By awarding the 2015 El-Hibri Foundation Peace Education Prize, the El-Hibri Foundation wishes to bring recognition to the work of Raz
Dalili, who founded the Sanayee
Development Organization to support peace-building efforts for Afghan refugees. Your support for the El-Hibri Foundation's Peace Education
Program will aid our efforts in supporting Dalili's work and SDO's non-violent methods of serving the vulnerable and disadvantaged people of
Afghanistan.
Sanayee Development Organization (SDO) is a registered Afghan development non-governmental and non-profit organization. Established in 1990, SDO has been serving vulnerable
and disadvantaged people in the sectors of education, peace building, community development and community health, in remote and underserved rural areas of Afghanistan. SDO’s service delivery is based on honesty, commitment, equality, the promotion of peace
& non-violence and respect for the Islamic values and positive culture of it’s people.
SDO’s participatory and community-based approach to development has made it one of the leading peace and development agencies in Afghanistan. Given the strong commitment and diligence of its professional staff members, SDO has been able to implement complex
and challenging rural development programs with a high standard of quality.
In spite of all the challenges and difficulties in the areas SDO is working, SDO staff members perform their assigned tasks successfully, and work hard to contribute positively towards the organizational vision, goals and mission.
SDO takes pride in the fact that it has received expressions of satisfaction from all the stakeholders of its programs and projects, in particular donor organizations, the government of Afghanistan and most importantly, the people of the communities in which
they work.
SDO’s Vision
SDO’s vision is of a peaceful, free and developed Afghanistan based upon (Islamic and good Afghan cultural) values. The Afghan people long to live in peace, sustain themselves with dignity, and have the ability to manage both their own development
and that of the society in which they live by being responsible and aware citizens.
SDO’s Values
SDO’s work with communities and internally displaced people will be based upon the following core values:
Islamic Values: SDO seeks to work by Islamic values and respects the positive culture and tradition of Afghans.
Honesty: SDO endeavors to be honest, transparent, accountable and reliable.
Commitment: SDO is committed to serving the Afghan people constructively.
Cooperation: SDO will contribute to the promotion of a culture of peace, cooperation and nonviolence in Afghan society.
Equality: SDO is committed to equal participation (irrespective of age, gender, ethnicity or disability).
What is Peace Education?
The Foundation defines peace education broadly. In our view, it encompasses a range of activities undertaken in a variety of settings designed to build peaceful communities:
*** In formal school settings, peace education addresses how teachers teach and what they teach. Peace education curricula focus on conflict analysis, conflict transformation, peacebuilding and skills associated with the non-violent resolution of conflict.
It considers how violent conflict begins and ends and how it affects individuals, social groups and societies. Peace education advances a vision of wellbeing based on respect for human dignity, human differences and human rights.
*** In informal (non-school) community settings, peace education raises awareness about the causes of conflict, identifies appropriate interventions and builds practical skills relating to the management, resolution or transformation of conflict. Some approaches
to community peacebuilding are based on models of reconciliation, social reconstruction or social justice. Peace education strives to make the non-violent resolution of conflict and the appreciation of difference cultural norms that are widely embraced by
communities.
Why is Peace Education Important?
While conflict and social change are inevitable, violence is not. Peace education provides an alternative to violence by helping individuals develop communication and collaborative skills to resolve conflict nonviolently. It builds empathy and empowers
learners to be agents of constructive social change.
