Peace Education and Action for Impact (PEAI) is a global peacebuilding and leadership program that brings together youth-led, intergenerational, and cross-cultural learning, dialogue, and action to create change at local and global levels.
Since 2021, PEAI has connected and supported young people (aged 18–35), community members, and organizations in 28 countries across five continents—Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America.
Created and led by World BEYOND War, in collaboration with Rotary networks and a wide range of other global and local partners, PEAI is preparing for its 2026–2027 iteration, with new country teams set to expand and deepen this work.
If you are interested in bringing the PEAI experience to your country or context, please contact education@worldbeyondwar.org.
Today, there are more young people on the planet than at any point in history.
Of the world’s 8 billion people, around 1.8 billion are aged 10–24, making this the largest youth generation ever. Building sustainable peace and development requires the active participation of all generations. Yet while countless young people are striving to make positive contributions to peace and development, many remain marginalized and excluded from decisions and actions that shape their lives, communities, and the wider world.
At the same time, global interest in peace is rising. An unprecedented number of programs and initiatives now focus on supporting youth leadership for peace. However, most of these efforts do not sufficiently address a critical but often overlooked element of peace and development: the War System, arguably the most pervasive and global threat facing humanity.
Equipping young people with the knowledge, skills, networks, and support to both build peace and challenge war is therefore one of the most urgent global priorities. This imperative is reinforced by global agendas such as the United Nations’ Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) agenda and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development—particularly SDG 4.7 (education for sustainable development and global citizenship), SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions), and SDG 17 (partnerships for the goals).
In response, World BEYOND War, in partnership with Rotary International networks and other global and locally embedded partners, created Peace Education and Action for Impact (PEAI).
Peace Education and Action for Impact (PEAI) is a global peacebuilding and leadership initiative that brings together young people (aged 18–35), adult allies, and organizations to advance meaningful change in themselves, their communities, and beyond. The 14-week program combines six weeks of online peace education with eight weeks of youth-led community-rooted peace action. Throughout, participants engage in mentoring, intergenerational collaboration, and cross-cultural exchange. The program concludes with a global celebration where teams present their projects to an international audience—highlighting their impact, sharing lessons and best practices, and strengthening connections locally and globally.
Similar to other peace education initiatives, PEAI is designed to equip participants with knowledge, skills, and values to advance peace. What sets it apart are several distinctive features:
Together, these elements position PEAI as a distinctive contribution to the field. The program bridges academic understanding, relational engagement, and practical application—cultivating the development of well-rounded, grounded peacebuilders who connect grassroots action with global agendas and are equipped to shape more peaceful and just societies.
On a broader level, PEAI addresses critical gaps across peace education, peace and security, youth work, and global citizenship education. It contributes to building a more peaceful and sustainable world in alignment with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) agenda by:
PEAI is invitation-only; applications go through a country sponsor. Each team includes at least 14 members: 10 young people (18–35), 2 mentors who support participants, and 2 coordinators who either raise or help raise scholarship costs and take the lead in assembling the country project team.
2021 pilot (12 countries): Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, South Sudan (Africa); Russia, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine (Europe); Canada, USA (North America); Colombia, Venezuela (South America).
2023 cohort (7 countries): Ethiopia, Ghana (Africa); Iraq, Philippines (Asia); Bosnia and Herzegovina, Guernsey (Europe); Haiti (North America).
The next cohort will be in 2027. If you are interested in being involved, or in bringing the PEAI experience to young people and communities where you are, please reach out.
Philll Gittins: education@worldbeyondwar.org
The cost is $300 per participant or $3,000 per country team of 10 young people. Mentors and coordinators participate free as volunteers.
This fee covers the direct delivery of the 14-week program, which includes:
Six weeks of online peace education, using World BEYOND War’s award-winning educational content and resources, as well as leading works from the fields of peace and conflict, social impact, leadership, psychology, and education.
Eight weeks of training, mentoring, and support to design, implement, monitor, evaluate, and communicate a project aimed at advancing peace and security. Projects may be global, regional, national, or local in scope, but must be youth-led, adult-supported, and community-rooted.
National and global communities of practice, where participants, mentors, and coordinators meet regularly to share progress, exchange lessons, and strengthen solidarity across contexts.
Regular check-ins and dedicated mentoring support throughout the 14 weeks (and beyond), helping participants consolidate learning, navigate challenges, and maximize project impact.
Opportunities to present projects on global stages, including the closing celebration event where teams share their work with an international audience of allies and practitioners.
Scholarships have been made possible thanks to the generosity of country sponsors, partner organizations, individual donors, including from Rotary clubs and districts. Some funds are raised locally by coordinators and partners, while others come from supporters around the world who believe in nurturing the next generation of young leaders dedicated to promoting peace and challenging war.
These contributions not only cover participant scholarships but also help expand PEAI to new countries and regions each year.
In 2021, we launched the program in 12 countries (Cameroon, Canada, Colombia, Kenya, Nigeria, Russia, Serbia, South Sudan, Turkey, Ukraine, USA, Venezuela).
Key achievements include:
Cameroon. Conducted 4 in-person focus groups and an online survey with youth and women to gather their views on impediments to their involvement in the peace process and suggestions for ways that they be included. The report has been shared with participants and governmental and organizational leaders who work with women and youth.
Canada: Conducted interviews and produced a short video on youth homelessness in Canada and how to address it.
Colombia: Implemented ten projects with youth throughout Colombia promoting a vision of Colombia as a multicultural society in a territory of peace. Projects included film screenings, art workshops, urban gardening, and recording a podcast.
Kenya. Facilitated three workshops for over one hundred children, youth and community members to develop their peacebuilding competencies through a combination of education, arts, play, and cultural activities.
Nigeria. Conducted surveys to understand public perception around school kidnapping and leverage the results to produce policy brief to influence policy makers and the general public around community-centred approaches to security and school kidnapping.
Russia/Ukraine. Delivered two workshops in Russia and one in Ukraine for elementary schools to enhance relationships and build students’ peacebuilding and dialogue capacities.
Serbia: Conducted surveys and created a pocket guide and newsletter aimed at helping Rotarians to both understand the importance of negative and positive peace and what they need to know and do in order to work towards them.
South Sudan: Delivered full-day peace training for south Sudanese urban refugee youth now living in Kenya to develop their skills in community leadership and becoming agents of positive peace
Turkey: Held a series of bilingual seminars and discussion groups on building positive peace and using the language of peace
USA: Created a collaborative Album – The Peace Achords – aimed at imparting some of the key strategies toward effecting a more peaceful planet, from exploring the systems at play to how one finds peace with him/herself and others.
Venezuela. Conducted an online survey of youth living in condominiums in partnership with micondominio.com to explore youth involvement in leadership with the goal of setting up active listening training sessions in 1-2 condominiums to facilitate problem- solving and increase youth involvement
Part 1 of the program equips young people (18-35) and adult supporters with foundational knowledge, socio-emotional competencies, and skills for establishing a just and sustainable peace. It includes a 6-week online course that enables participants to explore the knowing, being, and doing of peacebuilding.
The six weekly modules cover:
Please note the module titles and their contents are subject to change during course development.
Part I is an online course. This course is 100% online and most interactions are not live or scheduled, so you can take part whenever it works for you. Weekly content includes a mix of text, image, video, and audio information. Facilitators and participants utilise online discussion forums to go over each week’s content, as well as to provide feedback on optional assignment submissions. Country project teams meet online regularly to process content and share ideas.
The course also includes three 1-hour optional zoom calls which are designed to facilitate a more interactive and real-time learning experience. Participation in one or more of the optional zoom calls is required to earn a Certificate of Completion.
Accessing the course. Prior to the start date, you will be sent instructions on how to access the course.
Each week features an expert on the topic, who will guide participants through the content and provide feedback on reflections and comments.
Facilitators for these modules will be announced soon.
Facilitators:
World BEYOND War (WBW) Education Director Dr. Phill Gittins and other WBW members will provide additional input and support throughout Part I
You decide how much time and how deeply you engage in PEAI.
At a minimum, you should plan to devote 4-10 hours a week to the course.
You can expect to spend 1-3 hours reviewing the weekly content (text and videos). You then have opportunities to engage in online dialogue with peers and experts. This is where the real richness of the learning occurs, where we have the opportunity to explore new ideas, strategies, and visions for building a more peaceful world together. Engagement in these discussions is required for earning both certificates (see Table 1 below). Depending on your level of engagement with the online discussion you can expect to add another 1-3 hours a week.
Additionally, participants are encouraged to engage in weekly reflections (1 hour per week) with their country project teams (dates and times to be arranged by individual country project teams).
Finally, all participants are encouraged to complete all six optional assignments. This is an opportunity to deepen and apply the ideas explored each week to practical possibilities. Expect another 1-3 hours a week to complete the assignments, which will be submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for certification.
Part II of the program builds on Part I. Over the 8-weeks, participants will work in their country teams to develop, implement, and communicate high-impact peace projects.
Throughout the 8-weeks, participants will engage in ten core activities:
Each team will design a project that addresses one or more of the following strategies for establishing a just and sustainable peace: Demilitarizing Security, Managing Conflict Without Violence, and Creating a Culture of Peace.
The projects can be local, national, regional, or global in scope.
Part II is focussed on real-world peacebuilding interventions led by youth.
Participants work together in their country team to design, implement, monitor, evaluate, and communicate a high-impact peace project.
In addition to participating in weekly country team meetings, Part II includes online ‘reflection groups’ with other country teams to share best practices, encourage reflection, and elicit feedback. Participation in one or more of the ‘reflection groups’ is required as partial fulfilment for becoming a Certified Peacebuilder.
Part II: March 17 – May 10
Country teams meet once a week (across the 8-weeks) to undertake and produce an account of a youth-led peace project.
World BEYOND War (WBW) Education Director Dr Phill Gittins, and other colleagues (from WBW, Rotary, etc) will be on-hand throughout, helping to support teams to carry out their projects effectively.
How much time you spend and how deeply you engage is up to you.
Participants should plan to dedicate between 3-8 hours a week working on their project over the 9-weeks of Part II.
During this time, participants will work in intergenerational teams (10 young people and 2 mentors) to study an issue affecting their community and then develop and implement an action plan that aims to address this issue via a peace project.
Young people will benefit from mentoring and guidance throughout the project in terms of both the project management process and the production of accounts that explain the project results. There is no magic formula for doing and communicating peace projects, and (in the PEAI program) only one general rule that we encourage teams to follow, namely that the process is led by and with young people in collaboration with adults (more about this in Part of the program, especially Modules 5 and 6).
Throughout this process, teams will present at online ‘reflections groups’ to support cross-cultural sharing and learning.
At the end of the 9-weeks, teams will present their work at end-of-programme events.
The program offers two types of Certificates: the Certificate of Completion and the Certified Peacebuilder (Table 1 below).
Part I. Participants must complete all six optional weekly assignments, participate in weekly check-ins with their Country Project teams, and participate in one or more of the optional zoom calls to receive a Certificate of Completion. Facilitators will return the assignment to the participants with feedback. Submissions and feedback can be shared with everyone taking the course or kept private between a participant and the facilitator, at the participant’s choice. Submissions must be completed by the conclusion of Part I.
Part II. To become a Certified Peacebuilder participants must demonstrate that they have worked individually and collectively as a team to undertake and produce an account of a peace project. Participation in weekly check-ins with Country Project Teams, as well as two or more of the ‘reflection groups’ is also required for certification.
Certificates will be signed on behalf of World BEYOND War and the Rotary Action Group for Peace. Projects must be completed by the conclusion of Part II.
Table 1: Types of Certificates
x indicates elements of the program that participants are required to either complete or demonstrate to receive the relevant certificate.
| Part I: Peace Education | Part II: Peace Action | |
|---|---|---|
|
Essential Components
|
Certificate of
Completion
|
Certified Peacebuilder
|
|
Demonstrate engagement throughout the course |
X |
X |
|
Complete all six optional assignments |
X |
X |
|
Participate in one or more of the optional zoom calls |
X |
X |
|
Demonstrate ability to design, implement, monitor, and evaluate a peace project |
|
X |
|
Participate in weekly check-ins with country teams |
|
X |
|
Participate in two or more of the ‘reflection groups’ |
|
X |
|
Demonstrate ability to produce an account of a peace project that explains the process/impact |
|
X |
|
Demonstrate ability to present work for peace to diverse audiences |
|
X |
Individual Sponsorship: $150 covers education and $150 covers action for one participant.
Team Sponsorship: $3,000 supports a team of 10 participants plus two mentors.
Registration: Registration for the 2025 programme is available only through your country’s sponsor.
Donations: Contributions to the 2025 programme will help fund and expand it.
To Donate by Cheque:
The amounts are in U.S. dollars and need to be converted to/from other currencies.
