2020 was a unique and difficult time for so many across the world, and it has reshaped the peacebuilding field for years to come. As we continue to look forward to 2021, share knowledge, and connect, we wanted to highlight last year’s top resources:
The M&E Thursday Talks
To date, DME for Peace has hosted over 165 M&E Thursday Talk webinars addressing cutting-edge practices and innovation in the field. Here are three talks from 2020 that generated a lot of interest:
1) On February 6th, Althea Middleton-Detzner of PeaceTech Lab led a discussion on “How to Monitor and Combat Hate Speech on Social Media.”
2) On June 4th, Waidehi Gokhale of Soliya led a discussion on “Online Dialogue Facilitation: Tips & Tricks.”
3) On October 15th, Theo Dolan of FHI 360 led a discussion on “A Guide to Countering Violent Extremism at the Local Level.”
Top Resources & Blogs
1) Maskani is Our New Normal- Exploring Digital Peacebuilding in Kenya, Working from Home: This blog post was written by Fredrick Ogenga, Ph.D., as part of our “Digital Adaptation & Technological Innovation in Peacebuilding” series. Social media technologies have given birth to digital peacebuilders in digital forums, which will forever change the peacebuilding landscape in Africa and elsewhere in the world. Maskani, a Swahili word for “dwelling,” is used by tech-thinkers from Kenya and the USA to define the most ambitious digital peacebuilding initiatives. Ogenga’s blog post addresses increasing polarization in Kenya and his work with the Maskani initiative. Maskani was born out of a collaboration between the Center for Media, Democracy, Peace and Security, Rongo University, and Build Up.
2) Data for Peacebuilding and Prevention Ecosystem Mapping: The State of Play and the Path to Creating a Community of Practice: This report maps and analyzes the existing global ecosystem in the field of data for peace and prevention. It highlights multiple examples of relevant initiatives throughout the world utilizing big data, data visualization, AI, image recognition, etc. It also discusses technical challenges impacting all actors, such as the lack of data or lack of high-quality data, lack of access due to security reasons, and data colonialism, as well as the ethical considerations brought on by exponential technologies and some specific challenges for data-driven approaches to peacebuilding. This resource was developed by Branka Panic (Founding Director of AI for Peace) and NYU Center on International Cooperation.
3) Design, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Guidelines for Social Accountability Programs: The impact of Social Accountability (SA) programming can go beyond the mere technical provision of service, it can enhance horizontal and vertical cohesion, transform relationships among service users and providers, and generate stability and enduring peace through improved quality and accountability. Developed from a peacebuilding perspective for the Targeted Response for Agriculture, Income and Nutrition project, these guidelines aim to establish good M&E practices and orient practitioners when designing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating SA interventions.
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