The Community Consultations, now known as Peace Fora is an initiative of the forumZFD in partnership with the Kutawato Multimedia Network (KuMuNet). The main idea is to provide a safe space for key and high-level actors and sectoral representatives of local and grassroots communities to come together in an educational discussion on issues related to the Bangsamoro peace process and other social issues.
Invited into these platforms are representatives from the government and the MILF, as well as the different community sectors such as, but not limited to, local CSOs, academe, faith-based institutions, women, youth, security sector, local government units, among others. This is a vertical or simultaneously top-down and bottom-up approach that ensures direct exchange of information to gather key sentiments and concerns from the local communities and bring these into the higher-level discussions and decision-making processes.
The peace fora also aim to facilitate a nuanced discussion on specific and time-bound topics where misinformation is countered, and communication flow is improved through transparent and accountable processes between different stakeholders. This is mainly done by ensuring that local communities can actively participate and voice their opinions on the one hand, and that key actors ensure to bring about systemic, institutional and social changes by bringing these community positions into their discussions and decision-making endeavors on the other.