Educating Youth for Reconciliation amid Ongoing Conflict in Africa’s Great Lakes Region

This lecture examines an experiential approach to reconciliation education developed through an intensive university course in the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies at the Protestant University of Rwanda. The course brings together students from Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, and other conflict-affected countries in Africa’s Great Lakes Region (GLR) and beyond. Combining academic discussion with personal reflection, visits to genocide memorials, facilitated dialogue, and direct encounters with genocide survivors and former perpetrators who have walked journeys towards reconciliation, the course encourages students to confront their own wounds, fears, prejudices, and perceptions of those they regard as enemies. Reconciliation is understood as a transformation of identities and relationships. Students are encouraged to move beyond narratives centered exclusively on their own group’s victimhood and to acknowledge the suffering and humanity of ‘the other’, while still affirming the validity of one’s own painful experiences. The lecture argues that education for reconciliation requires more than theoretical discussion and relevant case studies. It must create carefully facilitated spaces for meaningful encounter, emotional reflection, critical dialogue, and the development of empathy. It also considers the challenges posed by psychosocial trauma, contested historical narratives, and continuing conflict in the GLR.

Speaker

Kazuyuki Sasaki is a scholar-practitioner of peacebuilding and development with 30 years of experience in Africa, particularly in Rwanda and Ethiopia. He is Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies at the Protestant University of Rwanda, where he helped establish Rwanda’s first university department dedicated to peace and conflict studies. After working for an international NGO in Ethiopia and Japan, he began researching conflict and peacebuilding in Rwanda in 2000. From 2005, he
worked with a local faith-based NGO supporting post-genocide healing, reconciliation, and peaceful coexistence. Since joining the university in 2011, he has focused on educating future peacebuilders from across Africa and on fostering cross-border relationships of trust and cooperation. His research interests include transitional justice, reconciliation, peacebuilding, and agrarian reforms and state-building in post-genocide Rwanda. He holds a Ph.D. in Peace Studies from the University of Bradford, UK and a Master’s
degree in International Agriculture and Rural Development from Cornell University, USA.

Zoom

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Certificates: Available on request.