The Regional Centre for Strategic Studies (RCSS), Colombo, as Regional Initiator for the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict – South Asia (GPPACSA), collaborated with partner organizations around South Asia to observe the UN International Day of Peace on September 21, 2008.
The occasion was the first that RCSS developed a campaign to mark the International Peace Day across the region. Recognizing the impact that the media can create on the public to change opinions on conflict related issues, to make drastic changes in society, RCSS ventured into the area of Conflict Sensitive Journalism. Working through its partners in the region RCSS conducted Workshops on this subject, the focus being to bring about a shift in the opinion of the media on responsible reporting of conflict. The Workshops emphasized that it is a re-iteration of the principles of professional reporting that creates space for many to voice their opinions and give a voice to the voiceless.
In Bangladesh, RCSS collaborated with the Bangladesh Institute for International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) to organize a seminar on the Role of Media in the Culture of Peace and Tolerance on 18 September 2008, in Dhaka.
In India,RCSS joined with the Centre for Culture, Media & Governance (CCMG), Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi and the Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution (MNCPCR), to organize a Workshop on “Communicating Peace” on 4 September, 2008, in New Delhi.
In Nepal, DidiBahini, in collaboration with the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at Tribhuvan University, held a Conflict Sensitive Journalism Workshop on 7 September, 2008 in Kathmandu.
In Pakistan, RCSS coordinated with the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) to organize a workshop on Conflict Sensitive Journalism on September 01st, 2008, in Islamabad.
In Sri Lanka, Young Asia Television (YATV) produced and launched a music video to commemorate the Day on the 21 st September 2008.
