Blog by Laurene Barlet, MEAL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning) Manager at World Vision Ireland – a member of INEW.
As I was in the process of moving to Belfast with my family last September, our walk from the train station every morning included a few of the Belfast murals, for which the city is known for. As more artistic murals have appeared in the past decades on Belfast walls, alongside the more historical and political ones, tell-tales of the Troubles era, I remember one particular message of hope I kept passing by: “Together, the possibilities are endless”, with multiple hands supporting a heart-shaped earth. A positive daily reset after the often gloomy morning news of conflict or climate-change related disasters in many of the countries in which World Vision Ireland programmes are implemented.
Danny Devine (6:00) – “It’s all to do I think with education. For instance, we have done murals recently about anti-racism; the Frederick Douglass mural is to mark the extent of Irish involvement with the civil rights causes of the black communities. It’s trying to send a message to our younger generation particularly, ‘that’s the type of ideology that you should look up to and express.'”
Marc Irvine (38:40) – “It’s about trying to encourage our youth and instil in them a sense of pride, not only in themselves but in their communities. And create new friendships because when kids pick up a paintbrush in their hands […], it helps create a situation where engagement can happen.”
Extracts from “Paint for peace”, Northern Visions Special Collections on the Peace process, uploaded Jan 2010.
I was reminded of the “Paint for Peace” documentary during my recent visit to Mindanao in the Philippines, in February 2025, to visit the communities in which the PEACE Mindanao (Promoting Efforts Addressing Conflict through Education in Mindanao) project is implemented. This project, co-funded by the European Union via the European Commission’s Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI) since January 2023 until December 2025, recognises the active role children can play as agents of peace and aims to build peaceful and cohesive communities in Marawi and Cotabato cities by increasing children’s capacity and confidence as peace ambassadors. The project works closely with government ministries and local stakeholders to create sustainable change and builds on World Vision’s peacebuilding approaches and the “Empowering Children as Agents of Peace” (ECaP) project model.
The process of the joint mural making on the wall of the School Division Office in Marawi.
“This is a great opportunity because every car that drives by says ‘Wow, that’s beautiful!’ We feel that this is one of the things that we should be doing so we can showcase our talent more. What makes this a great activity is the group: there’s teamwork (…) and there’s understanding.” Marawi school peace club president.
The PEACE Mindanao project manager (Robert, right) and coordinator (Aton, left) with some of the posters and slogans from the Cotabato peace clubs.
“You cannot force peace in the schools. We can guide children so that they can understand peace and promote it. The slogan making activity allowed us to be aware of their [the students’] individual understandings and it motivates them.” Marawi Peace Coordinator
The PEACE project supports and mentors 15 school peace clubs (these clubs have reached 1562 children until now, with 79% attending high school) embedded within the existing peace education structures of the school divisions of Cotabato and Marawi cities: some of the schools’ peace coordinators have been mentoring youth for over two decades. The project also trains and supports youth peace clubs and women mediators in communities and brings local stakeholders (representatives from civil society organisations, local authorities, communities and faith leaders) together to discuss peace-related topics and priorities in peace forums, in peace conferences and cultural events during the Mindanao Week of Peace.
Official Poster of MWOP 2024 from one of the School Peace Clubs in Marawi City Schools Division
The cultural show, a highlight of the Peacetival of learning, provides a platform for the youth to celebrate the rich cultural heritage of Marawi through music and dance performances.
During our discussions with children and educators in Mindanao, they highlighted the following changes that they had witnessed in the past two years:
- A school headmistress shared how the school peace club is involved in mitigating conflicts between students and how the rates of bullying have reduced as a result in the past two years.
- A school division representative shared how this approach was also valued by parents as the events were a recognition of their children’s values and abilities.
- A community youth peace club representative shared how they were trying to include out-of-school children in their community peace club action plan.
- A school peace club mentioned that they had gone to support and train primary school children on peace.
- The majority of children shared that their joining the peace clubs had boosted their self-confidence and allowed them to create strong friendships.
Mural inside the Angoyao national high school in Marawi.
“I want to inspire others to become peace advocates and I want to share my knowledge. Being a peace advocate is a precious thing to me.”
It is hard to remain unmoved by these children and youth, the stories they share and the art they create, figuring both themselves and the world around them while fighting and advocating for a better and more peaceful tomorrow.
This project also illustrates the findings from World Vision research aiming to measure the impact of Official Development Assistance (ODA) on children:
“Investing in children benefits the child today, enables the best future for them and gives the greatest chance of sustainable development for the entire community” as every $1 is expected to return $10 in social and economic benefits to children and the broader community.
It reminds us of the importance of education programmes in ensuring that children and youth can actively participate in the life of their communities, which contributes to their wellbeing, so that individual and collective traumas resulting from conflicts can be channelled into positive action.
“I do believe that in a world full of negativity, choosing to be a beacon of positivity is a courageous stance. Despite the scepticism about our effectiveness as leaders, especially as women, we should remain steadfast in our commitment to foster a peaceful environment for children and youth, so that they can be empowered to face life’s challenges. We should use our voice and our actions to nurture and develop children to become peacebuilders.” Marawi ECaP youth facilitator
World Vision Ireland is a member of the Irish Network for Education Worldwide (INEW). A heartfelt thank you to Laurene Barlet and everybody at World Vision Ireland for this kind contribution to our blog!
INEW advocates to achieve inclusive, equitable, and safe quality education for all worldwide, committed to reaching the furthest behind. Many of our members deliver impactful education projects across the world funded by aid and our members are devoted to global solidarity. We will continue to monitor the situation and identify the best course of action and we’d love to hear from you. If your organisation is interested in sharing its experiences on our blog, please reach out to us at [email protected]. We are also still running a survey to learn from our members about the impact on their education work: access survey here.
