Fred Goddard –
Former Affiliate Executive Coordinator
For those who have been wondering what I have been doing in the Philippines since 2012, I was the Technical and Institutional Capacity Building Officer for the Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute (MPI-www.mpiasia.net), a training institute for grassroots peacebuilders, primarily for the Asia-Pacific Region, but with alumni from all over the world. After ten years, I said “Farewell” to MPI.
Aside from maintaining MPI’s website and social media presence, I also served as the Institute’s data protection officer, working with other individuals and organizations on digital rights and digital peacebuilding. This culminated in being a member of a cohort of digital rights activists in the Southeast Asia Digital Rights Collaborative—Association for Progressive Communication—where we developed the project, “Digital Peacebuilding and Digital Rights in Mindanao.” Along with alumni for MPI, we monitored and mapped the ways that conflicts were either exacerbated by or mediated through social media.
Our news is inundated with stories of how social media and digital communication are such disruptive forces around the globe, especially in conflicts and in relation to US elections. What is lost in this news is that social media and other digital tools can be used for peacebuilding as well. As defined by the Alliance for Peacebuilding: “Digital peacebuilding is the analysis of and response to online conflict dynamics and the harnessing of digital tools to amplify peacebuilding outcomes.”
How can Maryknoll Affiliates be involved in digital peacebuilding on a practical level? Build Up, one of the leading organizations involved in digital peacebuilding, suggests:
Social Media. The first and perhaps most important area of interaction, social media can be one of the most challenging, given its potential toxicity and the amount of disinformation. Yet it can play important roles in building peace:
As a support community, social media can help us connect with one another as individuals and with networks that are promoting peace.
Engaging with different points of view in constructive ways. We can both constructively communicate with those who may not agree with us but are open to such engagement and seek out knowledge outside our own “information silos.”
Read the rest of this article on page 3 of Not So Far Afield, May/June 2024,.