The Refugee Experience and Peace Leadership Education

Abstract

Of the 82.4 million forcibly displaced people in 2020, 26.4 million are refugees, a number that represents a two-fold increase compared to a decade ago. Many leaders and organizations have been and continue to work with refugees and for the causes of peace, but are refugees receiving education consistent with peace leadership competencies? The authors propose that what most influences the institutions and structures that create and sustain positive peace is leadership. Further, peace leader training and development for those displaced, living on the margins, and in refugee camps is perhaps the greatest challenge for leadership educators. This chapter describes a Peace Leader Certificate program for refugees that construes a peace leader as a servant-leader focused on creating and nurturing a culture of peace.