The African Union (AU) Youth for Peace Africa Programme, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the Pan Africa Gaming Group (PAGG), and the UN Office to the African Union (UNOAU) have launched a serious game known as “Mission55 Conflict in Anaka”, to commemorate the International Day of Peace (Peace Day) 2022.
The game, developed by the AU, GIZ, and PAGG, aims to raise awareness, educate and inform the public, particularly youth, on the mandate of the AU to promote good governance, peace, and security in Africa. It exposes participants to the AU governance, peace, and security architecture (AGA-APSA) tools used to prevent, manage and mitigate conflicts. It also aims to enhance the agency of peacebuilders within their communities.
The game targets youths in conflict and warzone areas who are between the ages of 16 and 34.
Speaking at the opening ceremony last week on Wednesday, Ms. Patience Chiradza, Director for Governance and Conflict Prevention, on behalf of Amb. Bankole Adeoye, Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, lauded the AU-GIZ-UN partnership. She called on African youth to continue to leverage new technologies in deepening their knowledge and understanding toward meaningfully contributing to sustainable peace in Africa. Further, she underlined the significant contributions of the African Youth Ambassadors for Peace (AYAPs) in advancing the implementation of the youth, peace, and security agenda in close collaboration with the AU Member States, particularly the Peace and Security Council. In her words, a key milestone is “The adoption of the Continental Framework on Youth, Peace and Security and its 10-Year Implementation Plan in 2020”.
On his part, H.E. Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General to the African Union and Head of UNOAU, reiterated the UN’s commitment to promote human dignity, end racism and build peace, in line with the Peace Day 2022 theme and the Joint UN-AU Framework for an Enhanced Partnership. He stated that education is critical in promoting harmony in our communities and applauded the use of technological innovations for inclusivity in peacebuilding.
According to H.E. Stephan Auer, German Ambassador to Ethiopia, “This game will reinforce outreach efforts as youth can now connect through smartphones and be more aware of the work of the African Union in crisis prevention, conflict management, and peacebuilding”.
Following the launch, the AYAPs convened a Youth General Assembly to update young people on the status of the implementation of the youth, peace, and security agenda in Africa.
Commenting on the game design, Jay Shapiro, Chairman of the Pan Africa Gaming Group (PAGG) said: “We’re delighted by how Mission 55 – Conflict in Anaka is a powerful example of the power of gamification to create meaningful social impact in the community. Today’s youth love playing video games. Our #GamingForGood mission turns that passion into positive changes.”
These activities to mark Peace Day 2022 at the AU Headquarters brought together representatives from the AU and partner organizations, AYAPs, and other young people from across the continent, including digital media practitioners and social media influencers.
How To Play “Mission 55” Game:
“Long ago there was a conflict so great it left the entire continent in devastation. As nations struggled to survive, we realized that we needed to stand together as one.
In that state of near-total collapse, we held a summit and became the people of Anaka.”
“To ensure this union, we set up a Council to preside over the affairs of Anaka.
However, we have yet to resolve the many challenges affecting the continent.
The council and I need your help. I know that with your wisdom we can bring stability to Anaka.”
“The Council and I created a framework to overcome the many challenges ahead: the Anaka Governance, Peace and Security Architecture, or AGPSA.
This framework has five pillars, each with its own tools, that focus on different areas of governance.”
“Your goal is to use these tools to complete the final mission, made up of the hardest challenges we have ever faced.
We have set up a training simulation to help you prepare.”
“In the simulator, you will see the map of our beautiful Anaka and the many missions you will have to overcome.
During a mission, various challenges will appear.
Chose the right tools for the situation to defeat them. For example, Panel of the Wise contains the “”Preventative Diplomacy”” tool, which is useful for challenges that require a skillful diplomatic touch.
“Learn more about the tools and challenges to find the best solutions.
Use the codex to learn more about the tools, and learn about challenges by tapping on them.
Once you have a plan, drag a tool onto a challenge to use it.”
- Use the codex to learn more about the tools.
- Learn about challenges by tapping on them.
- Drag tools onto challenges to use them.
“If you do not solve challenges quickly enough, the region will destabilize and the simulation will reset.
With each attempt, you will gain Respect Points, which can be used to permanently upgrade your tools and skills.”
Use respect points to permanently upgrade your tools and skills.
Pan Africa Gaming Group (PAGG) is a continent-wide network of some of the top independent game development studios and publishers in Africa. With more than 200 staff and 100 existing published games, the group is producing locally relevant content for more than 270 million internet-connected youth. PAGG has been created to bring together these companies from all corners of the continent, to share talent, resources, and access to markets. Together, the group aims to unlock the world’s next 1 Billion players on mobile, PC’s & video game consoles.
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