AHA! Awareness with Human Action seeks to contribute to the response efforts of the COVID-19 pandemic by preventing conflict and building social cohesion in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and broader South Asia. One such mechanism is through regional and in-country town halls to facilitate this peer learning and networking. The theme and focus of the sixth AHA! Townhall meeting was to build capacities and exchange best practices about designing creative online content for peacebuilders. The workshop was facilitated by Melbourne-based proud Bangladeshi, Ms. Farhana Muna who is a social media influencer and a civil and women’s rights advocate. As a comedian, she has utilized everyday experiences and social issues in her content to captivate her followers’ attention. Her witty methods were also presented in the workshop which highlighted the importance of engaging and meaningful content.
The meeting consisted of practical tips on how to make visually attractive content with Canva and how to create video content easily with Inshot. Farhana emphasized the value of narratives in her own content which the participants were able to witness by watching the comedic videos and stories that Farhana had created. The session also focused on the challenges and risks of advocacy work on social media. The participants were reminded not to share any personal details online and report hate speech whenever they encountered it. They were also provided with practical tips on how to use hashtags and what kind of audience to target in order to make the content more inclusive and on the other hand, reach wider audiences.
About the AHA Project
AHA! Awareness with Human Action seeks to contribute to the response efforts of the COVID-19 pandemic by preventing conflict and building social cohesion in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and broader South Asia. Through a collaborative approach, the project will increase outreach for initiatives that promote awareness of COVID-19 and constructive narratives that reduce discrimination, hate speech, and stigmatization against specific communities, primarily targeting religious leaders, and women and youth leaders as community influencers.
The conclusion of the project will result in enhanced capacities of religious and traditional leaders and women and youth leaders to increase awareness on COVID-19 prevention and response that emphasize collaboration by different faiths and communities as well as increased conflict prevention-focused collaborative initiatives at national and regional levels to strengthen inclusive communities beyond COVID-19.