The Voluntary Agency Network of Korea (VANK) will officially launch Weform, an international policy proposal and communication platform, on August 15, 2025, coinciding with Korea’s Liberation Day (Gwangbokjeol). Weform is a comprehensive overhaul of the international petition site Bridge Asia, which has been in operation since 2021.
Building on the experience of domestic participatory governance platforms Woollim and Yeollim, Weform expands this model to the international community. It is designed as a new online civic diplomacy platform where anyone can propose opinions on global issues, engage in collective citizen discussions that develop into policy proposals, and ultimately see those proposals potentially reflected in international organizations or government policies.
Ahead of Weform’s official launch, VANK will conduct a global pre-launch campaign from July 10 to August 7, 2025. Each week, one international agenda will be announced on VANK’s Instagram (@vank_prkorea), inviting citizens worldwide to submit their opinions via Google Forms. This five-part campaign aims to familiarize users with Weform’s functions and gather diverse perspectives.
The second campaign topic is: “How can we change deep-rooted prejudices about Africa?” Despite Africa’s vast diversity of 54 countries with unique cultures and histories, major encyclopedias, dictionaries, and textbooks continue to portray Africa with negative stereotypes such as “poverty,” “hunger,” and “conflict,” often lumping the entire continent into a single “problematic” image.
This campaign is designed to encourage reflection on these long-standing prejudices and to shift public perception toward recognizing Africa as an independent and equal partner in cooperation. Through Weform, VANK hopes global citizens will break free from fixed stereotypes and develop a nuanced understanding, fostering international solidarity beyond racial and regional boundaries.
Since March 2025, VANK has partnered with Yonhap News Agency to launch the “Promote Africa Correctly Project,” carrying out multifaceted activities to improve perceptions of Africa. Domestically, VANK analyzed social studies textbooks used in Korean elementary to high schools, identifying portrayals of Africa largely limited to aid recipients or poverty, and requested revisions from the Ministry of Education. Concurrently, VANK examined 20 major global encyclopedias and dictionaries, finding most describe Africa using uniform negative stereotypes and have been urging publishers to make corrections.
Additionally, VANK has recruited Global Ubuntu Ambassadors to promote accurate awareness of Africa and has conducted content-based campaigns including the Ubuntu Column, publication of Africa-centered maps, social media reels campaigns titled “How Much Do You Know About Africa?”, and efforts to rename African swine fever. VANK has also launched a dedicated Ubuntu website providing public access to diverse information and resources about Africa.
Park Ki-tae, director of VANK, emphasized: “We must see Africa not as a continent in need of charity and aid but as a partner with whom we can design a shared future. When a single citizen raises an issue and proposes a solution, it can evolve into a global public discourse and eventually lead to policy changes. Weform is the platform that makes this connection real.” He added, “Through this campaign, we hope citizens in Korea and around the world will reflect on their preconceived notions about Africa and propose new perspectives for partnership.”
Co-planners of the campaign, young researchers Jeong In-sung and Park Ji-eun, stated, “We did not want to stop at merely pointing out fixed images about Africa. We aimed to empower citizens to become active agents in changing those perceptions.” They expressed hopes that people from diverse backgrounds would engage in richer discussions by viewing Africa through various lenses.
They further noted, “Many portrayals of Africa that we took for granted are steeped in colonial-era biases. We hope this Weform campaign encourages citizens to question unconscious prejudices and join small acts of change.”
The campaign follows the first pre-launch campaign on July 10, which focused on independence activist Ahn Jung-geun’s Theory of Oriental Peace. Remaining campaigns will address:
- July 24, 2025: Responsible and safe development of the Arctic route
- July 31, 2025: The need for changes in the G7 and the potential impact of Korea’s membership
- August 7, 2025: New international cooperative bodies Korea could lead
All campaigns are accessible via VANK’s official Instagram (@vank_prkorea), and anyone can easily participate by submitting opinions through Google Forms.
VANK aims to open a new era of global governance through Weform, where citizens actively shape international agendas and become partners in solving world problems.