In the Middle East, where an above average proportion of the population is under the age of 30, mobile phones play a significant role in communication. In order to make knowledge about non-violent conflict transformation more easily accessible in Lebanon and other Arabic speaking contexts, forumZFD's Lebanon office together with forumZFD's headquarter in Cologne have developed an app on conflict transformation called Transform-ME. The app makes available learning materials from forumZFD's online self-learning platform.
The app targets users who have some prior knowledge of non-violent conflict transformation but would like to gain a deeper understanding of concepts and methods used in the field. Based on existing online seminars of forumZFD's Academy for Conflict Transformation, the methods and tools were translated into Arabic and the design was adapted to the local context. The app includes learning modules on a variety of participatory methods of non-violent communication, conflict analysis, project planning and monitoring. The name of the app "Transform-ME" refers both to transforming oneself as well as transforming the Middle East.
Prior to developing the Transform-ME app, interviews with potential users about what features they would find useful were conducted. In addition, two workshops were held to receive input and feedback on the app from representatives of local and international organisations working on conflict transformation in Lebanon. The development of the app was supported by the Robert Bosch Stiftung.
“Given the wide use of mobile phones in Lebanon and in other countries of the region, it seemed important to us to make the material more accessible to mobile phone users. This will also facilitate the capacity building we offer for Lebanese NGOs”, says Shadi Sakhnini, former project manager at forumZFD Lebanon. “At the same time, we hope that people in other Arabic speaking countries will use our app and apply methods of non-violent conflict transformation more widely.”
The app is free of charge and available for iOS and Android.
To find out more about this project please find the forumZFD one pager here!