With the onslaught of the COVID 19 Pandemic, organizations and businesses have moved their operations online and KRIS has not been exempt from this phenomenon. Due to the loss of methods of connecting with their audience face-to-face, KRIS has learned how to adapt to this “new normal” and created new activities for their team to continue promoting peace through education.In line with this, KRIS introduced PEACESCAPES and KALINAW, two webinars designed to focus on different aspects of peace and to introduce ideas and opportunities to the audience of the organization.
PEACESCAPES was created as a response to the Anti-Terror Law (a Bill at the time the webinar was launched) and the reaction that it was garnering from concerned citizens who wished for amendments to problematic sections of the document. The team reached out to different experts to gather viewpoints from the academic, political, and even executive standpoints (represented by a military official in this case) in order to further inform participants on the supposed benefits and drawbacks of the Anti-Terror Law. This webinar was able to reach 410 participants on both its Zoom and Facebook Live platform on the dates it occurred: June 22, July 4, and July 11, 2020.
Pictured above: one of the quotes taken from the PEACESCAPES webinar from Atty. Marlon Manuel, one of the speakers during the event. (Photo by: KRIS)
KALINAW, on the other hand, was fashioned as a dialogue between different youth organizations and youth leaders revolving around their ideas and methods of working towards peace. This webinar platform served as a spark for interested Filipino youth to learn a bit about what the peace-building world looks like at the moment and how they could be a part of it. It was able to garner 43 partnerships with like-minded organisations and over 200 viewers during its run from the 17th to the 19th of September 2020.
KALINAW hoped to serve as inspiration and as a reminder to its viewers to keep faith and continue on with their advocacy despite the difficulties brought by the Coronavirus.
As the effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic continue to plague the country, KRIS believes that its online activities will have to be further developed and will continue for the foreseeable future. Despite losing many opportunities to reach the youth (especially in far-flung areas), the organisation sees itself as lucky and privileged to be able to continue with their projects and meet their audience through an online platform. KRIS will continue to search for methods to keep on connecting with and serving the Filipino youth.