Role of peace education in restoration of community confidence in the wake of terrorism wave

Abstract

This study investigates the role of peace education in restoring confidence of the communities in the recent wake of terrorist violence in Swat, Pakistan. The terror plot destroyed many schools, especially girl’s schools, in the locality. This situation rendered the communities of Swat helpless to provide education to their children in an environment of terror, volatility and insecurity. Many innocent children either lost their precious lives or became maimed. Parents and children suffered psychological depression and mental agony. Still the danger is looming large in many places. To grapple with the situation, various national and international philanthropic organizations in collaboration with the government of Pakistan started peace education initiatives in order to restore peace and development in the terror affected area, Swat. This study is an attempt to examine the effects of the peace education initiative on confidence restoration of the communities of Swat. The study revealed that the peace education initiative has played a great role in restoring confidence of the affected communities which has resultantly brought about positive changes among the affected communities such as that the students have come out of the psychological stress and strain, parents are now confident in sending their children to schools without any fear of losing their children. Furthermore, the peace education initiatives have resulted in mitigating the high intensity of the effects of the terror upon minds of the people. It can be concluded that peace education is an effective tool to restore community confidence in terror affected areas which can be equally applied in other settings as well.