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View all search resultsCitizen journalism: Learning to be tolerant
A group of 10 representatives of young people from Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand got together at a forum to examine religious and cultural conflicts in Southeast Asia and to develop strategies to address violence that polarizes communities
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A
group of 10 representatives of young people from Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand got together at a forum to examine religious and cultural conflicts in Southeast Asia and to develop strategies to address violence that polarizes communities.
The event, called the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) United for Peace, was organized by the Public Affairs Section of the US Embassy in Manila, in partnership with the Focolare Movement from Feb. 18 to 22, in Tagatay City, Philippines.
Christina M. Bonifacio, one of the speakers at the event, called on the participants in the event to become peace builders soon after they returned to their respective countries. 'To be a peace builder is a calling.
'Something that does not let you rest until you perform it. Our challenge, therefore, is to nurture unity. It takes patience. It takes cultivating a culture of trust beginning with ourselves then with others,' she said.
Another speaker, Jeronimo L. Perez stressed the importance of dialogue in trying to resolve differences in society. 'Dialogue is an exchange that starts with openness, enabled by trust and constantly nourished by a shared desire to know each other,' he said, adding the principles of shared humanity: 'We are more similar than different and our differences create the necessary condition for mutual enrichment.'
Serafin A. Arviola, who was speaking about the need to 'understand existing peace and conflict paradigms' stressed the importance of peace builders comprehending facts in conflicts, which include stages of conflict, timelines and conflict maps before they get involved in solving the problems.
This forum is designed to equip participants with skills to develop projects or campaigns to address conflict, while building their network of peace advocates in Southeast Asia.
Participants shared best practices and looked for solutions to cultural and ethnic conflicts in their countries and
regions, and creating one project they will implement in their respective countries.
Robinson Sinurat
Jakarta
