A Powerful Movement for Conflict Prevention.
When PeaceTech Lab CEO and Founder Sheldon Himelfarb first used the term “peacetech” nearly a decade ago, he was describing the set of technologies used by citizens to build a powerful, emerging movement: a movement aimed at effective grassroots conflict prevention- made possible by groundbreaking amounts of data for early warning, the ability to mobilize through digital networks, and new private sector resources invested in fragile and emerging countries.
Welcome to Peacetech: The Movement to Use Technology to End Violent Conflict and Extremism
- Fast Company, August 2015
How Tahseen Uses Peacetech.
Tahseen Al-Zrikiny is a journalist from Diwaniyah, Iraq, who participated in the Lab’s first PeaceTech Exchange (PTX). After a 3-day intensive course on how to create multimedia stories using smartphone app StoryMaker, Tahseen went on to apply the skills he gained at PTX Erbil to report on the farmers from his province who struggle with the extinction of their crops. Al-Zrikiny’s story, which was recorded, edited, and published entirely from his mobile phone, won the United Press Unlimited award for the Best Story of 2013 “which would have remained untold without mobile storytelling.”
Low-cost, Easy-to-use, Always Accessible.
To counter challenging conditions in conflict zones, peacetech is known as low-cost, easy-to-use, and highly accessible tools for peacebuilding. But peacetech is not strictly defined by these technological characteristics: peacetech is a movement with a purpose.
peacetech is:
Products and services that help foster relationships between groups, protect people from the effects of violent conflict, disrupt the tactics of violence, or respond to the root causes of conflict.
Tools that foster positive outcomes like enhanced social well-being, sustainable economies, stable governance, rule of law, and safe and secure environments.
And so much more.
“Tech Girls for Change” Build a Peacetech Solution for Violence Against Women.
At PeaceTech Exchange Mumbai, a group of poised teenage “Girls for Change” hailing from the Dharavi slums presented their prototype app designed to help women defend themselves from sexual assault. Called “Women Fight Back,” the girls were able to publish their app to the Google Play Store with guidance from PeaceTech Lab. The “Girls for Change” have been featured by Forbes, Mashable, The Guardian, Al-Jazeera, Business Insider, and TechAsia and serve as inspiration for young girls around the world.
