Centre for Peace and Justice (CPJ), Brac University organized a Graduation Ceremony at TAI Community Centre in Kutupalong Registered Refugee Camp, in Ukhiya, Cox’s Bazar on 31 October 2019 to mark the end of the Community-Based Learning for Peace Project (CBLP) and Civic Outreach Project (COP) jointly implemented with Humanitarian Crisis Management Programme (HCMP), BRAC. The Graduation Ceremony was attended by more than hundred participants including community learning volunteers (CLV), government officials, CPJ delegation and project staff. Under these two projects CPJ trained a total of 56 youth volunteers from both Rohingya and host community on peace and civic learning using an experiential learning method. The goal of the programme, first and foremost, was to acknowledge and award the diligence, dedication and leadership of the program participants throughout the project. The program included a briefing of project aim, activities, training modules and implementation process by the project staff, closing reflections on learning experiences by program participants from both Rohingya and Host Community.

Mr. ShamsudDouza, Additional Commissioner, Refugee Relief and Repatriation (RRRC); Abu Saleh Mohammad Obaidullah, Camp in Charge (CiC); Khalilur Rahman, Camp in Charge (CiC) were graced the ceremony as special guests and recongnised the effort of CPJ, Brac University to promote peace and cohesion in the society. Manzoor Hasan, OBE, Executive Director of CPJ, Brac University was spoke on the learning from the project and emphasizing on the replication of the project in future.

Dr. Karna L. Cohen, Director of Research, MSI-USAID; Shahrariar Sadat, Program Head at BRAC HRLS; and Muhammad Badiuzzaman, Research Coordinator, CPJ, Brac University also attended the event. A video documentary name “Peace beyond Naf- Justice for All” was played at the event. The host and refugee youth got an opportunity for interaction through an exchange of flowers for the first time.

The Community-Based Learning for Peace Project (CBLPP) and Civic Outreach Project (COP) was a six month long pilot projects that engaged Rohingya and host community youth and gatekeepers on non-formal education and activities focusing on peace and civic learning curricula related to peace building, tolerance and social cohesion. The two projects ran parallel to one another and were supported day to day by a team of 56 young Community Learning Volunteers between the ages of 20-35, who were trained as trainers. Subsequently, these trained volunteers independently conducted scores of grassroots training with around 1,000 vulnerable youth from refugee and host community through community workshops, mini capstone projects and exposure dialogue with local authority, INGO representative or key camp stakeholder for mapping of community concerns and recommendations.