The work of the Regional Forum on Strengthening the Culture of Peace began at the Donatus Conference Center in Bujumbura on September 9, 2026.
Co-organized by Burundi, UNESCO, and ECCAS, the forum brings together decision-makers, diplomats, and civil society to move from speeches to structural solutions in favor of peace in Central Africa and the Great Lakes region.
From thought to action. This is the watchword of the Regional Forum on the Culture of Peace which opened on September 9, 2026, in Bujumbura.
Co-organized by the Government of Burundi, UNESCO, and ECCAS, the event brings together diplomats, researchers, women mediators, and young leaders around one ambition: to build lasting peace beyond declarations of intent.
Four themes marked the opening. First education and dignity, presented as the first barrier against violence. Then moral and institutional infrastructures, with an advocacy for preventive diplomacy and the revitalization of COPAX, the peace mechanism of ECCAS.
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Prevention at the root was also at the heart of the debates: hydro-diplomacy, social cohesion, and the fight against hate speech, promoted by UNESCO. Finally, the decisive inclusion of youth and women, established as builders of the present by the United Nations System.
A forum that intends to transform the culture of peace into concrete public policies.
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