Foundation for the Advancement of Reflective Learning & Teaching

25/03/2026

In 1999, the United Nations formalised this vision with the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace. This document outlined practical steps to build peaceful communities, including:
* Peace Education: Teaching conflict resolution, empathy, and global citizenship.
* Economic and Social Development: Reducing inequalities that can lead to social tension.
* Human Rights: Safeguarding the rights and dignity of every person.
* Gender Equality: Empowering women and ensuring equal opportunities for all.
* Democratic Participation: Involving everyone in shaping their community.
* Tolerance and Solidarity: Promoting respect and understanding across all groups.
* Free Communication: Encouraging the open exchange of ideas.
* International Peace and Security: Favoring dialogue and negotiation over conflict.
The bigger picture
This vision is not limited to policies or official declarations—it is about changing our culture. It calls on each of us to celebrate diversity, practice ethical leadership, and take responsibility for building a better world.

https://everydaypeacebuilding.com/ten-practical-ways-to-build-peace-in-your-life-and-in-the-world-around-you/

Some tips and advice from an experienced peacebuilder on ways you can build peace in your life and in the world around you.

29/01/2026

Henri Nouwen and Education in an Age of Fear
Henri Nouwen (1932–1996) was a Dutch-born writer, teacher and pastoral thinker whose work spoke quietly but powerfully to anxious times.

Trained in psychology and theology, he taught at institutions such as Yale, Harvard and Notre Dame.

Yet over time, he chose to move away from academic prestige toward a life of accompaniment among the most vulnerable at L’ Arche. This led to a a conviction that wisdom is formed not only through knowledge, but through presence, humility and relationship.

At the heart of Nouwen’s work was a simple but demanding insight: human beings do not flourish under fear, performance or control. They flourish in spaces of hospitality, affirmation and presence.

He believed that growth occurs when people are given room to be honest about their uncertainty, rather than pressured to appear certain or successful.

For Nouwen, the task of a teacher or leader was not to impose answers, but to create a place where the deepe human capacities to care, to give and to create emerge without fear about the future.

Although Nouwen wrote from within a spiritual tradition, his insights reach far beyond religion. He understood fear not as a personal weakness, but as a social condition that drives people toward conformity and false certainty.

His response was neither withdrawal nor domination, but the intentional creation of spaces where courage could grow through belonging, and where people could remain truly human even when answers were unclear.

In an age marked by rapid change nd widespread anxiety about the future, Nouwen’s vision offers a compelling lens for education.

If fear shapes how people think, then education either reinforces fear through performance or need for information and speed or counters it by cultivating presence, reflection and trust.

The ideas that follow explore what education might look like if it took this challenge seriously: not as the transmission of certainty, but as the formation of people capable of remaining truly human, reflective and connected in fearful times.

Education for an Uncertain Future

Education in a fearful age stops being primarily about preparing people for a predictable future. Instead, it becomes about allowing people to grow and remain human when the future feels unstable.

1. Education shifts from certainty to capacity
In fearful times, knowledge expires quickly. What lasts is capacity. Education therefore places greater emphasis on learning how to think rather than what to think; on holding multiple perspectives without collapse; on recognising when confidence is masking anxiety; and on staying curious when answers are unavailable.

Good education teaches students to say:

“I don’t know yet and I can stay engaged.”

In statements such as " I allow myself to reveal my narratives (idols) without judgement but with curiosity, to courageously see them as useful for my survival but once they are revealed no longer beneficial".

For Nouwen this might be: "When I subtly believe that good behaviour earns protection, blessings or clarity then God becomes a system I can operate rather than a presence I must surrender to". These narratives or idols are often unconscious and include resentment when generosity costs too much, superiority when doing “the right thing” and despair when failure threatens our identity.
You cannot think your way out of these narratives or force yourself out of them. These unconscious narratives or idols don’t dissolve through insight alone; they loosen their grip only through practice, time and exposure.

Practice - Silence and Stillness /Time
In silence, we discover: what we reach for when nothing is happening as well as what terrifies us when control slips and what stories rush in to rescue our identity. ` Only time can allow us this process and exposure in the sense we are guided to ask hard questions of ourselves as we remain present while illusions fall away without rushing to replace them.

Theese narrative or idols, or stories we carry are not wrong or immoral, it’s the self-image trying to be safe and being defended. The stories that once protected us cannot be argued away, however they fade as we gradually learn that we can remain safe without control, present without certainty, and connected without the narratives that once gave us reassurance. As we learn to see our own narratives or idols then we begin to notice those of others and it leads to compassion and a greater understanding of human behaviour and society. With this we begin to realise what once held us together is not defeated but outgrown.

2. Learning environments become places of psychological safety, not performance.
Fearful societies tend to produce compliance or rebellion, silence or shouting, performative certainty rather than genuine thinking. Education counters this by normalising unfinished thought, rewarding questions as much as answers, separating worth from correctness, and always making room for humility.
When students learn that disagreement is survivable, they learn one of the essential skills of democracy.

3. Authority is modelled, not enforced
Healthy education demonstrates authority that listens, leadership that admits limits, expertise without contempt, and boundaries without domination. Teachers become evidence, through their own presence, that clarity does not require control. This quietly reshapes how students imagine leadership itself.

4. Emotional literacy becomes civic literacy
Fear is not only personal; it is political. Education therefore makes room for recognising anxiety, anger, grief, and shame; for understanding how fear spreads socially; and for seeing how emotions are exploited by power. This is not therapy. It is immunisation against manipulation. Students who can name what they feel are harder to govern through panic.

5. Complexity is taught without despair
Fear thrives on false binaries. Education resists this by teaching students to hold complexity without moral collapse and to distinguish uncertainty from relativism. Complexity does not mean paralysis; it means participation.

6. Technology is taught with ethics, not awe
In a fearful age, technology can feel like fate.. AI is taught not as magic or menace, but as a tool whose consequences depend on human choices. This restores a sense of agency.

7. Hope is grounded, not inspirational
False hope feels manipulative in fearful times. Education instead offers durable skills, honest limits, meaningful work and shared responsibility. Hope becomes something practiced, not promised.

8. The hidden curriculum changes
Perhaps most importantly, students absorb what is modelled, not what is stated. Education in a fearful age quietly teaches: You don’t have to rush. You don’t have to know everything. You are allowed to think out loud. You belong even when you’re unsure.
This is how fear gradually loses its grip.

A Closing Truth
In a fearful age, education matters not because it removes uncertainty, but because it teaches us how to live well within it. We can work together on not becoming overwhelmed, not being ashamed of not knowing, not being afraid to speak, and not becoming desperate for certainty. # Education For All

29/01/2026

Mr Trump first proposed the Board of Peace last September when he announced his plan to end the Gaza war. He later made clear the board's remit would be expanded beyond Gaza to tackle other conflicts worldwide.

The US president will be the inaugural chairman of the board and it will be tasked with promoting peace around the world and working to resolve conflicts, according to a copy of the draft charter seen by Reuters.

Former president of Ireland Mary Robinson has called the controversial Board of Peace a "delusion of power" from "power-crazy" US president Donald Trump.

Mr Trump is also shielded from removal as the board's chair expect for in the case of a unanimous vote on incapacity, and is also given the right to choose his successor.

Most Western allies have declined invitations, partly because Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Belarus’s Alexander Lukashenko were invited. Permanent membership also requires a payment of $1 billion.

“It’s not a board of peace. It’s a board of power of one person. The chair for life is president Trump. He disinvites if he wants to,” Mrs Robinson said.

“He has not invited any country from sub-Saharan Africa. That’s the continent that’ll have the largest population in the world in 2050, is ignored. “It’s a delusion of power, which is where president Trump, I think, is now. He’s had the power of the US unfettered, within the country and outside ... It’s gone to his head.”

Mrs Robinson said the UN is need of reform, but should not be replaced.

Asked whether the term "fascism" was appropriate, she replied: "I’ve certainly seen the elements that built up fascism in Germany. The elements are there. There’s no doubt about it.”
Full text: Charter of Trump’s Board of Peace
The following is the full text of the charter of the Board of Peace, the international body headed by US President Donald Trump.
This charter was attached to the invitations sent out to dozens of world leaders who were asked to join Trump on the panel tasked with overseeing the postwar management of Gaza.
The text of the charter from The Times of Israel also available on Wikipedia.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Board_of_Peace

PREAMBLE
Declaring that durable peace requires pragmatic judgment, common-sense solutions, and the courage to depart from approaches and institutions that have too often failed;
Recognizing that lasting peace takes root when people are empowered to take ownership and responsibility over their future;
Displaced Palestinians carry jerricans amid tent shelters set up along the shore in Gaza City as strong winter winds sweep the Palestinian enclave on January 13, 2026. (Omar al-Qattaa/AFP)
Lamenting that too many approaches to peace-building foster perpetual dependency, and institutionalize crisis rather than leading people beyond it;
Emphasizing the need for a more nimble and effective international peace-building body; and
Resolving to assemble a coalition of willing States committed to practical cooperation and effective action,
Judgment guided and justice honored, the Parties hereby adopt the Charter for the Board of Peace.
Article 1: Mission
CHAPTER I-PURPOSES AND FUNCTIONS
The Board of Peace is an international organization that seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict. The Board of Peace shall undertake such peace-building functions in accordance with international law and as may be approved in accordance with this Charter, including the development and dissemination of best practices capable of being applied by all nations and communities seeking peace.

CHAPTER II
MEMBERSHIP
Article 2.1: Member States
Membership in the Board of Peace is limited to States invited to participate by the Chairman, and commences upon notification that the State has consented to be bound by this Charter, in accordance with Chapter XI.
Article 2.2: Member State Responsibilities
(a) Each Member State shall be represented on the Board of Peace by its Head of State or Government.
(b) Each Member State shall support and assist with Board of Peace operations consistent with their respective domestic legal authorities. Nothing in this Charter shall be construed to give the Board of Peace jurisdiction within the territory of Member States, or require Member States to participate in a particular peace-building mission, without their consent.
(c) Each Member State shall serve a term of no more than three years from this Charter’s entry into force, subject to renewal by the Chairman. The three-year membership term shall not apply to Member States that contribute more than USD $1,000,000,000 in cash funds to the Board of Peace within the first year of the Charter’s entry into force.
Article 2.3: Termination of Membership
Membership shall terminate upon the earlier of: (i) expiration of a three-year term, subject to Article 2.2(c) and renewal by the Chairman; (ii) withdrawal, consistent with Article 2.4; (iii) a removal decision by the Chairman, subject to a veto by a two-thirds majority of Member States: or (iv) dissolution of the Board of Peace pursuant to Chapter X. A Member State whose membership terminates shall also cease to be a Party to the Charter, but such State may be invited again to become a Member State, in accordance with Article 2.1.
US President Donald Trump (C) and other world leaders pose for a group photograph at the Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit in the Egyptian Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh on October 13, 2025. (Evan Vucci / POOL / AFP)
Article 2.4: Withdrawal
Any Member State may withdraw from the Board of Peace with immediate effect by providing written notice to the Chairman.
CHAPTER III-GOVERNANCE
Article 3.1: The Board of Peace
ADVERTISEMENT
(a) The Board of Peace consists of its Member States.
(b) The Board of Peace shall vote on all proposals on its agenda, including with respect to the annual budgets, the establishment of subsidiary entities, the appointment of senior executive officers, and major policy determinations, such as the approval of international agreements and the pursuit of new peace-building initiatives.
(c) The Board of Peace shall convene voting meetings at least annually and at such additional times and locations as the Chairman deems appropriate. The agenda at such meetings shall be set by the Executive Board, subject to notice and comment by Member States and approval by the Chairman.
(d) Each Member State shall have one vote on the Board of Peace.
(e) Decisions shall be made by a majority of the Member States present and voting, subject to the approval of the Chairman, who may also cast a vote in his capacity as Chairman in the event of a tie.
US President Donald Trump poses with a signed agreement at a world leaders’ summit on ending the Gaza war, in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, October 13, 2025. (Suzanne Plunkett, Pool Photo via AP)
(f) The Board of Peace shall also hold regular non-voting meetings with its Executive Board at which Member States may submit recommendations and guidance with respect to the Executive Board’s activities, and at which the Executive Board shall report to the Board of Peace on the Executive Board’s operations and decisions. Such meetings shall be convened on at least a quarterly basis, with the time and place of said meetings determined by the Chief Executive of the Executive Board.
(g) Member States may elect to be represented by an alternate high-ranking official at all meetings, subject to approval by the Chairman.
(h) The Chairman may issue invitations to relevant regional economic integration organizations to participate in the proceedings of the Board of Peace under such terms and conditions as he deems appropriate.
Article 3.2: Chairman
(a) Donald J. Trump shall serve as inaugural Chairman of the Board of Peace, and he shall separately serve as inaugural representative of the United States of America, subject only to the provisions of Chapter III.
(b) The Chairman shall have exclusive authority to create, modify, or dissolve subsidiary entities as necessary or appropriate to fulfill the Board of Peace’s mission.
Article 3.3: Succession and Replacement
The Chairman shall at all times designate a successor for the role of Chairman. Replacement of the Chairman may occur only following voluntary resignation or as a result of incapacity, as determined by a unanimous vote of the Executive Board, at which time the Chairman’s designated successor shall immediately assume the position of the Chairman and all associated duties and authorities of the Chairman.
Seated at main table, L/R, UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, US President Donald Trump, Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly attend a multilateral meeting to discuss the situation in Gaza, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on September 23, 2025. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)
Article 3.4: Subcommittees
The Chairman may establish subcommittees as necessary or appropriate and shall set the mandate, structure, and governance rules for each such subcommittee.
CHAPTER IV-EXECUTIVE BOARD
Article 4.1: Executive Board Composition and Representation
(a) The Executive Board shall be selected by the Chairman and consist of leaders of global stature.
(b) Members of the Executive Board shall serve two-year terms, subject to removal by the Chairman and renewable at his discretion.
(c) The Executive Board shall be led by a Chief Executive nominated by the Chairman and confirmed by a majority vote of the Executive Board.
(d) The Chief Executive shall convene the Executive Board every two weeks for the first three months following its establishment and on a monthly basis thereafter, with additional meetings convened as the Chief Executive deems appropriate.
(e) Decisions of the Executive Board shall be made by a majority of its members present and voting, including the Chief Executive. Such decisions shall go into effect immediately, subject to veto by the Chairman at any time thereafter.
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty (C) heads a meeting with ministers from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE, where they discuss US President Donald Trump’s proposal for Egypt and Jordan to host Palestinians displaced from the Gaza Strip, in Cairo on February 1, 2025. (Khaled Desouki / AFP)
(f) The Executive Board shall determine its own rules of procedure.
Article 4.2: Executive Board Mandate
The Executive Board shall:
(a) Exercise powers necessary and appropriate to implement the Board of Peace’s mission, consistent with this Charter;
(b) Report to the Board of Peace on its activities and decisions on a quarterly basis, consistent with Article 3.1(f), and at additional times as the Chairman may determine.
Article 5.1: Expenses
CHAPTER V-FINANCIAL PROVISIONS
Funding for the expenses of the Board of Peace shall be through voluntary funding from Member States, other States, organizations, or other sources.
Article 5.2: Accounts
The Board of Peace may authorize the establishment of accounts as necessary to carry out its mission. The Executive Board shall authorize the institution of controls and oversight mechanisms with respect to budgets, financial accounts, and disbursements, as necessary or appropriate to ensure their integrity.
US President Donald Trump delivers a speech at the Gaza International Peace Summit, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, October 13, 2025. (Yoan Valat, Pool photo via AP)
CHAPTER VI LEGAL STATUS
Article 6
(a) The Board of Peace and its subsidiary entities possess international legal personality. They shall have such legal capacity as may be necessary to the pursuit of their mission (including, but not limited to, the capacity to enter into contracts, acquire and dispose of immovable and movable property, institute legal proceedings, open bank accounts, receive and disburse private and public funds, and employ staff).
(b) The Board of Peace shall ensure the provision of such privileges and immunities as are necessary for the exercise of the functions of the Board of Peace and its subsidiary entities and personnel, to be established in agreements with the States in which the Board of Peace and its subsidiary entities operate or through such other measures as may be taken by those States consistent with their domestic legal requirements. The Board may delegate authority to negotiate and conclude such agreements or arrangements to designated officials within the Board of Peace and/or its subsidiary entities.
Article 7
CHAPTER VII-INTERPRETATION AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Internal disputes between and among Board of Peace Members, entities, and personnel with respect to matters related to the Board of Peace should be resolved through amicable collaboration, consistent with the organizational authorities established by the Charter, and for such purposes, the Chairman is the final authority regarding the meaning, interpretation, and application of this Charter.
Palestinian Liberation Organization Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh (second from right) meets with Board of Peace High Representative Nickolay Mladenov (third from left) in Ramallah on January 9, 2026. (Hussein al-Sheikh/X)
CHAPTER VIII-CHARTER AMENDMENTS
Article 8
Amendments to the Charter may be proposed by the Executive Board or at least one-third of the Member States of the Board of Peace acting together. Proposed amendments shall be circulated to all Member States at least thirty (30) days before being voted on. Such amendments shall be adopted upon approval by a two-thirds majority of the Board of Peace and confirmation by the Chairman. Amendments to Chapters II, III, IV, V, VIII, and X require unanimous approval of the Board of Peace and confirmation by the Chairman. Upon satisfaction of the relevant requirements, amendments shall enter into force on such date as specified in the amendment resolution or immediately if no date is specified.
Article 9
CHAPTER IX-RESOLUTIONS OR OTHER DIRECTIVES
The Chairman, acting on behalf of the Board of Peace, is authorized to adopt resolutions or other directives, consistent with this Charter, to implement the Board of Peace’s mission.
CHAPTER X-DURATION, DISSOLUTION AND TRANSITION
Article 10.1: Duration
The Board of Peace continues until dissolved in accordance with this Chapter, at which time this Charter will also terminate.
Members of the UN Security Council raise their hands to vote in favor of a draft resolution to authorize an International Stabilization Force in Gaza, on November 17, 2025, at UN headquarters in New York City. (Adam Gray/Getty Images/AFP)
Article 10.2: Conditions for Dissolution
The Board of Peace shall dissolve at such time as the Chairman considers necessary or appropriate, or at the end of every odd-numbered calendar year, unless renewed by the Chairman no later than November 21 of such odd-numbered calendar year. The Executive Board shall provide for the rules and procedures with respect to the settling of all assets, liabilities, and obligations upon dissolution.
CHAPTER XI-ENTRY INTO FORCE
Article 11.1: Entry into Force and Provisional Application
(a) This Charter shall enter into force upon expression of consent to be bound by three States. (b) States required to ratify, accept, or approve this Charter through domestic procedures agree to provisionally apply the terms of this Charter, unless such States have informed the Chairman at the time of their signature that they are unable to do so. Such States that do not provisionally apply this Charter may participate as Non-Voting Members in Board of Peace proceedings pending ratification, acceptance, or approval of the Charter consistent with their domestic legal requirements, subject to approval by the Chairman.
Article 11.2: Depositary
The original text of this Charter, and any amendment thereto shall be deposited with the United States of America, which is hereby designated as the Depositary of this Charter. The Depositary shall promptly provide a certified copy of the original text of this Charter, and any amendment or additional protocols thereto, to all signatories to this Charter.
US President Donald Trump points after arriving at Palm Beach International Airport on Air Force One, January 16, 2026, in West Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
CHAPTER XII RESERVATIONS
Article 12
No reservations may be made to this Charter.
CHAPTER XIII-GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 13.1: Official Language
The official language of the Board of Peace shall be English
Article 13.2: Headquarters
The Board of Peace and its subsidiary entities may, in accordance with the Charter, establish a headquarters and field offices. The Board of Peace will negotiate a headquarters agreement and agreements governing field offices with the host State or States, as necessary.
Article 13.3: Seal
The Board of Peace will have an official seal, which shall be approved by the Chairman.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, being duly authorized, have signed this Charter

completely.https://www.facebook.com/share/r/17ufoNbhzW/

10/08/2025

Mary Robinson, Chair of The Elders, stresses that key arms-control mechanisms are unraveling—such as the INF Treaty, the potential expiration of New START, and the uncertain future of the CTBT—creating a dangerous gap in global safeguards. This deterioration, she argues, heightens the risk of both deliberate use and accidental use of nuclear weapons. Robinson stresses that governments act when public pressure is loud enough.

She calls for the same kind of activism that pushed climate change into the spotlight:

Youth movements

Civil society campaigns

Education in schools about nuclear risk shttps://www.facebook.com/share/r/19D99n2nX2/

27/07/2025

You can reach us by email at: [email protected] Currently the phone number (+)31-(0)70-2500204 is migrating to a new MS server. Our new information number is +31 (0)629748616

16/07/2025

The world has witnessed over and over in conflicts that words that stereotype and strip a group or category of people of their voices is most often the the first gun fire in violence. The United Nations Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech a comprehensive framework launched in June 2019 by UN Secretary-General António Guterres. Its purpose is to address and counter the spread of hate speech worldwide while protecting freedom of expression and opinion. The strategy emphasises early intervention, education and collaboration with stakeholders to prevent hate speech from escalating into violence and discrimination.

https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/advising-and-mobilizing/Action_plan_on_hate_speech_EN.pdf