Institutes to collaborate for peace-building and research

Dimapur, Dec. 13 (EMN): With an aim to establish a network with institutions working on peace and peace-related issues, a three-day inter-college and institutional-level peace training workshop was held at Peace Channel hall in Dimapur, from December 11 to the 13th.

According to an update from Peace Channel Desk, the workshop was jointly organised by North East Institute of Social Sciences and Research (NEISSR), Peace Channel in Nagaland, PKM College of Education, Bethlehem Educational Research Foundation, and Peace and Harmony Foundation, Kannur Kerala.

The institutions have signed an MoU to collaborate in the mission of peace-building, developing training manuals, academic research, exchange of faculty and students programme and to establish a chair on peace and culture of dialogue in PKM college.

Dr. Fr. CP Anto, principal of NEISSR and director Peace Channel, welcomed PKM College principal Sr. Dr. Jessy and the delegates. The team composed of Dr. Prasanth Mathew, Dr. Rekha KR, Minimol George and Fr. Regi P George, informed the update.

Fr. Anto appreciated the ‘initiative to learn peace-building from psychological and sociological perspectives’, adding that ‘peace education could be developed into various spectrum in local context’. He stressed on “developing a new trend in understanding the world citizenship and spiritual dimensions of inner peace and harmony in teaching and learning peace education.” 

He also spoke on the dream plan and strategy of making Nagaland a model and the most peaceful state by 2030.

Project Coordinator of Peace Channel Nepuni Paul took a session on “peer mediation” a communication process in which an individual solves problem with the assistance of a neutral third party.

Peer mediation is both a programme and a voluntary process where all the parties involved work towards a win-win resolution for both sides, informed the press release, adding that it involves six-step model which the mediator uses to mediate the whole process.

The six steps, according to the update are: Agree to mediate; gather information; focus on common shared interests; create options by brainstorming for solutions and asking disputants what can be done to resolve the problem; evaluating options by asking each individual what could be done to resolve the problem; and create an agreement where disputants have to sign, and shaking hands at the end of each process with both parties.

Peer mediation gives individuals an opportunity to be more independent and solve conflicts in a mature responsible manner. It is also a tool where people belonging to all ages can use to resolve conflicts with each other, be trained and help peers to resolve conflicts, and to detect and defuse conflicts before it escalates.

Gugu, Alino and Garrol conducted various sessions on peace-building, while Dr. Deben Sharma, asst. professor of NEISSR, took a session on “Dialogue, an unfolding process of transforming and deepening understanding of others and ourselves through listening, sharing and questioning”.

Dr. Sharma spoke on ways to carry out “conflict mapping that helps both conflicting parties to understand the issues confronting them and human emotions involved to resolve the matter without aggravating the situation”. “As a facilitator, the power of dialogue offers widely applicable skill set and creates conversations that foster mutual understanding between groups and individuals divided by deep differences.”