Challenges and opportunities for peace educators: Lessons from a youth‐led effort in Pakistan

• Published date: 01 December 2020
• Author: Fatima Bokhari,Zahid Shahab Ahmed
• Date: 01 December 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/crq.21284

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Challenges and opportunities for peace

educators: Lessons from a youth-led effort in

Pakistan

Fatima Bokhari | Zahid Shahab Ahmed

University College London, London, UK

Correspondence

Fatima Bokhari, 6 Holbein Terrace, Ivere

Drive, New Barnet, Barnet, EN51FE, UK.

Email: fbokhari89@gmail.com

Abstract

Since the beginning of the “War on Terror”in 2001,

there has been a sudden rise in interest in countering

violent extremism through peace education. In

Pakistan, the focus has largely been on Islamic semi-

naries (madrassas), but nongovernmental organiza-

tions have also been working in public and private

schools. For over a decade, there have been numerous

youth-led peace education interventions in Pakistan,

but still little is known about their impact; therefore,

this empirical research aims to address that gap in

scholarship. The study uses a case study approach to

present analysis covering a youth-led nongovernmental

peace education intervention of Ravvish in three sec-

ondary schools based in Lahore. The analysis covers

organizational dynamics, curricula, delivery, impact,

and challenges. Despite its weaknesses in being a

young organization led by inexperienced peace educa-

tors, it is argued in the paper that the organization is

still able to meet its key objective of promoting critical

thinking among students. The students appreciated the

approach used by the Ravvish to talk about sensitive

topics. It was also found that the majority of the stu-

dents retained the knowledge from the workshops even

after 6–12 months.

Received: 26 March 2019 Revised: 26 May 2020 Accepted: 10 July 2020

DOI: 10.1002/crq.21284

Conflict Resolution Quarterly. 2020;38:73–86. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/crq © 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC 73