Civil society groups have welcomed the introduction of peace education into the education curriculum, saying the move will help deal with persistent cases of conflicts and violence in the country.
However, they have stressed that the move will be meaningless if government continues to introduce policies that discriminate against people in areas of education, resource allocation or development.
Speaking during a stakeholders’ consultation on Peace and Unity Bill, in Mzuzu last Thursday Ministry of Civic Education and National Unity director of civic education Dalitso Chikwembani observed that Malawi continues to experience conflicts of various forms.
He noted mainly that such conflicts relate to chieftaincy succession, land ownership, ethnicity, and political differences.
“These conflicts have at times threatened to escalate into some form of violence, thereby threatening the peace and stability that Malawi has been well-known for within the region.
“While we do realise that no society is completely immune from conflicts, what should worry us most is the way we resolve conflicts whenever they beset us,” he said.
Governance and conflict resolution expert, Moses Mkandawire, who also heads the Church and Society of the CCAP Livingstonia Synod, said it was important to understand the concept of peace.
“The prcess is a welcome development and it should have started yesterday,” he said.
Recently, the 2020 Global Peace Index revealed that May 2019 Tripartite Elections post-election protests cost the economy about K1.13 trillion in purchasing power parity losses. n
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