The Hit Peace Forum held its first training workshop this year. The workshop focused on the role of social media in peace building. It was attended by 13 volunteers, mostly from the Forum’s media team. The workshop was held in the city of Hit on Friday 7 June.

Workshop participants received four hours of training. The workshop first introduced the program and objectives of the workshop, and the concepts and practices of social and traditional media, and the key differences between them. Definitions of conflict and violence, and their stages of development within Hit, were also discussed. The workshop specifically focused on how to use media as a tool to transform conflict and hate speech, and emphasized how to promote peace and social cohesion within the city’s community.

The workshop also considered mechanisms for developing the capabilities and expertise of the Forum’s media team, and improving their ability to deal with this type of media to promote the causes of the Forum in a positive way. Participants discussed the importance of developing and strengthening knowledge and developing the skills and abilities of volunteers to play a prominent role in achieving community peace between the sons and daughters of the city.

The workshop concluded by putting together a diverse work plan for the media team that includes working in a more participatory and effective way to introduce the activities of the Forum on the social networking platforms, while also attracting social media users within the city to engage in solidarity with, and participate in, the Forum’s core causes.

The Hit Peace Forum works in cooperation with the Information Center for Research and Development, within the space of the Iraqi Social Forum, and with the Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative and the Italian organization Un Ponte Per, and with the support of the Swiss Fay Foundation project entitled Youth of Mesopotamia for Democratic Rule and Peaceful Coexistence in Iraq.

Mahmood Abdulbadee

Hit Peace Forum