Author: Alex Williams

Championing the voices of Libya’s youth peace leaders

Posted on July 15, 2021 by Alex Williams -

The ‘Bader’ campaign was launched on Facebook on 17 February 2021, on the 10-year anniversary of the Libyan uprising. The campaign provided a platform for young leaders from different communities in Libya to talk about their experiences of promoting peace, social cohesion, and women’s inclusion. By amplifying the voices of young peace activists, Bader sought to inspire others to take action. Within a month of its launch, the Bader Facebook page had received 15,000 likes and over 500 stories had been submitted by young activists across Libya. Through the campaign, 3 young leaders were selected to receive grants of up to 20,000 LYD to implement their projects. The profiles of 19 of Bader’s most outstanding participants are outlined in this booklet.

The direct link to this flipbook is here and you can view as plain pdf here

Third Media Consultation Dialogue tackles empathy for “the other” in Serbia and Kosovo

Posted on June 2, 2021 by Alex Williams -

PCi’s Amplifying Local Voices for Equitable Development (ALVED) project has been gathering media experts, journalists, editors, civil society and institutions from Kosovo and Serbia in what will eventually be a cycle of eight Media Consultation Dialogues (MCD). Their goal is to bring together media related experts from Kosovo and Serbia who would not normally have a chance to meet and discuss their respective media scenes. The overarching goal is to try and galvanize change in a rather toxic media pool of division and hate speech. The project is funded by the UK Government’s Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF).

Having tackled a PCi commissioned comprehensive study of the media scenes in Kosovo and Serbia during the first MCD, the second one looked into the media regulatory bodies. The third Media Consultation Dialogue was held online on March 3 2021, and titled “Unpleasant Truths and Unfounded Beliefs”. The discussion focused on a universally acknowledged belief by all participants that empathy for “the other” is very conspicuous by its absence. Three questions were discussed in detail:

Why is it so difficult to see the suffering of “the other”?
What could the Media and the Civil Society do to facilitate reconciling with the past, including reporting on unpleasant truths?
How could the Media (and possibly the Civil Society) change the current state of affairs?

Just like after every other Media Consultation Dialogue, together with its participants, PCi will draft a set of conclusions and recommendations to be shared with media outlets, civil society and state and international institutions. To access the document entailing the Conclusions and Recommendations click here in English, Albanian and Serbian.

Update on Second Media Consultation Dialogue in Serbia and Kosovo

Posted on May 26, 2021 by Alex Williams -

The second Media Consultation Dialogue (MCD) looked closely at the work of the media regulatory bodies in in Kosovo and Serbia since one of the conclusions of the first Media Consultation Dialogue was that their work does not contribute enough to the elimination of hate speech and “othering” in the media.

The Media Consultation Dialogues are an integral part of PCi’s Amplifying Local Voices for Equitable Development – ALVED project. The Dialogues bring together media experts, journalists, editors, civil society representatives and also some institutions that do not usually communicate with each other. Their goal is to engage in constrictive dialogues in areas important for the media in both Kosovo and Serbia.

The Media Consultation Dialogue 2 was held online on February 24 2021 and the focus was on the Media Regulatory Bodies – specifically on the difference between their work as laid down by the law and the difference between the theory and practice of their work. The discussion revolved primarily around:

How media regulators ensure that public interest is served and what does public interest actually mean?
What exactly are the differences between the theory and practice?
How to narrow down those differences and improve the overall media scene in Kosovo and Serbia and help the media play a more constructive part in creating a cohesive and constructive relationship between the two societies?

Further to the Dialogue and consultations with all participants, a set of Conclusions and Recommendations was compiled and in the next few weeks will be shared with local, national, and international institutions that work in strengthening the independence of media in Kosovo and Serbia.

The Conclusions and Recommendations are available in English, Albanian and Serbian language

Media Award in Kosovo and Serbia: Call for applications is open

Posted on April 26, 2021 by Alex Williams -

Peaceful Change initiative is calling on journalists, editors, media representatives, and others, to share with us their stories on multi-ethnic coexistence in Kosovo and Serbia. The idea was initiated by the Media Consultation Dialogue, an integral part of PCi’s Balkan programme.

The call for entries is open until mid-August 2021 and the entries will be evaluated by a professional jury who will select the winning stories and media outlets.

For detailed information about how to apply, please click on the Terms of Reference below, available in English, Serbian and Albanian languages.

Stories published between 15 August 2020 and 15 August 2021 are eligible for the Media Award. To apply click on the following link: https://forms.gle/3XWBbGFMMJqBtiw47. The application deadline is 16 August 2021.

PCi’s partner on the Kosovo-Serbia project launches small grants scheme

Posted on April 21, 2021 by Alex Williams -

PCi’s partner on the Kosovo-Serbia project, People in Need (PIN), has launched a small-grants scheme to support local-level, community-based initiatives that can help deal with the impact of Covid-19 on local communities, whilst cutting across ethnic divisions.

More than 100 applications were received, out of which 12 grassroot organizations were selected for support. They are:

Centar za aktivizam Vranje (Center for Activism in Vranje) //Vranje & Bujanovac
Centar za ravnomerni regionalni razvoj (Center for Equal Regional Development) – CenTriR & Ruža Lebane //Lebane
Education Code & Ana Morava //Gjilan/Gnjilane & Lipjan/Lipljan
Primo la toleranza //Štrpce/Shtërpcë
Qendra e Kujdesit Ditor “PEMA” (Day Care Center “Pema”) //Gjilan/Gnjilane
Qendra për jetë të pavarur (Center for Independent Living) //Peja/Peć
Shoqata Beyond (Association Beyond) //Bujanovac
Udruženje građanja Odbor za ljudska prava Vranje (Citizens’ Association Committee for Human Rights in Vranje) //Vranje & Bujanovac
Udruženje Roditelja “Podrži me”, Sever (Association of Parents in the North “Support me”) //Leposavić/Leposaviq
Udruženje Romkinja Bujanovac (Association of Roma Women in Bujanovac) //Bujanovac
YMCA Movement – Peja branch //Peja/Peć
Youth Association for Human Rights //Lipjan/Lipljan

Our partner PIN will be launching similar small-grant schemes in the future, offering more opportunities for support, especially to those who are in a more vulnerable position.

Supporting marginalised communities in Georgia impacted by COVID-19

Posted on April 19, 2021 by Alex Williams -

This report has been produced by PCi’s partner organisation in Georgia, IDP Women’s Association Consent. The report summarises quantitative and qualitative research carried out by Consent and their partners in isolated communities in three regions of Georgia on the way they were impacted by the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the report in English, click here. For the report in Georgian, click here.

Increasing awareness of a conflict sensitive approach to aid interventions in Syria

Posted on April 18, 2018 by Alex Williams -

There are many groups and countries involved in Syria, who bring their own agendas to the context, making conflict dynamics extremely complex. In 2018, Peaceful Change initiative worked to bring together International NGOs, UN agencies and donors, working in Syria to start a conversation on the delivery of humanitarian, development and peacebuilding assistance. The aim was also to explore understanding around conflict sensitive approaches and the interaction of aid with the conflict, which can have positive and/or negative effects.

Two meetings were convened for representatives from 7 Syrian NGOs, from both government and opposition controlled areas and 13 International NGOs and UN agencies. In the meetings, the Syrian context was analysed to support increasing awareness of what drives peace and what drives the conflict in Syria. This helped implementing agencies to apply a conflict sensitive approach, when delivering aid, in efforts to minimise negative effects and the risk of exacerbating the situation – and maximise positive effects by identifying opportunities, to build peace.

A one one-day exploratory War Economy Retreat was also convened for 7 Syrian NGOs, alongside a parallel retreat organised for 9 donors and 15 international implementing agencies. Some examples of how assistance interacts with the conflict were explored with a couple of examples outlined below.

Distribution Effects

The benefits of assistance are distributed unevenly and reinforce existing social, political or economic divisions or tensions
Or assistance can reduce tensions between groups when assistance is delivered across existing tensions or divisions in a collaborative manner

Economic market effects

Intervention may distort the local economy
Or the intervention could build supply chains across conflict lines

Some key insights from these meetings include:

It is not the norm for projects in Syria to explicitly take conflict sensitivity into consideration and the development of conflict sensitivity tools could enhance the effectiveness of aid
Embedding conflict sensitivity into a project cycle may create challenges due to the monitoring limitations in Syria

The Peacemakers’ Network – Libya, launches campaign to counter hate speech on social media

Posted on March 18, 2021 by Alex Williams -

The Peacemakers’ Network – Libya, has launched a campaign to counter hate speech on social media “Our difference does not separate us”. It is based on workshops that were held in 12 Libyan cities between February 27 and March 5 2021, with support from Peaceful Change initiative. The target audience included media professionals, activists and social media activists in the regions. A webinar was convened on 10 March (in Arabic with English translation) to support the connection of target audiences and to introduce the campaign and motivate the audience to be a part of it. For more visit Campaign Facebook Page and/or The Peacemakers’ Network, Libya Facebook Page

The Peacemakers’ Network – Libya, gives Libyans from both sides of the conflict divide a vehicle to work together in an institutional way, to seek funding autonomously, and to amplify the voice of its diverse membership and is registered with the authorities.

Promoting understanding of conflict sensitive communications to international assistance providers working in Libya

Posted on March 15, 2021 by Alex Williams -

In early March, Peaceful Change initiative (PCi) delivered a training on Conflict Sensitivity and Communications to international assistance providers working in Libya. The relationship between the communications environment and peace and conflict in Libya was explored including the polarised media and social media environment; the use of communications as a political tool and the expression of inter-group tensions online. Participants were able to look at how their communication activities may feed into the peace and conflict dynamics with negative or positive impacts and discussed how to manage such impacts. They also learned about how their communications could be used as a tool to support conflict sensitivity.

Conflict sensitivity comes from the recognition that humanitarian, development and peace-related assistance may have unintended impacts on peace and conflict. PCi works to promote conflict sensitivity in policy and practice within the humanitarian, development and peace fields.

The training is part of a broader training series provided through the Conflict Sensitive Assistance (CSA) in Libya programme, funded by the European Union and the Embassy of Switzerland to Libya. The training series provides different staff functions of international assistance providers working in Libya with the understanding, confidence and tools to apply conflict sensitivity to their work. For more information, send an email to libyacsa@peacefulchange.org.