About us
Across the world, two in three young people fear for their safety in the classroom. Violence in schools comes in many different forms including corporal punishment, discrimination, exclusion, harassment, bullying, negativity, armed attacks, sex for grades and more.
No matter the type, violence in and around schools can leave a lasting mark on children, affecting their grades, causing them to drop out of school, increasing their risk of perpetuating violence, following them into adulthood, and threatening their ability to become productive adults.
Ever since 2005, Graines de Paix has worked to change this situation, transforming education to overcome learning poverty, prevent violence and radicalization, and foster a culture of peace.
Graines de Paix has been awarded the UNESCO-Hamdan Prize for Teacher education transformaion in 2022 and the Smart Peace Prize for Early Childhood by the Leaders for Peace Foundation in 2019. It was an Ashoka-Impact Laureate in 2014.
Social impact
Our mission aims for a large social impact in several key domains.
Our Values, the SDGs, our history
How is it, that in the 21st century, Humanity, despite being more educated than ever before, equipped with constitutions founded on the Right to life, guided by religions and spiritualities, which are themselves based on peaceful coexistence, keeps resorting to extreme violence and mass destruction rather than searching for consensus-driven creative solutions? When we started this endeavour in 2004, why was it that there was still nothing available on the Internet in English or French to foster peace culture with children, youth, parents and teachers? How is it that public funds are used to destroy by war, then rebuild after wars, but not to finance the shift to quality education based on the human values and competencies that prevent violence in the first place?
Approach and Expertise
By using a resolutely positive and constructive approach (not merely preventative), we want to show our appreciation for each and every child to reinforce their self-esteem and their psychosocial skills, even the most vulnerable among them. It is the key to successful education, a calm school environment, and preventing violence. Our approach is also systemic: we bring together the latest developments in quality education, leading to good school performance, and those relative to peace culture education, which aim to prevent violence and bring about harmonious learning environments. We also identify the best education practices to contribute to this dual objective.
Organization and Governance
The Graines de Paix Foundation was established in October 2020 in Geneva to take over, pursue and develop the mission of the Graines de Paix association, founded in 2005 by Delia Mamon. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the group includes offices in France, Benin and Côte d’Ivoire and has focal points for Lebanon, Tunisia, Algeria and Senegal. As international headquarters, it carries out the following functions in addition to strategy and planning: Our statutes and other official documents can be accessed in the Document Download section.
Funding
Several public institutions, private foundations, service clubs and private donors accompany or have accompanied and supported the programmes developed by Graines de Paix. We also generate revenues through sales and rentals of education-related resources, and through mandates.
Downloadable documents
Official documents
Contact Us
We will be happy to answer your questions or to provide you with further information.
