Peace Week

Schools' Peace Week is a national week designed especially to help schools educate students about peace issues. Peace education is about helping students to understand and manage conflict in their own lives and from a greater perspective learning how peace is fostered both nationally and internationally.

Taipa School Peace Circle, 2004

Schools' Peace Week is one of the Peace Foundation's contributions to the UN Decade for Peace and Non-Violence for Children. The UNESCO manifesto focused on the following six strands to be used as the basis for peace activities:

- Respect all life
- Reject violence
- Share with others
- Listen to understand
- Preserve the planet
- Rediscover solidarity

In 2008 Schools' Peace Week will run from 4th-10th of August and will incorporate several important dates which provide possible themes of focus:

August 6 - Hiroshima Day
August 9 - Nagasaki Day
August 9 - International Day of Worlds' Indigenous Peoples

Other themes for Peace Week activities include non-violence, conflict resolution, nuclear issues, human rights and disarmament.

There are several ways in which peace activities can be incorporated into the classroom:

•  Peace performances such as: concerts, speech contests, poetry
•  Watch or make your own peace videos
•  Create peace posters or origami cranes
• Create a peace path or garden

The Peace Foundation has many resources, such as posters, books and videos that you can use to organise a fun week and a unique learning experience, so contact us if you have any further questions.