Resource Library

A new youth coalition has announced they will act as advocates for the rights of their fellow young Ivorians, and tell a new history of the violence that has so far been silent.

A groundbreaking new book from the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) and UNICEF examines the complicated relationship between education, justice and peacebuilding in societies grappling with a legacy of violent conflict. It offers lessons on how education can be harnessed in a divided society to overcome the past and create the conditions for peace, often under very difficult circumstances.

Issoumaila Touré grew up during Côte d'Ivoire’s devastating First Civil War (2002-2007), watching his community be torn apart by political manipulations and ethnic differences. When his country once again descended into civil war following the 2010 presidential elections, Issoumaila, then a young man in his early 20’s, came to a major crossroads in his life.

Youth activists and traditional leaders from the city of Duékoué, in western Côte d’Ivoire, gathered on October 15 to discuss how best to strengthen social cohesion and prevent future conflict. The city and surrounding region were among the areas most affected by the violence that broke out across the country following the 2010 presidential elections and that left thousands dead and many more injured, beaten, or raped.

Sparing almost no corner of the world from its wrath, the COVID-19 pandemic has now spread to every country. In an effort to slow the contagion, governments in most countries have been taking drastic measures requiring all residents other than essential workers to confine themselves in their homes, and shutting down vast sectors of their economies. The impact has been crushing. COVID-19 has profoundly affected every country where ICTJ currently works: Armenia, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gambia, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, and Uganda. We recently caught up with ICTJ’s heads of country programs to learn more about the impact the pandemic is having on transitional justice and society more broadly.

Bogotá, November 20, 2020—ICTJ and the Movement of Latin American Hip Hop Expressions have joined forces to cohost the third International Hip Hop Encounter, which will take place virtually this week from November 25 to November 28. The four-day online event will bring together artists and musicians from across Latin America and Africa along with activists, social leaders, and civil society representatives. The festival’s theme is the role of hip hop music and culture in uncovering truth, preserving memory, and resisting violence and oppression.

Indigenous rights are increasingly being addressed through different transitional justice measures, and ICTJ is actively involved in the discourse on how truth commissions and other transitional justice mechanisms can help the struggle for the rights of indigenous people.

After consulting nearly 2,000 of their peers, youth activists in Cote d'Ivoire present their reparations policy recommendations in a special event on Friday.

On the Day of the African Child, ICTJ recognizes the power of education to transform society, and acknowledges children and young people as agents of societal change, especially in countries dealing with a legacy of abuse.