University of Zakho is working together with staff members of the HWPL organization on peace education field, to create citizens of peace with the spirit and values of peace, and cultivate citizens of peace who recognize, acknowledge, and accept diversity. Iraq is one of the countries that have/ had lots of political conflicts, wars, ethnic backgrounds, and so on. When such subject and values are implemented, internalized, and characterized within the students. The students become the citizens of peace, and peace messengers. To make a culture of peace for our next generation, the University of Zakho is working with HWPL since 2020 and signed an MoU in 2021. During these years the university gave various courses and workshops about peace education to its students. Moreover, a number of teachers from university of Zakho are assigned and involved in this program, Now the peace education is implemented as a required module in two of our main colleges the College of Basic Education and Faculty of Education. The module materials are based on the textbooks of HWPL Peace Education, that places great emphasis on transforming all kinds of violent cultures caused by conflicts into a culture of peace. We believe that Peace can be achieved through education. Therefore, the training and educating people to become “citizens of peace” would continue in our university as the rest of the partners of HWPL organization, to spread a culture of peace in all parts of the world and to transform the future of the global community into a better world.

Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL)

Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), founded in 2013 as an international peace organization with branches in 170 countries, was founded for global peace and cessation of war. Also, it is a non-governmental organization in Special Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and associated with the UN Department of Global Communications (DGC) and the Seoul Metropolitan Government. With the mission to achieve global peace through the heavenly culture and restore the world with light, HWPL is carrying out its peace movement around the globe, working with its partner, the International Women’s Peace Group (IWPG), and its affiliate organization, the International Peace Youth Group (IPYG).

-          The Founder of HWPL: Mr. MAN HEE LEE 

-          Ms. Autumn Yang, Coordinator of HWPL Peace Education Department

The Importance of Peace Education

refers to the process of promoting the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values needed to bring about behavior changes that will enable the children, youth and adults to prevent conflict and violence Peacefully:

1.  Peace Education prepares the world for children and youth by making it better, healthy, peaceful, united and safe and to prepare the children for such a world.

2.  It encourages the search for alternatives as well as possible non-violent skills and sharpens the awareness about the existence of holistic relationships, between people and within and between nations.

3. Peace Education assists the participating populations in establishing an all-inclusive civilization of peace as well as tries to investigate the causes of conflicts and violence, embedded within the values, perception and attitudes of the individuals within the social as well as political structure of the society.

4.  Peace Education helps to develop the values and skills to assist the students in striving for the fullness of life through the creation of constructive behaviours for dealing with problems so as to minimize and eliminate conflict. It also helps to explore peace both as a state of being and as an active process for the promotion of positive human relations.

5.  Demonstrate factual knowledge about environment.

6. Help students to participate in diversity activities.

7.  students can learn from nature that living in harmony is the notion of “respect.” Going beyond the level of simply “acknowledging” each other’s differences. we need to “respect” each other to live in harmony together.