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Short course on youth, peacebuilding, and sustainability available for young peace advocates

Short course on youth, peacebuilding, and sustainability available for young peace advocates

by | May 11, 2021 | MSU-IIT Campus

An ongoing call for applications offers young peacebuilders a free short course on the intersection of youth, peacebuilding, and sustainability. The short course is designed by the Seeds for Mindanao Advocacy and Youth Leadership (SMAYL), with support from the U.S. Mission to ASEAN and Cultural Vista. SMAYL is one of the recipients of the 2021 Seeds for the Future Award, competing with over 600 applicants from across Southeast Asia. The Young Southeast Asian Leadership Initiative (YSEALI) Seeds for the Future Small Grants Competition funds up to $15,000 of each grantee project.  

SMAYL is the brainchild of MSU-IIT’s Political Science faculty, Dr. Primitivo Cabanes Ragandang III, along with Dr. Mary Koren Witting Acuesa and Mr. Charl Mark Ane. The three all hail from Northern Mindanao and have been into youth peacebuilding for many years. For 2021, they will implement a project that aims to empower young peacebuilders through a youth leadership program. The project also aims at providing a venue to understand the Mindanao conflict, the second-oldest conflict in the planet albeit not well-understood even among Filipinos.  

The short course is built around the global recognition of youth’s integral role in peacebuilding, as manifested in the passage of United Nation’s Resolution 2250 (in 2015) and 2535 (in 2020). But while young peacebuilders have captured the spotlight among peacebuilding practitioners, funders, and scholars internationally, there is prevalent unsustainability among youth peacebuilding initiatives, thus the need to develop a locally grown support system for young peacebuilders. Such a ‘local turn’ in peacebuilding empowers the locals and is also linked to peacebuilding sustainability.  

This 54-hour short course is coupled with an online learning hub. It generally aims to provide regular support, feedbacking, and eventually establish a network of young peacebuilders in the region. The program offers young peacebuilding a hybridized short course geared towards developing an action agenda on the intersection of youth, peace, and sustainability.  

The short course is a hybrid of self-paced and live teleconferencing sessions. Self-paced sessions allow the participants to access and comply with the course content at any time within the three-day module schedule. Live teleconferencing via Zoom enable the participants to engage with the speaker and course mates in a real-time interactive session. 

Deadline for applications is 31 May 2021. For more information about SMAYL and the short course application, visit them on Facebook and the link for application.

 — contributed article

Ridô, Historical Injustices, and Peacebuilding: Dispelling Misconceptions

Ridô, Historical Injustices, and Peacebuilding: Dispelling Misconceptions

by | Feb 27, 2018 | Arts & Social Sciences

by Louise Francine M. Socillo

In order to raise awareness and invite people to participate in peacebuilding efforts, the History Department conducted a lecture series on various topics relevant to the Marawi Siege. The three-part series was held in January and February at the Institute Mini-Theater.

Citing the complexities surrounding the Marawi Siege and the numerous misunderstandings arising from it, Historical Society President Dirb Bry Sebrero shared the History’s Department’s desire to dispel misconceptions by disseminating information regarding Meranao history and culture which may hold the key to understanding the root causes, analyzing the impact, and coming up with possible remedies for the damage brought on sought by the siege.

The lecture series tackled ridô, historical injustices, and peacebuilding inititatives in the Meranao context. Target participants included not only students but also those who were directly affected by the siege and those who want to contribute to peacebuilding initiatives.

Jamail A. Kamlian, faculty member of the History Department and co-author of Ridô: Clan Feuding and Conflict Management in Mindanao, shared insights from his research on ridô during the first lecture held on January 24, 2018.

During the discussion, an impassioned exchange of ideas among the participants ensued. Possible government interventions regarding the practice of ridô were also tackled.

Jamail A. Kamlian talks about common misconceptions on ridô

Dr. Kamlian talks about common misconceptions on ridô (Photo by the Historical Society)

History Department chairperson Rohane M. Derogongan talked about historical injustices suffered by Muslim Filipinos during the second lecture on January 31, 2018. She highlighted the need to be at peace with the past in order to avoid problems in the present and the near future.

The series concluded with a lecture focusing on peacebuilding on February 7, 2018.  Norjannah B. Bao and Jed B. Otano, faculty members of the History Department and special assistants of the Institute for Peace and Development in Mindanao, served as resource speakers of the said activity.  They emphasized the crucial role of the youth in peacebuilding initiatives as well as the importance of rights awareness.

Topics : Lecture Series  Peacebuilding