The Philippines has significant Christian, Muslim and Indigenous populations. Mistrust exists between the members of the different cultural groups, and violence and conflict exacerbate these tensions. There is restricted opportunity for inter-youth dialogue.

PeaceTech has come up with an innovative way of addressing this problem and providing a chance for Filipino youth from different cultural groups across the country to communicate with each other. The method is video-conference.

A 7-part MTV style video-conference was set up with the theme 'Peace Building'. It focused on uniting Muslim, Indigenous and Christian youth from Mindanao and Luzon, where conflict is prevalent. It gave the young people involved a unique opportunity to express, listen and unite over concerns about their future and their country's future. It exposed young people to perspectives they normally do not hear, including problems facing remote regions. And it reinforced commonalities between young people.

The video conferences linked hundreds of youth in Luzon and Mindanao, with one panel from Mindanao speaking directly with one panel from Luzon through large video screens. These live dialogues happened before youth audiences. There were approx. 600 youth in Luzon and Mindanao for the first PeaceTech conference. Close to 1,200 youth joined PeaceTech Two and more than 2,000 youth attended PeaceTech Three.

Due to the success of the series, PeaceTech is hoping to increase their audience by ìone hundred fold.î They will be distributing DVDs to schools and organizations that send youth leaders to the PeaceTechs. These will showcase highlights of each of the PeaceTech conferences. They will be accompanied by lesson plans to help classes have their own discussions about each of the conference themes.

Project type

• Interfaith
• Youth groups

Region

• Philippines