INITIATE.MY

2nd National Action Plan Women Peace Security Academy Workshop
2025-04-09 00:00 - 2025-04-11 23:59 (Asia/Shanghai)
Jakarta, Indonesia, 9-11 April 2025 – The ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (ASEAN-IPR) and UN Women Indonesia jointly organised the 2nd National Action Plan (NAP) Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Academy Workshop, themed “Strengthening the Implementation and ASEAN Regional Plan of Action on WPS at the National Level.” The Governments of Canada, the Republic of Korea, and the United Kingdom supported the workshop.

This is part of the ASEAN-wide initiative in empowering women for sustainable peace, prevention of violence, and promoting social cohesion in ASEAN. It brought together government focal points and civil society representatives from Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam, with approximately six participants from each country.

Over three days, the workshop facilitated capacity-building, peer learning, and strategic dialogue aimed at improving the development and implementation of national-level WPS, while also aligning these efforts with the ASEAN-level WPS.

Eow Shiang Yen, Communications Officer of INITIATE.MY participated in this workshop with Malaysian delegates representing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, Malaysian Armed Forces, and Sisters in Islam (SIS) or known as SIS Forum.

Throughout the sessions, participants:

enhanced their skills and institutional capacities to design, monitor, and evaluate NAPs more effectively.

exchanged good practices and lessons learned from their respective national contexts and explored the use of ASEAN’s WPS Localisation Toolkit and Guidelines as a means to adapt regional goals to local realities.

discussed ways to strengthen coordination mechanisms, promote institutional accountability, and ensure that civil society organisations play a central role in national and local WPS implementation.

discussed lessons learned from over two decades of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, and strategies for integrating emerging challenges such as climate change, cybersecurity, and violent extremism into the WPS framework.

The workshop highlighted the need to localise WPS commitments by adapting them to specific political, cultural, and institutional contexts within each ASEAN Member State. Localisation is not a mere administrative task but a transformative process that enhances legitimacy, relevance, and impact on the ground. There was a sharing session on case studies in Indonesia, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, Thailand, and Cambodia, highlighting inclusive coordination models and the value of grassroots engagement in advancing gender-responsive peacebuilding.

Notably, the workshop coincided with Malaysia’s forthcoming milestone, as the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development moves toward the official launch of the country’s first National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security in September 2025. INITIATE.MY views this development as an opportunity to fully translate Malaysia’s commitment to the regional WPS framework into the national WPS.

Participants of the 2nd NAP-WPS Academy Workshop in Jakarta, Indonesia representing ASEAN Member States, civil society, and international partners gathered to strengthen regional collaboration and localisation of the WPS agenda.

Future Action Summit 2025
2025-04-25 00:00 - 2025-04-28 23:59
Kuala Lumpur, 25–28 April 2025 – Future Action Summit (FAS) 2025 brought together over 120 passionate youth from around the world in Kuala Lumpur. Echo Change led the event in partnership with the Initiative to Promote Tolerance and Prevent Violence (INITIATE.MY) and Kenan Foundation Asia. Over four days, young leaders collaborated, exchanged bold ideas, and built actionable solutions to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The summit featured interactive workshops, panel discussions, cultural showcases, and networking sessions. Participants tackled pressing global issues—such as youth empowerment, peace and security (SDG 16), and climate leadership—and explored strategies to overcome resource limitations and systemic inequality. Their contributions generated momentum toward the 2030 SDG agenda.

INITIATE.MY actively shaped the summit’s impact. Representing the organisation, Hisham Muhaimi led two key sessions. In a fireside chat with Paula Porras and Sahlim Charles, he explored how youth can drive SDG 16 through peacebuilding and institutional reform. In a panel with Philip Gassert and Elisa Shafiqah, he examined practical strategies, shared lessons learned, and proposed solutions to fast-track SDG progress. These sessions connected youth perspectives with expert insights and reaffirmed INITIATE.MY’s commitment to SDG 4.7 (Education for Sustainable Development), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), and SDG 16.

FAS 2025 activated the Quadruple Helix model by bringing together youth, government, academia, civil society, and the private sector. The summit catalysed new SDG initiatives and strengthened global networks. INITIATE.MY helped drive this momentum by facilitating partnerships and co-creating innovative responses to global challenges.

Through education, advocacy, and collaboration, INITIATE.MY continues to lead efforts that advance sustainable development goals. The organisation remains committed to building a more inclusive, just, and resilient future by 2030.

Over 130 global youth participants united at FAS 2025 in Kuala Lumpur, led by Echo Change with INITIATE.MY and Kenan Foundation.

Workshop on Empowering Communities in Asia to Use ALDOUS Generative AI for PCVE
2025-04-25 09:00 - 17:00
Kuala Lumpur, 25 April 2025 – INITIATE.MY participated in the Generative AI for Counter-Terrorism Workshop focused on the theme “Empowering Communities in Asia to Use ALDOUS Generative AI for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (PCVE).”

The workshop, hosted by Mythos Labs and Meta with Southeast Asian Regional Centre for Counter-Terrorism (SEARCCT) as the strategic partner, aimed to equip law enforcement and civil society practitioners with the knowledge and tools to utilise ALDOUS, an advanced AI-powered solution, to support counter-terrorism efforts.

Participants from Asia Pacific gathered to explore how generative AI and large language models (LLMs) can enhance the fight against terrorism and violent extremism. The workshop provided a platform for sharing strategies and practical applications of AI in counterterrorism work.

The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Malaysia, H.E. Datuk Mohamad Bin Alamin, officiated the event. Datin Paduka Nur Ashikin Mohd Taib, Director of the Southeast Asia Regional Centre for Counter-Terrorism (SEARCCT) delivered a keynote speech and shared valuable insights on the growing role of AI in addressing violent extremism.

Mythos Labs introduced Aldous as a tool that enables practitioners to detect threats earlier, combat radicalisation at scale, and improve response readiness. The team also showcased two specialised chatbots powered by Aldous:

Alethia, which supports deradicalisation and rehabilitation by engaging with radicalised individuals and former terrorist fighters (FTFs) to help reintegrate them into society.

Protheus, which simulates conversations with radicalised individuals to test counter-narratives and train officers in effective engagement techniques.

INITIATE.MY is further keen to learn and contribute on how these AI tools can be adapted to regional and local contexts to support the implementation of the Malaysian Action Plan on Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (MyPCVE). By participating in this workshop, it complements INITIATE.MY’s capacity in integrating AI into community-based counterterrorism efforts.

INITIATE.MY team participated in the AI for Counter-Terrorism Workshop, hosted by Mythos Labs and Meta, exploring the use of ALDOUS generative AI to support P/CVE efforts across Asia-Pacific.

INITIATE.MY’s Self-Care and Well-Being Session
2025-04-30 09:00 - 16:00
Kuala Lumpur, 30 April 2025 – INITIATE.MY organised a Self-Care and Well-Being Session facilitated by a clinical psychologist Dr. Vizla Kumaresan as part of the organisation’s ongoing commitment to its team’s mental health and well-being with a backdrop of challenging advocacy and research environments.

Dr. Vizla guided participants through discussions and exercises on managing stress and burnout, achieving work-life balance, setting personal boundaries, and using coping strategies for anxiety and depression. She also introduced self-care practices and mindfulness techniques. Participants gained practical tools to strengthen emotional resilience and manage the pressures of their advocacy and research work more sustainably. INITIATE.MY also provided mental health guides, videos, and mindfulness tools to support participants beyond the session.

Dr. Vizla addressed the often-overlooked psychological toll of working on emotionally intense topics. She explained how such work can trigger physical and emotional reactions and offered healthy ways to respond. She also covered how to engage with distressing data, navigate sensitive topics, involve men in mental health conversations, and maintain well-being while confronting personal biases—especially when researching far-right

This session marked a major step forward in normalising mental health conversations within the organisation. It reinforced the organisation’s commitment to creating psychologically safe workspaces as part of its 2025 professional development roadmap.

INITIATE.MY team came together to prioritise mental health and self-care.
