Orange Knowledge Impact Series - Liveblog #5
Week #33
Zambia: Campaigning for Social Change
Meet Salomé Phiri.
In 2019, Salomé followed a training Media campaigning for social development at RNTC in the Netherlands with an Orange Knowledge scholarship. In 2020, she won an Orange Knowledge Impact Award for her contribution to preventing child marriages and adolescent pregnancies in rural Zambian communities. Together, we reflect on what the Orange Knowledge Programme has meant for her.
“The Orange Knowledge Programme, and specifically being able to study at RNTC, has had a big impact on my life. It has opened my eyes and sparked something in me. I used to see things and write about them as a journalist, but now I actively campaign for social change. That is a direct effect of having studied at RNTC with an OKP scholarship. It has truly made me an impact maker.”
Three years after her training at RNTC, Salome’s is back in the Netherlands obtaining a Master’s degree in Journalism, Media & Globalisation. She is also working as an intern at RNW Media, the same institute where her OKP journey started.
“The Orange Knowledge Programme has been an accelerator for me. I have learned so much and it even gave me the courage to continue learning abroad. And here I am, back in the Netherlands to study even more. In fact, being back has given me a new challenge now: it is to represent the African voice and to do more African based research.”
After her studies, Salomé will return to Zambia. “I look forward to connecting with more alumni when I get back home. There are so many people who have studied with an OKP scholarship, also in other African countries. It immediately creates a network of people and it helps me to gain insight in issues in other countries. Together, we can thrive social change.”
Sustainable development goals: SDG4, SDG5, SDG10 and SDG17.
Week #32
Philippines: Sustainable peace building through education
In the Philippines, distrust towards the government, public authorities, and minority groups causes conflicts. Regardless of effort, peace settlement is prone to relapsing back into conflict that often involves violence. To work on ways of peace maintenance and social justice, the Mindanao State University (MSU) and The Hague Academy for Local Governance initiated the ‘Training of Trainers on Inclusive Governance and Sustaining Peace’ training programme, which is part of the #OrangeKnowledge Programme.
Yasmira Moner is an Assistant Professor at the ‘Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology’ and she participated in this training for trainer programme. Along with other university lecturers and staff, she strengthened her knowledge of productive methods of teaching adult learners and ways of sustaining peace in a community. After participating in the training programme, Yasmira was able to enhance the quality of her university courses and curricula by incorporating student collaborations and references to real-life situations that her students have to analyse.
For Yasmira, the greatest takeaway from this training programme is learning about the importance of knowing the specific contexts that provoke conflict. She now understands that to transform conflict and build sustainable peace, the causes of conflict should be a shared understanding by all members of the community. Now, Yasmira is working to transform the way her community and country perform politics through peace and justice advocacy.
Aside from conducting peace research, Yasmira is active in community service, where she represents her community’s peace missions in a social civic organisation. She also collaborates with local councils and advisory boards to ensure that the voices of her community is being heard. In the near future, Yasmira hopes that inclusive peace and sustainable government policies are actually practised, making peace a part of the norm in the Philippines. She feels grateful to be part of one of the last #OrangeKnowledge Programme tailor-made trainings in the Philippines. Education and learning are the start of growth and together with collaboration, growth becomes inevitable.
Sustainable development goals: SDG4, SDG5, SDG16.
Week #31
Guatemala: Defending human rights through cultural and societal development
Human rights activists and professionals in Guatemala observe discrimination, violence and inequality towards minority groups are sadly becoming more common in their communities. As a result, activists are continuously working hard to develop inclusive public policies, provide supportive counselling, and find prevention methods for violence and discrimination. With these intentions, human rights activists and professionals are motivated to learn more about cultural diversity, human rights and policy-making.
Human rights professionals from the ICCPG (Instituto de Estudios Comparados en Ciencias Penales de Guatemala) participated in an #OrangeKnowledge Programme training programme that focused on contributing their knowledge to the defence of human rights in Guatemala. The ICCPG is an academic institution that promotes human rights and democratic justice through research, training, advocacy and advising. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the training sessions were conducted fully online. 4 modules were discussed, starting from understanding gender & sexual diversity, to conducting localised human rights campaigns in various rural communities around the country.
Through “The Defence of SRHR and LGBTI Human Rights In Guatemala – Enhancing ICCPG’s capacities to incorporate critical analysis” training, 30 professionals were able to strengthen their capacities and are now equipped with modern concepts, methodologies and tools to approach minority groups who are exposed to discrimination and violence. They will then implement their new knowledge in their work fields, such as training members of their communities and giving human rights consultations. Activists and professionals believe that changes in Guatemala’s cultural practices is the key for the inclusive development of their society. Changes in cultural practises start with awareness through education on what is right and wrong.
This Tailor-Made Training (TMT) is a collaboration between Instituto de Estudios Comparados en Ciencias Penales de Guatemala (ICCPG), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU Amsterdam) and the Foundation for Latin American Social and Economic Research (LASO).
| Before OKP | Current situation | Upcoming years |
|---|---|---|
| Patriarchal values and unbalanced globalisation in Guatemala causes gender inequality, hostility towards the LGBTI communities and violence | Human rights professionals take part in training sessions that use updated methods and concepts to help them prevent voilence and discrimination in communities | Guatemalans aware of their human rights, have better access to sexual & reproductive education and are more understanding towards social diversity |
Sustainable development goals: SDG4, SDG5, SDG16.
