I AM MINDANAO CAMPAIGN. "I Am Mindanao" campaign holds a series of peace-related activities for mothers in several municipalities of Misamis Oriental and Bukidnon to counter violent extremism and hate speech in Mindanao. Supplied photo.
Putting mothers as the center for a peace campaign, Xavier Ateneo’s “I Am Mindanao” snatched a spot in the top 3 finalist teams during the Fall 2019 term of Facebook’s Global Peer-to-Peer Challenge, besting over 30 campaigns from 25 universities all over the world.
“Our research shows that the family is the first peacebuilding arena,” Marvin Pamisa, part-time instructor of the Development Communication (DevCom) Department and the team’s faculty-adviser shared. “In the Filipino culture, the family is primarily moved by the mother.”
The campaign, one of the two entries of the department in the competition, held a series of peace-related activities for mothers in several municipalities of Misamis Oriental and Bukidnon to counter violent extremism and hate speech in Mindanao.
In an interview, Joshua Delos Reyes, the team leader shared how the activities were designed specifically for mothers. He said: “We believe that mothers hold a very important role in rearing their children to become upright men and women. Thus, our activities were focused on giving tips and insights on how they can embody being a mother for peace.”
“I am Mindanao” joins Masaryk University of Czech Republic and Middle East Technical University of Turkey as top 3 finalists who will fly in an all-expense paid trip to Brussels, Belgium in March 2020, to present their campaign to a panel of senior leaders, policymakers, and guests.
Aside from Pamisa and Delos Reyes, the team members of the campaign for this term are Terenz Martin Gambe, Michael Unsay, Karl Anton Noob, and Nathalie Kate Paler.
Facebook’s Global Peer-to-Peer Challenge is a program that aims to empower people affected by hateful and extremist content on social media by implementing localized, community-based social media campaigns through counterspeech.∎