PHILIPPINES

Dakila’s Active Vista Launches ReimagiNation Project to Empower Youth Leaders

Dakila’s Active Vista, in its ongoing mission to empower young leaders within communities, launched the ReimagiNation project this year. The initiative aims to nurture young people as storytellers and change-makers within their localities.

The project included a series of two-day capacity-building workshops held in various cities across the Philippines: Cagayan de Oro (June 29-30), Iloilo (July 13-14), and Bacolod City (July 27-28). A total of 100 youth participants from different organizations attended these sessions. They were introduced to concepts such as heroism, human rights, freedom, truth, and democratic governance, all through a human-centered approach. The goal was to provide the youth with tools to address challenges related to human rights and democracy through hope-based communication and campaign strategies. The project also aimed to encourage public participation in activities that promote human rights and democracy.

The workshops, known as ReimagiNation Lab, kicked off with a pre-training session. During this phase, selected participants were oriented on the entire program and trained to facilitate various activities. The facilitators also reviewed the community mapping developed by the participants as part of their pre-training work.

The main training sessions covered topics such as Youth Organizing for Power, Barriers to Human Rights and Democracy, Campaigning for Human Rights and Democracy, Communications Strategy on Human Rights and Democracy, and the Human Rights and Democracy Hackathon.

Following the ReimagiNation Lab, participants were tasked with designing and implementing campaigns that align with the workshop’s themes. They are expected to coordinate efforts within their youth groups, fostering solidarity, and integrating campaign outputs into Dakila’s ongoing local initiatives. This collaboration will serve as a foundation for future human rights activities in the participants' communities.

The continuation of these campaigns by local organizations is key to ensuring the sustainability of the youth movement. By carrying on these efforts and cultivating strong local networks, Dakila aims to build a more resilient youth movement across the Philippines, beginning with these young leaders in their own communities.

This article is written by Pie Escobar, the Communication Officer for the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom Philippine Office.