The Youth Peace and Development Programme (YPDP) of the Ecumenical Centre for Research Education and Advocacy (ECREA) will be holding a workshop titled “Multiculturalism and the Role of Young People in a Multicultural Society for its Youth Peace Facilitators (YPF) from Tuesday the 26th to Thursday the 28th of January at Bergengren Hall, Suva.

 Programme Coordinator Waisale Ramoce says” In order to promote better ethnic relationships and bridge the gap of racial divide, Fiji needs to encourage a deeper level of understanding, tolerance and respect for cultural diversities.” He further added that “we all have a role to play in creating a nation that values multicultural living and celebrates cultural diversity. Young people are no exception. Because they live and learn together, the process of relating and learning to understand their fellow citizens as common human beings, become easier, stronger and more durable.”.

He added “One of the ways of breaking through racial discrimination and promoting multicultural living is having young people engage in deeper sustained meaningful  conversations about the ways to create such environment. Multiculturalism is more than just the physical presence of people from different ethnic groups who represent diverse, cultures, beliefs and value systems. There is a need to understand the dynamics of these differences as they inter-play   in our daily lives”

The Youth Peace and Development Programme of ECREA has been training a group of young people who are known as Youth Peace Facilitators (YPF’s) with the hope that young people can be the solutions to bridging intercultural gaps that exist in our nation. Based on their creativity and their energy to transcend through ethnic divisiveness, YPDP believes that young people carry our hope of breaking the barriers of racial discrimination and sustaining better inter-ethnic relationships.