ID21 - communicating development research

	Search the whole id21 database


		id21 Global Issues
		Population change
		Food security
		Climate change
		Gender
		Poverty
		Human rights
		Global economy
		Governance
		Aid
		Conflict and emergencies
		Tourism

		id21 Health

		id21 Education

		id21 Urban Development

		id21 Natural Resources

		id21 Rural Development

		id21 Home page

		Gender and Violence in African Schools

		id21 Publications

		id21 Viewpoints

		About id21

		Links

		Contact id21

		id21News

		id21 Insights

		id21 Media

How can communities manage conflict? Urban violence and post-war reconciliation

How can communities solve problems of urban violent crime and regain equilibrium after the trauma of war? Research in urban Port Moresby and low-income neighbourhoods in post-war Bougainville, Papua New Guinea (PNG), shows that community-managed conflict mediation, if well supported, can help build trust, confidence and stability.

What might an 'enabling framework' for community mediation consist of? The Peace Foundation, an NGO in Papua New Guinea has been training and guiding community residents, police and prison service in mediation and conflict management for ten years.

Community-based mediation and training proved effective in solving problems related to crime and violence. Crucially, positive impacts arose in part from high quality, appropriate training, or 'facilitated learning' guided by the Peace Foundation in the:

principles underlying mediation and conflict management
skills developed and used during and after training
values and attitudes anchored through and beyond training.

The processes of training and mediation helped local people and others to analyse and understand the following issues:

causes and consequences of crime and violence
issues that maintain or reduce cycles of violence
people’s needs and values in situations where customs and culture has been eroded
relationships between developing skills and knowledge (human capital) and building trust, relationships and networks within and among communities and others (social capital)
how to build ways to identify and act on sustainable development goals
ways of linking conflict management training and community mediation with the many issues that people face in a changing world
how to generate bottom-up links with government, business, NGOs and donors.

Dialogue among relevant stakeholders and communities is critical to finding workable ways forward. Relevant lessons for policy include providing support for those elements of the 'enabling environment' that can achieve community-based conflict reduction such as:

High quality training (better termed 'facilitated learning') for different groups
Relevant education for professionals and community people
supportive development projects that run in parallel with or shortly after conflict management training (rather than before)
providing legitimacy (acceptance) for community-managed mediation within, among and outside communities
providing appropriate incentives for community mediation efforts (recognition, encouragement, training, cash support and so on)
relevant government, donor and NGO policies, integrated in a broad, locally relevant development context
links with business and religious leaders
reconciliation among legal, customary and other approaches to conflict management

Source(s):
'Reflections on Violence in Melanesia' The Federation Press and Asia Pacific Press, edited by S. Dinnen and A. Ley 1999
'Participatory urban appraisal and its application for research on violence' Environment and Urbanization, Volume 11/2 by C. Moser, and C. McIlwaine 1999; 'Coping with Conflict' in 'Footsteps' Tear Fund Special Edition #36, by P. S. Jones
'The tree with healing properties' and 'Conflicts about natural resources' and edited contributions by I. Wallace in 'Post-conflict reconstruction: experiences in Rwanda' edited contributions by CIDT, University of Wolverhampton

Funded by: DFID (Escor) 1999-2000

id21 Research Highlight: 9 March 2001

Further Information:
Philip Scott Jones
Centre for International Development and Training
University of Wolverhampton
Gorway Road
Walsall WS1 3BD
UK

Tel: +44 (0)1902 23219
Fax: +44 (0)1902 323212
Contact the contributor: p.s.jones@wlv.ac.uk

Centre for International Development and Training, University of Wolverhampton, UK

Views expressed on these pages are not necessarily those of DFID, IDS, id21 or other contributing institutions. Unless stated otherwise articles may be copied or quoted without restriction, provided id21 and originating author(s) and institution(s) are acknowledged.

Week beginning Monday 6th October 2008

FREE Information Delivery services from id21:

Contact id21