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From Committee Room to Classroom

From a three-day orientation in 2024 to a school follow-up in 2026 — how Dire Dawa's community peace committees were built, strengthened, and extended into the classroom.

Supported by Sweden Eastern Development Initiative (EDI) Dire Dawa, Ethiopia PAR Project
Nov 18–20, 2024Founding orientation
Jun 18–19, 2026Strengthening their role
Jun 25–29, 2026Taking it into schools

Peace committees are one of the program's longest-running threads: a body of community members trained and periodically re-trained on their role in keeping the peace. The record below spans a 2024 founding orientation, a 2026 capacity-strengthening round with an exact, on-banner title, and a follow-up that carried the same practice into a Dire Dawa secondary school.

I.Nov 18–20, 2024 · Karamara Hotel, Dire Dawa

Founding the Peace Committee

A three-day orientation trained newly formed peace committee members on their role — in the event banner's own language, to help "promote peace and unite communities."

The room brought together a mixed group of younger and older participants, working through the committee's mandate at round tables.

Event banner naming the peace committee orientation training, November 2024
Roundtable discussion with a mixed group of younger and older participants
A participant speaking beside handwritten Amharic flip-chart notes
Wide view of the orientation room, bright with natural light through curtained windows
II.Jun 18–19, 2026 · East Star Hotel, Dire Dawa

Strengthening Their Role

Roughly nineteen months later, under the same PAR project, committee members returned for a training with an exact, on-banner title: "Capacity Strengthening Training for Peace Committee on Their Roles in Promoting Peace, Coordination, and Community Linkages."

Sweden, the Life & Peace Institute, and EDI are all named on the event banner — the same partnership visible across the program's other 2026 trainings.

Group photo holding the full event banner: Capacity Strengthening Training for Peace Committee, June 18-19 2026, East Star Hotel Dire Dawa
A committee member speaking during the training
Participants stretching during an energizer break, arms raised
Second view of the event banner and EDI mission rollup banner beside it
III.Jun 25–29, 2026 · Dire Dawa Comprehensive Secondary School

Taking It Into Schools

Days later, the same practice extended into a real classroom — students in uniform, an EDI facilitator teaching at the chalkboard, and what appears to be an election or registration process underway at the desks.

No banner was photographed at the school itself, but the facilitator's EDI-branded shirt and the continuity with the June training make the connection clear.

Classroom scene with students in uniform and an EDI facilitator teaching at the chalkboard
Election or registration materials being organized at student desks
An EDI office meeting room, likely internal coordination ahead of the school visit

A note on this draft

Dates and the Chapter II title are read directly from event banners. The school chapter (III) has no on-camera banner — its connection to the program is inferred from the facilitator's branded shirt and the timing, not confirmed by signage.

Missing: committee members' names, first-person testimony, and any outcome data (cases handled, elections held). Add before external distribution.

EDI · Draft photo story · Not for external distribution