We are excited to share that our digital activism toolkit is now available in , thanks to the thoughtful work of . A heartfelt shout-out to Aya and Marissa, who not only translated with precision, but also infused the work with creativity, care, and solidarity. We are also deeply grateful to Professor Amalinda Savirani, our trusted “rhizomatic network” broker, whose support and connection made this collaboration possible.

This toolkit is adapted from a larger handbook on digital activism that Merlyna Lim and Kathy Dobson are currently co-authoring at ALiGN. The handbook brings together twelve real-world case studies, each paired with practical tools for organizers and educators, and offers critical insights into how digital media both empowers and constrains today’s social movements. Though the handbook is still in progress, we feel it is urgent to share parts of it now—especially the toolkit—to support civic resistance in Indonesia and beyond.

At ALiGN Media Lab, we stand in solidarity with students and activists in Indonesia and all across the globe who continue to resist injustice and inequality with courage and creativity.

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A group of ALiGN’s international partners, including members from non-profit organizations and the academic sector, came together in October for a virtual brainstorming session to discuss refugees’ media and communication practices in the times of COVID-19. Organized by  Dr. Ghadah Alrasheed, Interim co-Director of the ALiGN Media Lab, in collaboration with Dr. Oroub El-Abed, the principal investigator for the in Jordan, the brainstorming session brought together academic researchers and media and civil society actors to highlight key needs and areas pertinent to the impact of media and communication practices on refugees’ pandemic preparedness and the situation of information/misinformation among refugees during COVID-19. The main objective of the meeting was to provide a channel for civil society members to be heard by academic researchers and attune academics to community members’ concerns and priorities.

Among the participants was in Lebanon, an independent media organization, whose one of main concerns is combating disinformation and create effective information exchange between public health agencies and vulnerable communities affected by COVID-19 in Lebanon. which provides care for refugees and disadvantaged communities in Jordan, also joined the meeting and highlighted their need for various communication media to reach vulnerable and rural communities with no online access or enough finance to afford internet connectivity,

The ALiGN Media Lab, who also has a partnership with LERRN, ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´â€™s Local Engagement Refugee Research Network, is planning to continue these conversations and collaborations and working collectively with their local and international partners to discuss and facilitate research on communication and media needs of the most precarious populations during most urgent times such as we are living now.

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Research on the reveals that less than a quarter of all news articles on migration or refugee issues mention a refugee or migrant, and far fewer directly quote them. Kathy Dobson and Ghadah Alrasheed, Interim co-Directors of ALiGN Media Lab, became more aware of this issue after they visited Nairobi last year and met with groups of refugees and saw how far they were far from the stereotype of “helpless victims” propagated by media. The refugees who Ghadah and Kathy met were an impressive group of people, very active in their communities and generously contributing to their host community. That is the reason the ALiGN Media Lab will be hosting a workshop this week as part of a series on media training. The workshop,“Storytelling with Impact”, will bring together a group of refugees from Kakuma Camp in Kenya to discuss how to pitch and amplify their voices, experiences and complelling stories to mainstream media. The workshop will also include training on how to share these stories across multiple digital forms. The participants from  Kakuma Camp are from different parts of the world, including Somalia, Burundi, and Congo. Through this collaboration, Ghadah and Kathy hope to share practical media strategies with the refugees to amplify their voices, gain a deeper understanding of what makes stories stand out, and thus deepen the coverage of their important issues.

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ALiGN is proud to announce that, thanks to its partnership with LERRN: the Local Engagement Refugee Research Network at ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ University, two of our writers and researchers, Kathy Dobson and Ghadah Alrasheed, have been invited to participate in the annual The training, entitled, The Meaning of Asylum in Transient Contexts of East and Horn of Africa, means a unique opportunity for Kathy and Ghadah to hear first hand from some of the people working to affect change for refugees in local, national and global context in order to influence research, policy, and practice to advance the well-being of refugees. Working with partners in Canada, Lebanon, Kenya, Jordan and Tanzania, the research team with LERRN will be studying ways to implement global refugee policy, identity those factors that can impact implementation, and identify how civil society can contribute to improved outcomes for refugees.

Kathy and Ghadah are thrilled to be part of this project, which will uniquely bring together the expertise of both LERRN and ALIGN, offering them the opportunity to observe and learn directly from refugee communities and from people working in the largest refugee camps in the world.  They’re grateful to have been invited by Dr. Milner and to join the training.

“It will be a humbling opportunity to learn how to “listen” to refugee voices and how to amplify these voices and make them more heard locally and globally,” says Ghadah. Adding that this is an important initiative, “and very much needed, considering the currently often misshaped and misleading political and public debates surrounding refugees and forced migration.”

Kathy couldn’t agree more. â€śI know we’re going to learn so much and I’m really looking forward to meeting everyone at the Kenya School of Government. Thanks to Dr. Merlyna Lim, director of ALiGN, and Dr. James Milner with LERRN, we have this really incredibly exciting opportunity. It’s one thing to hear or read about some of the issues refugees are facing and trying to deal with, and quite another to witness it first hand, from those directly involved and affected.”

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Last August, ALiGN participated in , hosted by , , , and . The event took place from August 16th to 18th, with two days of field-visits and a full-day workshop on the future of agroecology in Canada. In the workshop, farmers, researchers, community organizers, and students gathered “to discuss how to bring this international movement to Canada. Come hear from speakers from around the world, including from La Via Campesina and USC Canada, and across the country, including the National Farmers Union and Indigenous voices, and work together to build an agroecological movement here at home.”

Thanks to Dr. Irena Knezevic, an expert and one of the key scholars in food studies and food communication who kindly invited ALiGN to collaborate, ALiGN researchers Hailey Ren and Farah Ibrahim enjoyed a rare opportunity to be directly involved in this exciting AgroEcology event. With a great collaboration of two food activists/farmers, Lise-Anne LĂ©veillĂ© () and Byron Beardy (), the fantastic guidance of  and and advice and support from Merlyna Lim and Randy Bowler, Hailey and Farah produced three great videos from the event. These videos well captured the spirit of the workshop and the vision of agroecology!

Enjoy!

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