Higher Education

A Tool for Sustainable Peace in Sub Saharan Africa

Abstract

Despite the fact that Africa is endowed with various natural resources, it is still home to almost half of the world’s poor people. At the same it faces challenges of conflict that emanates from the rich diversity in form of ethnicity and culture. This paper investigates the role of ducation in promoting peace in Africa. It argues that beside The its development role, higher education can be a tool for promoting harmony on the continnt through peace education that seeks to build a culture of peace, values such as equality, respect, empathy, understanding and mutual appreciation among individuals, groups and nations.. It proposes that peace education should be mainstreamed in the curricula across the continent as either a stand alone subject or as a part of the curricula of the various disciplines of study in higher education institutions. For this to succeed there is need to assess the critical issues of capacity building for peace education, provision of educational resources and ongoing research in the area of conflict resolution and peace building.