Finland seeks young ambassadors to promote peace in Iraq and Afghanistan

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has commissioned Måndag, a Finnish creative agency specialized in social impact, to carry out the project. Currently candidates are being recruited to work as young peace ambassadors on social media channels. Local youth organisations from both countries will be involved in the projects, informed the Ministry on a press release.

“The project is called Salam because the word works in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Depending on the context, ‘salam’ can mean peace or salutation,” says Mustafa Abdulameer from Måndag.

According to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the project opens up opportunities for youth to meet other young people with an interest in exerting influence in society. The purpose of the project is to offer information about peace building, conflict resolution and exercise of influence through various media.

“In Iraq, the social media plays an enormous role in that it both stimulates polarization and contributes to constructive discussions. One of the objectives of Salam is to defuse these confrontations. Our local partner in Iraq has worked long to fight fake news and to promote peace work,” Abdulameer says.

The recruitment process

During the recruitment process, we try to find young men and women from different backgrounds and with varied experiences in life.  We hope that in this way we will find ways to foster peace and equality, suitable for individual situations. We have a common goal: to create an environment where discussions and words build peace. 

“Afghanistan is rich in ethnic diversity which is why we have good opportunities for finding young people from various backgrounds for the project. We want to find a heterogeneous group of young men and women representing different parts of the country, who have an interest in various encounters and peace work,” says Shakiba Adil, Producer at Måndag.