Build Peace is an annual conference that explores emergent challenges to peace in a digital era, and peacebuilding innovations to address these challenges, it equally brings together individuals and organizations from diverse backgrounds to explore innovative ways to build peace. The conference is open to anyone who is interested in peacebuilding and conflict resolution, including academics, activists, policymakers, and practitioners. This inclusive approach allows for a dynamic exchange of ideas and perspectives, making Build Peace a truly unique and valuable experience for all attendees. Under this umbrella, each year Build Peace focuses on one central theme, linked to the location where the conference takes place.
This year’s conference, co-organised by Build Up and Climate Conflict Action, is taking place in Manila, Philippines from November 14-16, 2024 under the theme “Pushing Frontiers, From the Ground Up“,
The main objective of Build Peace 2024 is to spark new thinking and collaborations in the field of peacebuilding. By pushing the frontiers and exploring new approaches, this conference aims to inspire participants to think outside the box and challenge traditional methods of conflict resolution. Through interactive workshops, panel discussions, and networking sessions, attendees will have the opportunity to learn from each other and gain new insights into how to build peace from the ground up. The conference will also focus on the role of innovation in peacebuilding. With the rapid advancements in technology, there is a growing need to explore how these innovations can be used for peacebuilding and conflict resolution. Attendees will have the chance to learn about cutting-edge technologies and their potential applications in peacebuilding efforts.
In addition to addressing these crucial topics, Build Peace 2024 will also showcase transformative practices that have been successful in promoting peace and reducing conflict. By highlighting these practices, the conference hopes to inspire attendees to implement similar initiatives in their own communities and contribute to building sustainable peace.
Prior to our presentation at Build peace, we had some working sessions at the MOLD space to make sure that the BrailleRAP was good to present, especially adding the PH version to the project.
Three days of interactive workshops
The most public aspect of Build Peace is a conference event; it is an interdisciplinary space that runs for three full days, gathering around 300 people annually. Participants come from more than 60 different countries, working in national and international NGOs, the UN system, academic institutions, civil society organisations, grassroots organizing and the private sector. This year, attendees will learn and be skilled on a variety of topics on technology facilitated responses to technology facilitated violence, discovering the intersectionality of conflict and climate, creating mediation spaces to discuss peace building and security, connecting displaced, migrant and conflict survivors to the Internet to learn using the power of self-organization.
r0g_agency for open culture and critical transformation in conjunction with the #defyhatenow team from Cameroon and local Manila ‘makers’ are leading the workshop: “BrailleRap: Creating Community Technologies for Inclusive Peacebuilding” on November 15, 2024. They will focus on presenting a BrailleRAP and leveraging the power of open source hardware for more effective peacebuilding! BrailleRAP is a community accessible Braille embosser (printer) – a digitally controlled machine helping to lower the barrier for visually impaired peacebuilders. Stephen Kovats of r0g_agency, joined by Cameroonian #defyhatenow activists Angaama Joy Amba and Ndum Vianney Forewah, along with Singapore based open cultures entrepreneur and critical maker Saad Chinoy, will demonstrate and show how to build and maintain a BrailleRAP device. Saad, who mentored a group of Manila-based open hardware makers from the MOLD Makerspace, in building a BrailleRap device in the run-up to the conference, will join the team in showcasing the crucial need for inclusion of disabled persons in conflict mitigation, providing an opportunity to strengthen a growing network of inclusive peacebuilding makers. Good news! You can find the BrailleRap device described in full, with links to the open source files and means to build your own device at https://www.braillerap.org/ For the version being developed for #defyhatenow, and the initial prototype built in Manila, you can access the interface to type Brallie now live on the defyhatenow.org server through a click here: https://braillerap.defyhatenow.org/
Learn more on the different presentations to be done at the conference here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Kc498qEDHsC76Y7lVwqgtnZykfC3xw9CiBXA1tqPOn8/edit?tab=t.0
About Us and the Co-organisers of Build Peace
r0g_agency for Open Culture and Critical Transformation gGmbH
r0g_agency works with grassroots, governmental, and international organizations often to bridge gaps between policy and tangible action on the ground. r0g_agency collaborates with communities in the equatorial regions of Africa and Southeast Asia. Currently most of r0g_agency’s activities are in collaboration with communities and organizations in the Republic of South Sudan, Uganda, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, and The Gambia. https://openculture.agency/
#defyhatenow Cameroon
In collaboration with the Association Civic Watch, #defyhatenow works on providing community-based and data-driven solutions to the problem of hate speech, disinformation and misinformation. Our work focuses on creating a framework for increasing trust between stakeholders through mobilizing civic action against all forms of hate speech and incitement to violence. This initiative seeks to support the voices and actions of citizens working against online induced conflict within and outside affected regions by bringing youth, community leaders, grassroots organizations and further civil society stakeholders into a peace-oriented media and information literacy framework. Bridging gaps of knowledge and awareness of social media mechanisms between those with access to technology and those without, #defyhatenow is a growing network of online and offline peacebuilders. https://defyhatenow.org/about/
Build Up
It is an organisation that transforms conflict in the digital age. At the intersection of peacebuilding and technology, Build Up uses new tools for old problems, and old tools for new problems. They implement programs, conduct research, and develop technical solutions to engage with conflict and build societies in which everyone can thrive. They work on emergent challenges to peace in the digital age and emergent opportunities to transform conflict with digital technologies. They equally hold spaces within the peacebuilding community for conversations and contributions to collectively learn how to build peace in the digital age through action, reflection and iteration and they conduct research and provide policy recommendations on using technology to build peace and how to address emergent challenges to peace in the digital age.
Follow us on our social media platforms for updates on the developments of the three days workshop. To follow them and remain updated on the next sessions or other related opportunities visit them here: https://howtobuildpeace.org/about-build-peace/
Climate Conflict Action (CCAA)
The Climate Conflict Action is an independent non-governmental organization that gathers and analyses climate and conflict data to collaborate with communities towards actions that lead to sustainable peace. Providing climate and conflict data through their interoperable tools that create robust and insightful reports on communities affected by climate and conflict risks. They collaborate with local communities to monitor, analyze, and understand conflict, peace, and development dynamics in the Philippines to inspire actions and solutions that promote peace and security. To know more and access comprehensive data on conflict monitoring, not just climate induced conflict but also civil conflict and how it has affected the country since 2011 to 2020 read more here: https://conflictalert.info/. You can also know learn about their EWER systems and mapping here: https://conflictalert.info/data-and-mapping/cems
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Sincere appreciation to the support from Build Up and the Build Peace 2024 conference, and to our partners in Manila – MOLD Makerspace, EJ Angeles, Jay Fajardo, and colleagues Saad Chinoy, Vianney Forewah, Angaama Joy Amba along with the r0g_agency, #defyhatenow and BrailleRap teams for making this possible!
Hashtags
#Tech4Peace #PeaceBuilding #BuildPeace2024 #defyhatenow #BrailleRAP #ASKotec