The Amahoro Project: Emergent Themes for Building Sustainable Peace in Postgenocide Burundi

• In Event: 16.050 - The Global Culture of Peace

Abstract

“Amahoro” is the Kirundi word for peace. After forty years of genocide and civil war, impoverished Burundi is now ripe to model a transformative approach to sustainable development while nurturing a new generation of leaders who are skilled in peace building. Founded in 1999 with a commitment to peace and reconciliation, the University of Ngozi (UNG) is uniquely situated to be a laboratory for the kinds of curriculum reform needed to address peace-building and sustainable development. The emergent themes and resulting case studies from Burundi represented in this study can help frame new conversations about university education, in particular, and the knowledge, understanding and skills required of citizens to achieve peaceful, nonviolent resolutions of conflicts.

Authors

• William M. Timpson, Colorado State University

• Renee Harmon, Colorado State University

• Elavie Ndura, George Mason University

• Apolinaire Bangayimbaga, University of Ngozi