Grants and Contributions

Creative Export Canada - Export Ready Stream

This project aims to produce and implement new episodes of Isla Maganda, a customized educational entertainment program for the Philippines. The educational program uses cartoons to teach children peace education and social-emotional learning. It seeks to instill positive values in kindergarten to grade three students during their most formative years of development by promoting foundational elements for peace, such as the rule of law, gender equality, non-violence, empathy, and critical thinking. Through the delivery of gender-sensitive peace education, the project aims to improve the well-being of children in conflict-affected regions. Project activities include: (1) launching an online campaign on the existing 20 Isla Maganda episodes to generate awareness and interest; (2) developing and producing 20 new Isla Maganda episodes and accompanying lesson plans; (3) providing training to school heads, education supervisors, and teachers on the curriculum; (4) distributing student activity books, teacher guides, companion storybooks, and USBs with animated episodes to school divisions; and (5) implementing the curriculum for in-class students. This project expects to target 44,000 children (50% girls) and 5,500 school heads, education supervisors, and teachers across the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and the adjacent Lanao del Norte region.

The project aims to promote peace and stability in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) while promoting learning continuity during COVID-19. Aligned with the Government of the Philippines’ pandemic response and peacebuilding objectives, the project will implement a civic and peace education program that teaches social cohesion and inclusion through a multi-platform delivery of the curriculum.

Project activities will include using cartoons and interactive discussions to teach 9 to 11 year olds life skills and civic values. Animated episodes and lesson plans will be translated into local dialects and formatted for both in-class and distance learning. Social messages on gender equality, and non-violence, among others, will be conveyed through comic books and posters, customized radio theatre, and TV broadcast. Additionally, teachers and parents/caregivers will be trained on pedagogies that promote peace, human rights, and gender equality.

The project will benefit 50,000 children, including 30,000 girls, in 100 schools in the BARMM. It will also reach 1,500 teachers (1,000 women) and 5,000 parents/caregivers (3,000 women) through training.

To the Government of the Philippines, and with the full support of the Department of Education (DepEd), the 1001 Nights Program is seen as a powerful tool to prevent violent extremism, build social cohesion, gender equality, and to create a more progressive society in the short- and long-term. The program is also directly aligned with the objectives of the National Commission to Counter Violent Extremism, which outlines the need to implement Peace Education curricula and build capacity to counter extremism.

Within the context of the Counterterrorism Capacity Building Program (CTCBP), the program directly aligns with the following objectives: (1) making youth more resilient to extremist narratives; (2) providing the DepEd with a powerful and effective program that can be scaled for PVE (directly responding to the National Commission on CT’s Peace Education priorities); (3) providing teachers and the DepEd with increased capacity to teach and inculcate values that have a proven track record of reducing vulnerability; and (4) providing the DepEd with Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) instruments that will be used during the program, and can be used thereafter, to identify communities and schools that have high degrees of vulnerability.

This contribution supports the creaton of educational multimedia products to raise the awareness of visitors, mainly children, about protecting the Southern Resident Killer Whales found along the coast of British Columbia.