The month of February commenced with the continuation of one of the sessions in the 3rd module of the training by Mr. Jan Sunoo and Mr. Stephen Kessler of the ADR/International Programms, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service USA. Their session focused on cross cultural conflict resolution and the use of other conflict resolution tools such as techniques for third party intervention as well as different approaches for problems solving and intervention. This session is quite necessary for me, as I was exposed to the techniques necessary to handle multidimensional conflicts cases like the one from where I come which is often seen from different cultural perspectives. To do this, certain issues need to be viewed from different cultural perspectives in order for one to give a balance assessment or judgments and this is what is required for effective third party mediation. The field study which took us to the far northeastern Thailand, bordering Thailand with Cambodia and Laos Republic lasted for six days (6th -11th February, 2011) and it was an opportunity to be exposed to various conflicts cases including community, resources and identity related issues. It was a great time hearing from different actors the nature of their conflicts and how they were able to handle it (refer to Appendix for a more detail field study report). The use of appreciative Inquiry (AI), is a strategy for meaningful change which is a participatory approach that seeks to find the strengths and passion within every system as well as the open space technology facilitation were tools we were exposed to by Jost Wagner from the Facilitators Forum Thailand.
Another major tool we were exposed to was the use of media in conflict situations, and conflict resolution films as tools for peace building; this time around it was presented by The Chair, Fine Arts Department, Co-Director, Film studies program at Boston College, John Michalczyk and Instructor in Conflict Resolution, Department of Theology, Boston College, Ray Helmick. The session extensively dwell on various ways the media can be used in conflict situations involving, interviewing, press releases techniques using selective languages that cannot escalate the conflicts and the use of appropriate medium to address different conflict situations. It was another opportunity for fellows to watch various documentary films produced by the two guest lecturers which are aimed at promoting peace process in Northern Ireland, Peru, Middle East, Kosovo, South Africa and Kenya. This resulted in open discussions on the technicalities involved in producing the films.
We were also trained by the Deputy Chief of Party, International Relief and Development, Indonesia, Mr Bobby Anderson on Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) which is used as a very significant tool needed in post conflict places where many types of ammunition are usually used during the conflicts. The DDR therefore comes in as a strategy needed to help in withdrawing the ammunitions, rebuilding and rehabilitation processes of affected communities. The session is an opportunity of learning what is expected in rehabilitation process in places that are involved in conflicts.
A one day comprehensive lecture was delivered to us on security sector reforms (SSR) and Responsibility to Protect (R2P) by Dr Norbert Ropers of the Peace Research Institute and University of Frankfurt am Main, Berghof Foundations for Conflict Studies and Peace Support Berlin. In this session, the theory, trends and critical issues in civilian control of the military was clearly discussed. Other issues discussed were peace building in post-war situations and engaging the non-state armed group (NSAG). These were important tools that will be quite helpful in addressing the security sectors with a view to ensuring conformity with human right issues and will be important for us in addressing related areas in our various areas of conflicts.
To expose fellows to basic skills in promoting non-violent and other harmless approaches by aggrieved parties in different communities, Prof Chaiwat Satha-Anand who is currently the Director of peace information center, Thammasat University & Senior Research Scholar, Thailand Research Fund, delivered an all encompassing lecture on Theories of Nonviolence and Forgiveness. In his lecture, the dynamics of nonviolent action involve changing the opponents behavior by changing his or her heart as well as by shaping and pressuring forces that constitute his/her context. The non violence action (NVA) is achievable by allowing self suffering and avoiding hatred. On forgiveness, he was quick to point out that without the magic of forgiveness, reconciliation would be unbearable for human society. It therefore becomes very important for peace makers to be more active in promoting the prevention of destructive conflicts and one of such ways is by promoting the NVA and forgiveness.
The training continued as it focused on the capacity building on peace studies and conflict resolution, peace education, monitoring & evaluation as well as truth commission and social justice by the Director, Partnerships and Consultations, The Initiative Inclusive Security, Hunt Alternatives Fund, Miki Jacevic. The goal of the session is to develop an understanding of capacity building and related processes, increase the ability to design and conduct trainings, frame goal for peace education and to gain knowledge of key resources in the field. This session was more of an opportunity of ‘train the trainer’ during which we were exposed to techniques in experiential learning, as it is expected that fellows may be involved in facilitating the training of some key actors in an effort to address some conflict cases after the fellowship. During this session fellows were also exposed to translational justice with an objective of establishing a stable foundation for the restoration of the rule of law, foster the atmosphere that is conducive to democratization and human rights, health societal divisions and provide justice and accountability.
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