Inclusive communities
Girl-led acceptance of differences, inclusiveness, and diversity
Community-based IEC Initiatives by Youth and Women’s Organizations is a component of the UN Secretary General Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) project Preventing Hate Speech and Promoting Peaceful Society through Media and Information Literacy.
To achieve the project outcomes, Bridge collaborated with Girl Determined, an organisation that has been working on the empowerment of adolescent girls in Myanmar since 2010. This collaboration allowed us to work with girls and young women from many different disadvantaged backgrounds.
With
UNESCO
Objective
Assist conflict-affected women and young people in promoting tolerance, acceptance of difference, inclusivity, and diversity as as a means to peace and social cohesion.
Demographic
Conflict affected women and young people; their communities
Types of work
Research & Evaluation, Behaviour Change, Storytelling, Design
Themes
Diversity & Inclusion, Youth Empowerment, Gender Equality, Education, Peace
Research
As an initial step, we gathered existing information and materials relevant to the project and conducted a needs assessment involving girls from various region in collaboration with the girls from Girl Determined.
For the second phase, we organised in-person focus group discussions in Hmawbi and online and phone interviews in Kachin. Detailed findings from these informed our approach to the project.
Participants expressed a greater sense of comfort in sharing their thoughts and feelings with friends rather than with their families.
They frequently referenced biographies, self-help books, articles, and stories about powerful role models and their experiences with discrimination: enthusiasm for inspirational role models in various media and literature.
Participants acknowledged that there may have been instances where they treated others unfairly: they were curious about exploring their own biases.
Creative
Recognizing that the two distinct age groups exhibited varying levels of comprehension on diversity and inclusion, we created two sets of IEC materials, each containing messages relevant to its respective age group.
Comic Books
The comics feature diverse characters who serve as role models. We developed two different comic books tailored to the specific needs and interests of each age group.
Each of these comic books contains five short stories that explore various themes, including ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and disability.
Prompt cards
We developed a series of questions designed to help individuals assess their own biases and gain a better understanding of various forms of discrimination.
Each card features a reflective question on the front and some brief guidance on the back. We have created 20 sets of questions and responses for each age group.
These prompt cards can be used individually or in group settings among friends. Our aim is to increase awareness of implicit biases and promote greater self-awareness regarding one's thoughts and actions towards others.
Results
Out of the 253 participants who attended the workshops in two different villages in Hpakant Township, feedback was received from 217 participants through the survey forms.
4.03 / 5
average rating of how well the workshop raised awareness.
4.01 / 5
average rating of how well it deepened understanding.
95.4%
said the workshop helped them not only accept but celebrate differences.
90.8%
pledged to embrace diversity and openly assess their assumptions and biases towards others.
“Engaging in reflection through the use of prompt cards made me recognize the inappropriateness of some of my past actions and prompted me to address and correct them. Additionally, the shared experiences and insights from others during our discussions allowed me to learn from their perspectives.”
- 17 year-old Kachin student
