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Awareness Workshops to Strengthen War-Affected Communities
A series of seminars and workshops run in order to train local communities and individuals in conflict transformation. It operates in rural Sri Lanka and works hard to bring together different ethnicities in the same training.
Description
The initiative addresses people from all ethnicities who live in seven selected districts affected by the war, encouraging them to mobilise as multi-ethnic civil society organisations capable of transforming their own conflicts. It teaches people the skills to transform their conflicts through a series of seminars and workshops.
These community-level organisations are the first step towards the processes of community development and reconciliation that are needed so that the war-affected people can transform the conflict.
Aims / Objectives
The aim of the initiative is to reduce conflicts in multi-ethnic villages decimated by the war, by encouraging the village-members to form civil society organisations which cut across ethnic divides and provide them with conflict transformation skills.
Those in war-damaged villages are often reluctant to trust or offer support to other ethnicities; yet unless they co-operate it is difficult for these communities to advance or to develop their own voice. Therefore it is believed that operating as multi-ethnic civil society organisations in the conflict areas where ethnic divisions have taken strong root is empowering for those communities harmed by the war.
How it is Articulated
The programme operates in seven districts, with the initial round of seminars including between five and ten selected people from a village. For more impact, however, the second round of seven-day residential seminars involving 30 youth and community leaders from each village. We ensure that Sinhalese, Tamils, and Muslims are all represented in these groups.
After the training, the participants go back to their villages and form committees to support conflict resolution in the community. They achieve this by being actively involved in emerging conflict situations in order to achieve conflict transformation before violence can escalate. The Rural Development Foundation (RDF) supports them by introducing them to the police, NGOs, government offices, and other authorities in the area as a trained group capable of conflict transformation. This means that these groups have good connections with the police and work closely with them.
Achievements / Learning Points
The major achievement of this initiative is that RDF's awareness programmes are seen as community action, and that the community – through the organisations they form – has come to acknowledge the contribution this makes to the transformation of the wider conflict.
The beneficiaries of the seminars carry on putting into practice what they have learned, becoming actively engaged in and contributing to the resolution of the conflict in their own areas. This builds trust among the ethnic groups in the areas in which the groups work. Further, through these training programs, the village leaders have become empowered to solve their own community-level conflicts without seeking the assistance of the police or the army.
In addition, this has meant better communication and improved relationships between the government officers, NGO's in the area, and other villages. This in turn positively affects attitudes and behaviour in the villages, bringing more peace and harmony to the area.
It is, however, important for the long-term sustainability of the programme and the continuation of activities resulting from the seminar, that the organisations maintain a close relationship with the communities at the grass roots level. Being close to the grass roots also makes it easier to launch future initiatives.
As a result of running these sessions, and from the issues which were brought up for discussion in the seminars, RDF have realised that competition for resources is the root cause of the conflict. Accordingly, if there are sufficient resources for all, the chance of conflict will be lessened. This means that the introduction of poverty alleviation strategies and the creation of more job opportunities alongside peace-building projects will meet the communities' most pressing basic needs. By alleviating these needs, it is hoped that the severity of the conflict will be reduced and people will be more open to listen to one another's needs.
Geographical Area of Operation
Vavuniya, Trincomalee, Ampara, Anuradhapura, Puttalam, Batticalo, and Mannar.
Funding Resources
CEDA, Norwegian embassy, UNDP, FES
Organisations Involved
Different community-based organisations in the districts of Vavuniya, Trincomalee, Ampara, Anuradhapura, Puttalam, Batticalo, and Mannar.