School for Peace and Conflict Transformation

The outreach work of the SfP is particularly relevant to young people who will be tomorrow’s leaders. The Youth Encounter Programme was the SfP’s first venture into the field of conflict transformation. It has been developed as a residential workshop at NSWaS for up to 60 high school students, 30 from a Jewish school and 30 from a Palestinian Arab school. A large number of schools from all over Israel take part in this programme, which has run successfully for over 30 years, and has become one of the major projects we support.

Social Science students at Tel Aviv, Haifa and Ben Gurion universities also benefit from the SfP's work, with academic courses designed specifically for this discipline. After graduation, many choose careers where they can put into practice the expertise and awareness they have gained through the SfP course.

In order to have a direct, long-term social and community impact, the SfP and its visionary Director, Dr Nava Sonnenschein, have developed change-agent courses for professional groups. These include human rights lawyers, up-and-coming politicians, mental health workers, environmentalists, urban planners and literature teachers, to name just a few. We fund some of these courses, together with USAID and the EU, through grants from UK Trusts.

Oasis of Peace UK supports many of these vital courses through building and maintaining relationships with individual donors and Trusts, and organising wide-ranging events.