unwilling to network and share learning. A great deal of time and energy is lost because we don't learn from each other and because we end up replicating each other's learning processes. The other relates to working with schools and existing curricula. The emphasis on rote learning for examinations makes interactive learning a hard-sell, leave alone exploration of peace values and the incorporation of dialogue and conflict resolution. Neither is insurmountable, but both are real obstacles to work in this area.

PLANS: What new engagements are planned by your organization in the short, medium and long term to promote a culture of peace and nonviolence?

We will be launching a series of school based programs to sensitize students and teachers to peace related issues and complement the curriculum with programs that promote the teaching and learning of Peace skills

GLOBAL MOVEMENT: How do you think the culture of peace and nonviolence could be strengthened and supported at the world level??

We believe that many of the obstacles to peaceful coexistence can be minimized by inculcating a  culture of acceptance and action in the early years  of education .Children are born bias-free and with a supportive environment can grow up without prejudice thus contributing to a peaceful society. Towards this, a global effort to review and refresh curriculum and practices in education to include peace related materials in all aspects of a child's schooling experience would go a long way in starting to build bridges across cultures and divides.
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Organization: The Prajnya Trust

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