Young people are central to achieving long-term, sustainable peace, but they are often under-represented in peacebuilding and mediation initiatives. The British Council’s Enabling University Peace Education (EUPE) project supports young people across Sudan and Ethiopia to participate more effectively in peace processes. For Basik Hamad, the project was an important opportunity to make a difference in his community.
The catalyst
Basik is a Peace Studies PhD student and lecturer at Red Sea University, Sudan. He joined the EUPE project in 2021 as a peace expert representing his university. He was keen to deepen his knowledge of peacebuilding, expand his professional network and pursue new research partnerships.
The spark
As part of EUPE, Basik took part in local, national and international networking activities. This introduced him to other peace experts in both Africa and the UK, opening up new opportunities for collaboration.
EUPE training also helped Basik build his skills in research and content development. He put these to good use, researching and writing about traditional ways of conflict resolution in eastern Sudan and the role of local authorities in conflict management.
The success
As a result of the training in content development under the EUPE project, Basik with other colleagues wrote the Peace Education module. This will be delivered to 3,000 university students in Sudan, including during the current conflict where this is possible. He continues to make the most of the relationships he developed through the project, collaborating with Coventry University, UK, on a paper for the 2023 conference of the African Research Universities Alliance.
Through the EUPE project, Basik was supported to promote peacebuilding initiatives and education in his local community. After working with his university to successfully reduce hate speech on campus, he turned his attention to improving women’s participation in peace activities. With his organisation Peace Makers, he is now working to promote peaceful co-existence in Sudanese society.
‘The EUPE project has opened opportunities for me as a peace expert to link up with regional and international academia, for instance in Rwanda, and to visit and collaborate with Ethiopian universities.’ - Basik Hamad
We deliver the EUPE project in partnership with universities, local organisations and ministries of education, combining our long-standing relationships on the ground with our understanding of local contexts to deliver solutions that work in the community.
The EUPE is co-funded by the EU and British Council and aims to impact 4,600 students, 120 peace researchers, and more than 300 university staff in Sudan and Ethiopia. Despite the outbreak of the conflict in Sudan in April 2023, EUPE continues to support peace in Sudan.
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