Giving the Next Generation a Stake in Peace and Stability

The next generation in Iraq faces the challenge of transcending the effects of their recent past, and embracing democratic values and human rights. USIP projects help Iraqi youth emerge from the cycle of violence by giving them a stake in peace and stability.

Iraqi National Civic Education Development Project

USIP is facilitating cooperation between government education officials from federal Iraq and the Kurdistan region and providing technical assistance in strengthening civic education in Iraqi schools. In 2010, in cooperation with Iraqi partners, USIP completed a national Civic Education Teacher’s Manual for grades 4 through 9 tailored to the Iraqi context. In 2011, USIP will begin providing teacher training for Civic Education teachers from across Iraq.

Read more about the work of Maria Jessop in Iraq.

Developing Peace and Human Rights Educators

USIP is helping to develop the field of peace and human rights in higher education in Iraq through teacher training, developing and disseminating curricular resources, fostering academic research, and strengthening linkages between academics and civil society.  In 2011, USIP’s cadre of educators will begin training fellow academics in effective human rights education methods. 

Peace Media for Iraqi Youth

The Center of Innovation for Media, Conflict and Peacebuilding is working with in-country Iraqi media and youth (ages 14-18) to assist in the design and production of a carefully researched multi-media peacebuilding program.  In early 2009, Iraqi educators, youth NGO representatives and conflict resolution specialists collaborated in devising the curriculum and educational goals of the program.  This process was followed by a two-day youth summit in Iraq for 30 Iraqi teenagers in July 2009.  The youth competed in a series of challenges ranging from performance arts to short films, and the summit became the basis of the pilot television special “Salam Shabab” (Peace Youth) and the social networking website SalamShabab.com.  The pilot program set the stage for a nine episode reality TV series of “Salam Shabab” which was filmed on location in Erbil, Iraq.  In this unique format for Iraq, youth from six different Iraqi governorates (Basra, Babylon, Baghdad, Tikrit, Kirkuk and Erbil) compete in four different challenges to become the national “Ambassadors of Peace.”  The Salam Shabab series is scheduled to air on several Iraq channels beginning in December 2010. 

See what USIP's Theo Dolan is doing to teach youth peace through media.

Learn more about Media, Conflict, and Peacebuilding in Iraq