Pakistan

Promotion of Dialogue for Peacebuilding through Media and Youth Mobilization

This new 24 month-long project aims to strengthen the process of peacebuilding in Pakistan by increasing tolerance, inclusiveness and understanding among the country's diverse regional, ethnic and socio-economic groups.

The project will create connections within and across communities, and at multiple levels of society, particularly among youth constituencies. It will also leverage the core strengths and influence of the media, thereby opening doors to a national shift in the way conflict issues are perceived. The project will directly benefit 500 community youth, 30 youth representatives, 125 local leaders and 110 media professionals across Pakistan.

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Promoting Peace in KPK & FATA – Connecting Youth & Policy-Makers through Mediation and Dialogue

Connecting Youth and Policy-makers through Mediation and Dialogue aims to promote the use of mediation and dialogue in KPK and FATA regions to address inter-community tensions and foster reconciliation and peace in the target regions. The project will be implemented with our local partner Paiman Alumni Trust, and is designed to fully support the recommendations of the Post Crisis Needs Assessment (PCNA) for KPK and FATA. Based on PCNA, the project aims to build the skills of youth and the policy makers to play their role in process of peace building in Pakistan by promoting mediation and dialogue in the KPK and FATA regions. The project activities will be implemented over 18 months.

The project will improve dialogue and consultation between youth and policy-makers, to enhance the involvement of youth in addressing local issues through the development of local conflict prevention strategies. Indeed, this project aims to create a positive wave across communities at different levels of society, to generate indigenous analysis on local issues, and to initiate policy dialogue to mark a paradigm shift from violence to tolerance, co-existence and peace-building.

The 300 Youth, 20 Policy Makers, 10 Staff from local implementing partner, 500 community members from KPK and FATA will be benefiting directly from the activities of this project.

The project will also help to strengthen the capacity of Paiman Alumni Trust's staff to train and coach youth and policy-makers. The training and coaching will enable youth and policy makers to utilize their skills for advocating and for greater usage in mediation and dialogue to transform conflicts at the community level.

Promoting Peace in KPK and FATA is implemented with financial support of the European Union.

Strengthening Women Parliamentarians in Pakistan for Effective Government

Women Leadership Initiative (2011- 2013) supported by United States Department of State Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) supports strengthening leadership skills of the current women parliamentarians (at the provincial level) and aspiring women councillors (at the local level). To implement the program SFCG partners with three leading local organizations: PAIMAN Alumni Trust, Insan Foundation Trust and Research Resource and Publication Centre on Women and Media (Uks).

Through transformative trainings on leadership, conflict resolution and advocacy and effective media messaging the project will strengthen women's voices by bolstering engagement in decision making processes at the provincial and local level. Additionally, the media component seeks to shift attitudes toward women's participation in government and create greater awareness of issues effecting women and children. Through this initiative 75 elected women Members of the Provincial Assembly, 80 former and aspiring women councillors/political workers and 30 radio producers/talk will be trained and will actively participate in interactive radio talk shows that will be broadcast across Pakistan. They will have the opportunity to engage with each other at a Summit meeting, at Leadership Forums and at mentoring sessions for mutual support and collaboration.

The Team

Entertaining dramatic shows can be very effective in addressing sensitive issues as they tap into viewers' emotions directly. SFCG will produce a Cricket-based TV and radio soap opera series having 104-episodes with positive social messages that tell the fictionalized stories of youth from different political, ethnic and religious groups playing on the same cricket team. The scripts are penned by a creative team of Pakistanis who reflect the diversity of their country. The metaphor is simple: if cricket players do not cooperate – whatever their background – they will not score runs. A national outreach campaign to capitalize on these soap operas at a grassroots level will be an integral part of the project.

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