Empowerment of local community through media and ICT emphasizing community values, and fostering peace and stability

The media are now to be considered an integral part of peacebuilding and peacekeeping activities, they have become the key point of public information in many post-conflict contexts as well as a tool for building greater awareness of identity values of a community and of human rights. Cooperation activities that incorporate the use of the media guide and support the end of conflicts, making stable and impartial democratic processes possible, and manage to reach the most remote areas of countries by broadcasting in the most widely spoken and nationally recognized national languages.

In recent years, several more independent pages and platforms flourished online offering a space for exchange and free expression. However, many of these either lack proper journalistic and ethical training or are funded by foreign countries that push a specific agenda or editorial line.

The establishment of an independent, responsible, and ethically founded online platform run by local community can be an excellent instrument to counter monochrome narratives and hate speech and build the foundation for national reconciliation, peace-building, and social cohesion. For this to happen, knowledge sharing with media organizations and NGOs is essential, which will be of great benefit to editorial teams and content creators, along with appropriate capacity building tools and workshops.