Joint project in the Philippines and Myanmar
Between 2018 and 2021, we implemented a joint project in the Philippines and Myanmar with our partner organisation People in Need. The aim of the project was to promote religious tolerance and reconciliation of the fractious relations between different ethnic and religious groups that have long persisted in these regions and have often led to discrimination, conflict and violent extremism.
The project began in late 2018, when we started focusing on regions with high tensions between members of different religions. Myanmar, home to more than 135 ethnic and religious groups, has seen one of the world’s longest-running civil wars, while in the Philippines, the largest urban war in modern history broke out in 2017, displacing hundreds of thousands of people from the city of Marawi. Through trainings, meetings and small projects, we sought to build mutual understanding, respect and tolerance among youth, religious leaders and community leaders to contribute to peaceful conflict resolution in the future.
In 2019, we have started intensively preparing activities to prevent and combat discrimination and intolerance. We focused on developing community, cultural and religious initiatives and strengthening the links between civil society organisations and religious leaders. We first launched capacity building when we selected 240 young leaders from both countries for training. For 121 of them, we conducted trainings on leadership skills, peacebuilding, religious tolerance and peaceful conflict resolution. In addition, we identified 24 civil society organisations that we helped to develop their own capacity and created individual plans for 18 of them. The first training took place in Myanmar, and following the training, youth and CSOs were able to implement the lessons learned through micro-grants to promote dialogue and interfaith dialogue in their communities.
In 2020, despite the difficult conditions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, we continued our mission. The Philippines and Myanmar faced serious conflicts caused by poverty, religious and ethnic differences, as well as struggles over territory and natural resources. We trained and supported 231 young leaders, helping them to build relationships, mutual respect and understanding, and increase tolerance for different communities. The young graduates of our trainings have started activities in their communities and have become role models for other girls and boys. We were also able to engage 26 community-based NGOs, supporting them in their functioning and capacity to implement their own projects to promote dialogue and tolerance, as well as helping with the recovery from the effects of the pandemic.
In 2021, we continued to support young people, despite the challenging conditions caused by the military coup in Myanmar, which returned the country to a time of repression and persecution of civil society activists. We focused on building relationships, respect and understanding between different communities, organising 24 training sessions for more than 200 young leaders. We also facilitated 40 meetings between young leaders and representatives of religions and local communities. The young people and organisations that received our training have subsequently launched 25 projects to promote dialogue and tolerance in their communities. In Myanmar, we redirected our support to the immediate needs of local organisations and initiatives, providing them with assistance in the areas of security, mental health and psycho-hygiene, and financial assistance to meet the greatest needs of the communities we worked with.
The overall project strengthened the friendship, mutual respect and self-confidence of the participants. It contributed significantly to the creation of a group of active young people and to better connecting representatives of local government, civil society organisations, youth and women through the creation of a platform for dialogue. The project was funded by the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) and co-financed by the Czech Development Agency. The project partners were People in Need and local organisations Pailig Development Foundation and Building Better Society. This joint project has thus successfully contributed to building peace and mutual respect in both countries, while laying a solid foundation for further initiatives aimed at sustainable development and conflict reconciliation.
