Asia 2024 Small Grants - Peacemakers Network

Asia 2024 Small Grants - Peacemakers Network is sponsored by Peacemakers Network, with support from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. The Peacemakers Network's Asia Working Group (AWG) collaborates with international, regional, national, and local actors across South and Southeast Asia to enhance regional peacebuilding efforts, particularly the role of religious and traditional actors, including youth and wome…

Asia 2024 Small Grants - Peacemakers Network Empowering Local Peacebuilders: Small Grants Driving Change in Asia The Peacemakers Network’s Asia Working Group (AWG) collaborates with international, regional, national, and local actors across South and Southeast Asia to enhance regional peacebuilding efforts, particularly, the role of religious and traditional actors, including youth and women, in peacebuilding, mediation and conflict transformation.

The AWG emphasizes communication, dialogue, training, analysis, and knowledge exchange, acting as a catalyst for advocacy, research, and networking. Recognizing that small grants serve as a vital tool for empowering localized peacebuilding strategies, the AWG, with support from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, provided funding for four initiatives in India, Pakistan, Thailand, and Myanmar.

These grants are crucial in offering essential resources to grassroots organizations, enabling communities to develop tailored strategies that align with their unique cultural and social contexts. By doing so, they catalyze significant change and empower local actors who understand their community dynamics.

Selected through an open and competitive process, these grants specifically support religious and traditional peacemakers using local methods to foster peace and resolve conflicts. This initiative is in line with the global acknowledgement of traditional peacebuilding approaches, as highlighted in the UN Plan of Action.

From July to October 2024, four small grants were awarded to the following grantees: Youth for Peace International, India; Beydaar Society X Brhythm Creatives, Pakistan; Myanmar Youth Foundation; and Digital4Peace Foundation, Thailand. Goals of the Small Grants 1.

Enhance community-level engagement through confidence-building, inter-and intra-faith dialogue, capacity building, and training, while also increasing youth and female participation in peacebuilding and mediation at the grassroots level. 2. Support traditional and local peacebuilding methods, promoting sustainable national and regional dialogue platforms.

3. Advocate for and amplify the roles of religious and traditional peacemakers, including women and youth, in peacebuilding and conflict resolution, while strengthening locally led initiatives by connecting grassroots peacemakers with national and international stakeholders.

Having completed over ten in-person training sessions, a youth fellowship, multiple online campaigns, and events with local and national stakeholders, these grants significantly enhanced community-level engagement. The initiatives fostered robust networks that were responsive to the unique contexts of India, Pakistan, Myanmar, and Thailand, with grantees adopting localized strategies to address specific challenges.

Religious and traditional actors were prominently featured in the plannig process to ensure local peacebuilding methods remained central to promoting peace and harmony. Except in Myanmar, where active advocacy is limited, all grants launched coordinated digital campaigns to disseminate tools and results, with Thailand utilizing local news outlets for a broader reach.

Learn more about the projects Youth for Peace International, India Youth for Peace International (YfPI) focused on expanding peace education across India, aiming to empower communities in Manipur suffering from ethnic tensions. By creating 10 e-learning modules in Hindi and English, YfPI reached over 400 individuals and organized a Digital Peace Campaign engaging thousands of youths.

Their on-ground efforts included training 81 young leaders in Manipur, despite challenges like floods, and conducting community-based dialogues across ethnicities. YfPI’s activities spotlighted the importance of inter-faith peacebuilding, especially for young, indigenous, and marginalized communities. Visit the grant project page.

Beydaar Society X Bryhthm Creatives, Pakistan Beydaar Society, conducted a Youth Fellowship Programme, bridging gaps between young religious and civil society leaders. The initiative, held amidst security and regulatory challenges, trained 24 young participants from diverse religious backgrounds in non-violent communication and collaborative peacebuilding.

Post-fellowship, participants actively engaged in training in their communities, promoting interfaith harmony and understanding. Complementing the fellowship, Beydaar’ s sister organization, Brhythm Creatives’, launched digital campaigns to widen the initiative’s reach, emphasizing the common goals of religious tolerance and peace. Visit the grant project page.

Myanmar Youth Foundation (MYF) for SDGs MYF integrated mental health and psychosocial support into faith-based dialogue training in Myanmar. Responding to ongoing internal conflicts and mental health crises, MYF conducted comprehensive Training of Trainers and MHPSS sessions for religious, traditional, and community leaders.

These programs empowered participants to develop concrete interfaith dialogue action plans and support mental health resilience, particularly among marginalized groups in their communities. MYF’s network extends support to over 400 individuals, underlining the role of religious leaders in trauma-affected communities in Myanmar. Visit the grant project page.

Digital4Peace Foundation, Thailand Digital4Peace Foundation’s Cultivating Peace Project leveraged media and technology to empower youth in Thailand’s conflict-affected south. Through interfaith dialogue events and media literacy training, the initiative engaged 55 youths and featured collaboration among key religious and civil society stakeholders. Media coverage amplified the project’s impact, fostering interfaith understanding.

Youth-led initiatives inspired by the project focused on volunteer work, storytelling through short films, and interfaith exchanges, illustrating young people’s dedication to societal harmony. Visit the grant project page. Download the pdf attachment Follow the Peacemakers Network on social