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Special Report |
LAST UPDATE July 12, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| August 30, 2003 |
Conflict Reconciliation – Global University |
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| Kai and Denisa Brand-Jacobsen from the Transcend organisation |
Actively working to broker peace in different conflict zones around the world, including Afghanistan, Nepal and the former Yugoslavia, Kai and Denisa Brand-Jacobsen joined Peace Boat's Global University course to explain the Transcend theory of conflict reconciliation.
Building on the knowledge students gained from the previous Transcend workshops on conflict transformation and Peace Journalism, Kai and Denisa first asked the class for their definition of what "reconciliation" meant to them. Answers ranged from justice and accountability, to compensation and apology. |
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| Conflict transformation and reconciliation |
For the chain reaction of violence to be cut, reconciliation must also plan for the future. "People do not go to wars just to end wars," said Alejandro Bendana. Unless the causes of a conflict are addressed, they are going to be repeated. There are no universal "band-aids" for conflict to be transformed, but steps towards peace are not possible without reconciliation.
"Over a trillion dollars a year are spent on weapons," says Kai, adding that all countries have training camps on how to kill, yet few have camps on how to make peace. In an exercise to demonstrate how war culture dominates our society, students were asked to divide a sheet of paper in two and give examples of organisations that work for peace or war. |
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| Global University students learn about "Mapping a Conflict" |
Fnding it much easier to provide names of war promoters rather than peacemakers, the longer list included oil companies, moviemakers, the weapons industry and multinational corporations. Some of the fewer peacemakers identified were the UN, NGOs, fair trade groups and the media - interchangeable between both sides, as were other examples.
Humility, honesty, passion, empathy, respect, creativity and persistence are just some of the qualities, skills and characteristics a peacemaker needs to possess in order to transform a conflict. The peacemaker must also be invited into a conflict, as reconciliation has to indigenous. Anything imposed from the outside is an act of violence in itself. |
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| Part of the "Nine Step Process for Peace and Empowerment" |
Developed in Afghanistan, 1998, as bombs were dropping, the "Nine Step Process for Peace and Empowerment" can be applied to any struggle. Students worked through the first four steps using conflicts between Japan and the US, Japan and North Korea and problems in education.
By naming all the actors, parties, issues and different relationships affected by a conflict, then mapping the related conflicts and potential actors involved, a plan of action can be developed, based on what has been achieved before, and what others are also doing.
Once a strategy has been devised, it must be implemented. "We don't wait for a car to fix itself," says Kai. The logical steps followed demonstrated how workable plans can be put into practice. Students learned that by engaging in dialogue, and looking to solve a conflict by non-violent means can achieve reconciliation.
For more information on Transcend and their peacemaking projects throughout the world, go to: www.transcend.org |
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