Trauma affects millions of children every year and can create a long-term state of hypervigilance that redirects energy from higher-level cognitive functions. Depending on the severity of the trauma, these children may experience cognitive impairments that inhibit their ability to learn. Trauma can also increase instances of anxiety, depression, or drug misuse. Children in active conflict zones, such as Sudan and Uganda, have higher incidence of lived trauma, according to UNICEF, noting that around 4 million children have been displaced by the war that started in Sudan in 2023. To help these children and their communities, the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative (WPDI) and Intelsat have partnered with Intelsat to build connectivity in safe, supportive spaces that will enable these communities to heal from trauma. The seven WPDI Community Learning Centers in Sudan, and another three in Uganda, offer much-needed access to learning opportunities, training, trauma healing programs, and much more.
Powered by Intelsat satellite connectivity, WPDI now can significantly expand educational offerings and grant access to digital resources, online courses, and virtual exchange programs, according to the partnership announcement. Communities also will gain vital digital literacy skills alongside WPDI’s established curriculum in conflict resolution, entrepreneurship, and community development.
The ability to build these skills is critical for these underserved areas, according to the new partners, particularly since digital inequality continues to widen globally. The International Telecommunication Union has reported that only 19 percent of people in the least developed nations, like South Sudan and Uganda, use the internet. In areas directly affected by conflict, these numbers drop even further. This lack of access, compounded by the trauma resulting from living in a conflict zone, creates significant barriers to education and opportunities for vulnerable populations.
“Education is the foundation for peace,” said Forest Whitaker, humanitarian, Academy Award-winning actor, and founder and CEO of WPDI. “At WPDI, we use technology as a conduit to opportunity – bringing knowledge to young people whose lives have been upended by violence and political unrest. With the right tools, youths can reclaim their futures to become powerful agents of peace in their communities.”
Addressing Health and Well-Being
Whitaker also is a member of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Advocacy Group, which works to raise awareness of the goals around the world. Through its programs on the ground in places like Sudan and Uganda, WPDI works to contribute to the SDGs, including working to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all, at all ages. In pursuit of this, WPDI was founded on four foundational pillars that address peace, community, and health and well-being, according to WPDI Executive Director Caroline Descombris, WPDI Executive Director
“Since 2012, we have worked to respond to the needs of the communities on the ground by including them in co-designing the programs based on our four foundational pillars. The first is peace building, which is particularly important for Forest, and it is in our DNA. We are working with networks of young people around the world that we equip with the tools to become changemakers and peacemakers in their communities. They go back into their communities to educate others in 300 schools around the world.
“Our second pillar is supporting the economic environment, which is key if you want to build peaceful communities,” said Descombris. “We are supporting more than 1,000 youth- and women-led businesses that are more than just income-generating projects. They are community building projects.
“The third pillar – health and well-being – is very close to Forest’s heart. When you work in communities that have been deeply impacted by conflict, you understand that they have been going through a deep trauma,” she explained. “We have always integrated social-emotional learning into what we do, because it’s very important to help them learn how to rebuild from within.”
Descombris said the fourth WPDI pillar is sports, which they also use as a vehicle for peace and reconciliation to build trust with the communities and instill the values of life of respect and tolerance.
Human Connections Made Stronger with Digital Connectivity
The connectivity needed to enable the WPDI pillars and their supporting programs at Community Learning Centers is critical but just one part of the solution. Intelsat also supplies essential equipment, managed connectivity services, installation, and ongoing technical support. Together, this will ensure these communities have reliable internet access.
“We are great believers in the power of connectivity to promote education and sustainable development around the world,” said Dave Wajsgras, CEO of Intelsat. “We are simplifying the whole communications architecture in these areas, from terminals to antennas, to connect to Intelsat satellites. This will upgrade the communications profile that exists today and improve it by a factor of somewhere between four and 10 times from a speed transmission perspective.”
Wajsgras explained that Intelsat’s work will upgrade the quality of the communications, as well as equally support reliability, which will create access to real-time information. “In addition to these substantial improvements, Intelsat also is allocating bandwidth between the satellite and the ground to make sure the communications cycle is closed.
“The ability to communicate at these 10 Community Learning Centers will be equivalent to a large enterprise, such as a bank,” Wajsgras explained. “It’s a lot of work that is quite difficult, but we’re very honored to be able to support what WPDI is doing there.”
Increasing a school’s digital connectivity, and, therefore, the students’ access to education benefits the children, the community and – eventually the country in which it is located. Countries with more educated citizens have higher GDPs, and communities with access to education flourish.
The new WPDI Community Learning Centers in Sudan and Uganda further Intelsat’s work to “connect the unconnected and power a more inclusive digital future for a brighter Africa.” They also create safe environments that are essential to their healing, as individuals and as communities.