By Mary Mashete
Over 40 community members from various backgrounds gathered at Ngweze Community Hall on Tuesday August 5, 2025 to participate in a peacebuilding educational awareness forum held in the Zambezi Region.
The forum focused on promoting understanding of key concepts such as peace, conflict, violence, and conflict resolution. Presenters highlighted historic and ongoing tribal tensions in the region, dating back to the 1990s, and encouraged open dialogue on causes and solutions to these conflicts.
During the interactive session, community members discussed root causes of ethnic tension, identifying tribalism, favouritism, nepotism, corruption, and stereotypes as major contributors.
These, they said, are often perpetuated in offices and public spaces.
To foster lasting peace, the community proposed several solutions: Involving churches to teach messages of love and acceptance. Encouraging parents to instill values of unity in children from an early age.
Urging the youth to reject generational hatred and become ambassadors of peace.
One young participant shared how she grew up disliking members of another ethnic group due to stories passed down from her parents.
However, after attending the forum, she realized the importance of understanding history from all perspectives and striving for unity.
Participants also urged traditional leaders to lead by example. They suggested that the region’s four traditional chiefs should visit one another, especially during cultural festivals, to demonstrate unity and cooperation that can inspire their followers.
The community praised the initiative as the first of its kind in the region and expressed hope that similar events would be held regularly.
The peace campaign continued the following day, 6 August 2025, with a youth-focused session at the Wild child Academy’s Peace Garden, located at Midas Complex. Learners were taught about agape love, peaceful conflict resolution, and the importance of embracing cultural diversity in school settings.
According Mr. Collen Kurana, PhD Candidate in Peace Studies at Durban University of Technology told Caprivi Vision that a mango tree was planted as a symbol of unity among the region’s ethnic groups reminding the learners of their role in cultivating peace from a tender age.
“we planted a mango tree as symbol of unity among the ethnic groups in the region” explained Kurana.
These engagements reflect growing grassroots efforts to promote social harmony and peacebuilding in the Zambezi Region.
END…
Loading …
Comments
You must log in to post a comment.