Dimapur, April 22 (MExN): North East institute of Social Science & Research (NEISSR) organized a three day workshop on ‘Peace building and Conflict Resolution skills’ from April 19 to 21. The workshop was facilitated by Dr. Aküm Longchari, Editor, The Morung Express.
Dr. Longchari spoke on the need of differentiating the conflicts, the sources and the consequences of the conflict in order to intervene effectively and solve a conflict. He also dealt with the power dynamics which is vital force behind the structures that we have in our society. “There are three types of power; power within, power with and power over. It is the imperative of social workers to help people realize and identify the ‘power within’ to bring about certain changes in the structure in order to ameliorate the social problems in our everyday life,” he said.
The workshop also included session on Reconciliation. Through an activity students were made aware about the importance of “Truth, Mercy, Justice and Peace in the process of reconciliation.” The facilitator highlighted various examples of conflict resolution or reconciliation processes from around the world where the four values are used and how it is used.
In a particular session, he highlighted on how conflict is caused by individuals and group holding on to their respective truth and defending it at all cost. Thus, he also spoke on the need of looking at an issue from perspectives of the other party.
In the course of the three days workshop, Dr. Longchari also spoke on the importance of mediation and how it can be practice in our communities. The workshop was made very interactive and educative through role play, group activities and various other strategies.
The workshop was attended by 43 MSW final semester students and Peace Channel staff.
