AudiencScapes

By Paromita Pain

21 June 2010

Blogging is not a new phenomenon on the internet, but its use as a development tool has taken on a higher profile in the past few years. Many development initiatives worldwide train people to use multimedia blogs in useful and constructive ways. Forgotten Diaries is an online initiative set up by Youth Action for Change (YAC) to provide an outlet and sounding board for young people living in forgotten and/or underreported conflict zones in various parts of the globe.

This virtual project is registered as a nonprofit in Italy and is mostly an online presence, with young bloggers writing in and posting material from various parts of the globe-the Caucasus, East Timor, the Horn of Africa, India, Pakistan, Nigeria and the Niger Delta, Serbia and Kosovo, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Kurdistan, and Uganda. Forgotten Diaries was set up in mid-2008 by YAC Founder Selene Biffi, building on that organization's goal of empowering young people in over 130 countries to become active agents of change in their own communities.

Not Just Any Conflict

Biffi said the choice of conflict areas to include in the project had some scientific basis. “We specifically looked for data such as the number of years a conflict had been going on for, the reasons behind it, the current media coverage of each conflict and, yes, the death toll too. Based on this data, we created a long list of the conflicts we intended to cover," she said.

The next step, she said, was to send out open calls through social networks, mailing lists and their organizations for participants. "Not all the conflicts listed had young people wanting to get involved, so we got down to those conflicts where we had received the most expressions of interests. We made sure we had a good gender balance as well as people who would represent the different sides (ethnic groups, faiths, cultures),” Biffi explained.

Participants keep their own 'digital diaries'-blogs that allow them to talk about themselves and their countries, upload pictures and videos, and ultimately, engage in intercultural dialogue among themselves and the audience.

The project recruited young people who agreed to spend a year blogging about their daily lives and the conflict situation in which they lived, expressing themselves in a transparent and respectful manner. That said, Selene said they were also interested in finding youth "who were keen on reaching out and empowering their peers and communities."

Forgotten Diaries offers a free online training, "New Media and Communications", to give all participants an introduction to basic skills in journalism and technology and help them make their stories, interviews and blogs more compelling and realistic. “The training also has the participation of experts from the Pulitzer Centre, who teach the importance of ethics, among other things,” said Biffi.

The end-result is a glimpse into the impact of conflict on those who live through it, particularly among young people. “We know exactly what is happening at the ground level. No one asks us. For me Forgotten Diaries is a way to talk about a reality that people might not usually see,” says Atta Ur Rehman, a participant in Pakistan.

Email selene@youthactionforchange.org for more information about Forgotten Diaries.

Paromita Pain is a senior reporter for Young World (India)

Other Field Blog Posts by Paromita:
Young Indian Women Ride WAVE to Free Expression
India's Newspapers Provide Outlets for Young Voices