Last week Yusra Salim at UNDP-Sudan reported back on the rough cut screening of PEACE IN OUR POCKETS at their first ever Social Good Summit. I appreciated Yusra and her colleague Margunn for reaching out to me and arranging for a screening during this busy peacebuilding conference.
A focus of the Social Good Summit was the Technology Challenge. Yusra wrote that over one million voters participated in the event to select the three top winners of the challenge which took place in tandem with other Social Good Summit meet ups around the world which focused on how new technology and new media can create solutions for the problems that our communities face.
As we get closer to finishing the film and make plans to share the film, we especially appreciated the time given to post-screening discussion and sharing. Yusra wrote:
The screening generated a lot of discussions vis-à-vis the Kenyan experience and the possibilities of replicating the experience here in Sudan. The audience – who were primarily Sudanese youth – also reviewed the challenges that could hinder the success of such an initiative here in Sudan but underscored the importance of building awareness through the use of technology to harness peace especially in remote, tangential areas. The screening really added to the success of the event. It presented the audience with a much needed international perspective on how new technology was used to bring about peace during conflict; a success story which was indeed worth documenting and sharing.
Thanks again to Yusra, Marguun and UNDP-Sudan for the opportunity to share our work-in-progress with youth leaders in Sudan.