PeaceJam Ghana hosts Noble Peace laureate - Betty Williams
The Noble Peace laureate, Betty Williams is to grace this year’s youth leadership conference slated for June 24 and 25 at the University of Ghana by the West Africa Centre for Peace Foundation, the official chapter of ‘PeaceJam’ in Ghana.
PeaceJam is an international education programme built around peace prize laureates who work with the youth with the aim of imparting their skills, knowledge and wisdom to the youth.
Programme
The programme is designed to inculcate in the youth the commitment to justice and peace, social responsibility, academic excellence and other values that seek to inspire young people and make them transformational leaders for their societies.
During the two-day conference, the youth (PeaceJammers), drawn from some selected Junior and Senior High schools in Accra and the Central Region with the help of some adult mentors, will study the life and work of Betty Williams and other Noble Peace laureates.
Similarly, the youth will learn about issues such as violence and intolerance facing young people today, and develop and implement service projects designed to address problems in their communities.
Betty Williams
Betty Williams, born on May 22, 1943 at Belfast, Northern Ireland is a co-recipient with Mairead Corrigan, of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976 for her work as a cofounder of Community of Peace People, an organisation dedicated to promoting a peaceful resolution to the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
She heads the Global Children's Foundation and is the President of the World Centre of Compassion for Children International.
She is also the Chair of the Institute for Asian Democracy in Washington D.C. and a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Nova Southeastern University.
Betty Williams, who lectures widely on topics of peace, education, inter-cultural and inter-faith understanding, anti-extremism, and children's rights, apart from winning the Noble Peace prize, has won several international awards and fellowships to her credit.