Testing the impact of a socio-emotional education intervention based on humanitarian values in youngsters in South Sudan and Zambia

The present study tests whether an innovative educational training in social and emotional skills focusing on humanitarian values (humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence) will improve resilience and intergroup relations in youngsters in South Sudan and Zambia when compared to schooling as usual (control group). Based on previous data collected in Armenia, Belarus, Gambia, and Russia, we expect that in the training group, an increase in compassion and empathic distress will predict an increase in helping out-group members, whereas no such relation will be present in the control group. Exploratory analyses will test for differences between countries and whether the training per se increases resilience and out-group helping. Further analyses will test whether the changes induced by training are maintained at 6-month follow-up. In addition to conceptual and causal discoveries that will advance scientific models on the promotion of resilience and conflict resolution, the present study is expected to inform policy makers on how educational interventions can be used to promote peaceful and thriving societies in a sustained way.