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ACHA PEACE BULLETIN
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http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/ACHAPeaceBulletin
A publication of Association for Communal Harmony in
Asia (ACHA) www.asiapeace.org
Editors:
David Campion, PhD campion@lclark.edu
Pritam K. Rohila, PhD pritam@open.org
Subscription is free.
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Volume VIII, No. 2, February
15, 2005; Next Issue, March 15, 2005
CONTENTS
PEACE &
HARMONY NEWS FROM & ABOUT SOUTH ASIA
Nepal
- “Fathers for peace” move in Nepal
Pakistan-India
- India upbeat over Pakistan talks
- Pakistani PM reaches out to India
Sri Lanka
- Call to disarm Sri Lanka
militias
FEATURE
- Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy’s impressions of India
EDUCATION &
TRAINING
- Peacebuilding and
Development Summer Institute 2005
PEACE EVENTS
- India-Pakistan Peace March; Delhi
to Multan,
23 March – 11 May, 2005
- SANSAD: South
Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy forum, 26 February 2005
(Readers are invited to
submit similar information from other areas of South Asia
to help us broaden of our coverage. Please send the info to pritamr@open.org,
a week before the date of publication of the next issue of the ACHA Peace
Bulletin)
PEACE & HARMONY NEWS FROM &
ABOUT SOUTH ASIA
*Nepal
“Fathers for peace” move in Nepal
By Navin Singh Khadka, BBC
News, Kathmandu, 31 January 2005
Peace activists in Nepal are
approaching the fathers of the prime minister and of top Maoist leaders to
boost their new nationwide movement.
They say the father of Maoist leader, Prachanda, will take part and they
hope he and other Maoist fathers will meet PM Sher Bahadur Deuba’s father. Organizers say tens of thousands will join
the peace movement, which starts on 8 February.
More than 10,000 people have died in the nine-year Maoist insurgency.
The rebels are fighting to replace the monarchy with a communist republic.
The new movement’s
coordinator, Sudeep Pathak, said the fathers of Prachanda and another senior
rebel leader, Badal, had agreed to participate while the father of another key
Maoist leader, Baburam Bhattarai, was being approached. Mr Pathak said the nationwide movement would
begin in Chitwan district in southern Nepal, where Prachanda’s father
would light a peace flame. Organizers said they believed that the participation
of the fathers of rebel leaders would attract more people to join the peace
movement. They said it was an effort to
break what they called the silence of the people, which has continued despite
rising violence.
The organizers come from
around three dozen civil, human rights and professional groups. They said non-violence, rights and social
justice would be the slogans of the movement.
Civil societies and human rights groups have in recent months
intensified their campaigns to pressure the government and the rebels for a
peaceful resolution to the insurgency.
Concern has grown since the rebels ignored a 13 January deadline set by
the government for them to return to peace talks. The government said it would now prepare for
elections for the House of Representatives.
Prachanda has warned that elections will only increase bloodshed.
Full Story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4221957.stm
*Pakistan-India
India upbeat over
Pakistan
talks
BBC South Asia, 15
February
India's foreign minister says he
aims to push the peace process forward with Pakistan
during talks in Islamabad. Natwar
Singh's trip is the first bilateral visit to the country by an Indian foreign
minister in 15 years. Flying into Islamabad from Kabul on
Tuesday, he said ties with Pakistan
had greatly improved and pledged to give sluggish peace moves "further
impetus".
He
hinted at a bus service deal for Kashmir. The
BBC's Zaffar Abbas says many are optimistic of a breakthrough. Formal peace
talks have been going on for a year, with little tangible progress. Mr. Singh will hold two days of talks with Pakistan's
President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Foreign Minister
Khurshid Kasuri.
Our
correspondent says negotiations are expected to focus on three main issues. At the top of the list is a landmark bus
service proposed between Srinagar in
Indian-administered Kashmir and Muzaffarabad, the capital of
Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The route would
allow travel for thousands of divided families living on either side of the
Line of Control. So far talks have been
deadlocked by a disagreement over India's
insistence that passports be used as travel documents, which Pakistan says would compromise Kashmir's
disputed status. Our correspondent says
India
may now be ready to show some flexibility on the issue. "We are looking at additional
transportation links between us," was all that Mr Singh would say. He and his counterpart are also due to
discuss the construction of a gas pipeline from Iran
to India, through Pakistan.
If the talks progress smoothly,
Pakistani officials say the two sides may even agree to discuss some kind of
restraint regime to reduce the risk of an accidental nuclear war.
Mr.
Singh traveled to Islamabad via Afghanistan
where he had met briefly with President Hamid Karzai and other officials. They discussed Indian aid to Afghanistan and a possible gas pipeline link
from Central Asia to India.
Last
Friday Mr. Singh spoke of an atmosphere in which India
and Pakistan
could resolve their differences.
However,
hours before his arrival, Pakistan
stressed that little progress had been made on the long-running Kashmir dispute, despite months of confidence-building
measures. "We have to underline
that the progress on Jammu and
Kashmir has not been encouraging," Foreign
Ministry spokesman Masood Khan said. Last
month, both sides accused each other of violating a 15-month ceasefire along
the Line of Control that divides Kashmir. Pakistan
also opposes Indian plans to construct a dam in the Himalayas,
saying it will deprive its own territory of water for agriculture. The issue of Pakistan's concerns over the use
of Ahmedabad in India's Gujarat state - the scene of religious riots in 2002 –
as a venue for matches on its upcoming cricket tour will also be discussed, as
will the rescheduling of a regional forum postponed this month.
Full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4268121.stm
Pakistani PM reaches out to India
BBC South Asia, Islamabad,
31 January 2005
Pakistani
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said he will propose a series of
confidence-boosting joint projects with India. He plans to
put them to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at a regional summit in Bangladesh next
weekend. Mr. Aziz made his comments in
an interview with the British newspaper, the Financial Times. He said he hopes the projects will help ease
tensions between the two countries over issues like Kashmir. Mr. Aziz said that a gas pipeline to connect India with Iran
via Pakistan
and a move to open banking links were among possible measures which could
improve relations. There were “many other possibilities which we want to
explore”; the paper quoted him as saying.
Last week Mr. Aziz said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in
Davos that both countries needed energy, and linking them with a pipeline would
reduce the "trust deficit" that prevented closer co-operation.
Pakistan and India
have held peace talks for most of 2004 after a ceasefire along the Line of
Control that divides their forces in the disputed region of Kashmir
came into effect the previous year.
Senior foreign minister officials met in December to discuss a range of
issues. While trade and transport links
between the two nuclear rivals have improved, little progress has been made in
resolving their differences over Kashmir,
which has led to two wars between them.
Full Story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4221583.stm
*Sri Lanka
Call to disarm Sri Lanka militias
BBC South Asia, Colombo,
15 February
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels have urged the government to
disarm paramilitary groups allegedly working with the army, a Tamil website
reports. Rebel negotiator Anton
Balasingham made the demand during a meeting with a Norwegian peace envoy in London. The Tigers blame paramilitary groups for the
killing of a top rebel leader and five others last week. The government has rejected the accusation
and blamed a rival faction of the Tigers for the attack.
"[The
government] should disarm the paramilitary forces functioning with the army or
integrate them into its armed forces and station them outside the north-east
[conflict zone]," the TamilNet website quoted Mr Balasingham as
saying. "The Sri Lankan government
needs to contribute to a conducive and congenial climate for the resumption of
peace talks," he added. Mr
Balasingham also asked the government to end its opposition to setting up a
joint mechanism to disburse tsunami relief in the Tamil-dominated north and
east.
Full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4266601.stm
FEATURE
Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy’s impressions of India
Friends:
Below is a thought-provoking report by Dr. Pervez
Hoodbhoy of his impressions of India,
while there on a month-long lecture tour, in connection with his UNESCO’s
Kalinga Prize in 2003.
Many of you would recall that Dr. Hoodbhoy received
PhD in nuclear physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has
been a faculty member at the Department of Physics, Quaid-e-Azam
University, Islamabad since 1973. Besides making the two
widely acclaimed documentaries (“Pakistan and India under the Nuclear Shadow”,
and “Crossing the Lines - Kashmir, Pakistan, India”), he has authored a number
of publications and lectured widely to promote science education, better
environmental policies, women's rights and education.
My wife and I had the good fortune of hosting him at
our home, when he visited Portland and Salem, Oregon, to screen Pakistan and
India under the Nuclear Shadow in November 2001. Also, we enjoyed his and his
wife’s gracious hospitality at their home in Islamabad, on December 31, 2004.
Pritam
Dear Friends,
A full four weeks ago I began my UNESCO 2003 Kalinga Prize visit to India.
Although delayed, improved Pakistan-India relations eventually made this
possible. It has been a relentless schedule from day one, with 2, 3, 4 lectures
every day at schools, colleges, universities, research institutions, and NGOs.
This trip has taken me all around India:
Delhi, Pune, Mumbai, Bangalore,
Chennai, Hyderabad, Bhubhaneswar, Cuttack, Calcutta, and
finally back here in Delhi
again. This has been an extraordinary visit. I interacted with children from
excellent schools as well as those from pretty ordinary ones; had long sessions
with students and teachers from colleges and universities; met with the
"junta" (cooks, taxi drivers, and rickshawallas); and was invited to
see ministers and chief ministers in several states, as well as the president
of India. This extended tour of the so-called "enemy country" has
been an enormous learning experience for me. I am not aware of any Indian who
has made a similar kind of journey to academic institutions in Pakistan.
The events of the last four weeks could really fill a book. Let me instead
quickly record a few of my observations and experiences that you might find
interesting.
Many Indian universities have
a cosmopolitan character. Their social culture is modern and similar to that in
universities located in free societies across the world. (In Pakistan, AKU and LUMS would be the
closest approximations.) Male and female students freely intermingle, library
and laboratory facilities are good, seminars and colloquia are frequent, and
the faculty is intensively engaged in research. Entrance exams are tough and
competition for grades is intense. The research institutes I visited (TIFR,
IISC, the IIT's, IMSc, IICT, IUCAA, JNCASR, Raman Institute, Swaminathan Institute)
are world class.
The rural-urban divide in India
is strong. Schools and colleges in small towns have a culture steeped in
religion. Here one sees hierarchy, obedience, and even servility. The national
anthem is sung in schools and religious symbols are given much prominence. Some
students I met were bright, but many appeared rather dull. Although most Indian
colleges are coeducational (unlike in Pakistan where only some are), male
and female students sit separately and are not encouraged to intermingle. It is
sometimes difficult to understand the English spoken there. Where possible, I
spoke in Hindi/Urdu. This enhanced my ability to communicate and also created a
special kind of bonding. There is an evident desire to improve, however, and at
least some college principals go out of their way to organize events and invite
guest speakers. My lecture at the Basavanagudi
National College,
a fairly ordinary college, was the 1978th lecture over a period of 30 years!
Independent thought in India's
better universities is alive and well. Office bearers of the Jawaharlal Nehru
University students union in Delhi were requested by
the university's administration to present flowers to President Abdul Kalam at
the annual convocation. They flatly refused, saying that he is a nuclear hawk
and an appointee of a fundamentalist party. Moreover, as young women of dignity
they could not agree to act as mere flower girls presenting bouquets to a man.
Eventually the head of the physics department, also a woman, somewhat
reluctantly presented flowers to Dr. Kalam but said that she was doing so as a
scientist honoring another scientist, not because she was a woman. Bravo! I
have not seen comparable boldness and intellectual courage in Pakistani
students. Student unions in Pakistan
have been banned for two decades and so it is a moot question if any union
there could have mustered similar independence of thought.
Taking science to the masses
has become a kind of mantra all over India. My columnist friend Praful
Bidwai – a powerful critic of the Indian state and its militaristic policies -
counts among India's
greatest achievements the energization of its democracy and refers to "our
social movements, with their rich traditions of people's self-organization,
innovative protest and daring questioning of power". These movements have
ensured that, unlike in Pakistan,
land grabbers in Indian cities have found fierce resistance when they try to
gobble up public spaces - parks, zoos, playgrounds, historical sites, etc.
Praful should also include in his list the huge number of science
popularization movements, sometimes supported by the state but often
spontaneous. These are sweeping through India's towns and villages, seeking
to bring about an understanding of natural phenomena, teach simple health care,
and introduce technology appropriate to a rural environment. There is not even
one comparable Pakistani counterpart. I watched some science communicators,
such as Arvind Gupta at IUCAA in Pune, whose infectious enthusiasm leaves
children thrilled and desirous of pursuing careers in science. Individual
Indian states have funded and created numerous impressive planetariums and
science museums, and local organizations are putting out a huge volume of
written and audio-visual science materials in the local languages.
· Attitudes of Indian scientists towards science are conservative. Progress
through science is an immensely popular notion in India, stressed both by past and
present leaders. But what is science understood to be? I was a little jolted
upon reading Nehru's words, written in stone at the entrance to the Jawaharlal
Nehru Institute for Advanced Research in Bangalore:
“I too have worshipped at the shrine of science”. The notion of
"worship" and "shrine of science" do not go well with the
modern science and the scientific temper. Science is about challenging - not
worshipping. But science in India is largely seen as an
instrument that enhances productive capabilities, and not as a transformational
tool for producing an informed, rational society. Most Indian scientists are techno-nationalists
– they put their science at the service of the state rather than the people. In
this respect, Pakistan
is no different.
India’s nuclear and space programs are nationally venerated
as symbols of high achievement. This led
to India’s
nuclear hero, Dr. Abdul Kalam, becoming the country’s president. When Dr. Kalam received me in his office,
after the usual pleasantries, I expressed my regret at India having gone nuclear and causing Pakistan
to follow suit. Shouldn’t India
now reduce dangers by initiating a process of nuclear disarmament? Dr. Kalam gave me a well-practiced response: India would get rid of its nuclear weapons the
very minute that America
agreed to do the same. He displayed little enthusiasm for an agreement to cut
off fissile material production. However,
he did agree to my suggestion that exchange of academics could be an important
way to build good relations between Pakistan
and India.
Indian society remains deeply
superstitious, caste divisions are important, and women still have a long way
to go. While I found myself admiring the energetic popular science movements, I
was disappointed that they pay relatively little attention to anti-scientific
superstitions that pervade Indian society. The jyoti (astrologer) dictates the
dates when a marriage is possible, and even whether a couple can marry at
all. After I gave a strong pitch for fighting superstition, a young woman
asked me what to do if "koi devi aap pay utr jayai" (if a spirit
should descend upon you). Inter-caste marriages are still frowned upon, and
usually forbidden. In local newspapers one typically reads of tragic accounts
such as that of a boy and girl from different castes who commit suicide
together after their families forbid the match. Although Indian women are
freer, more visible, and more confident than their Pakistani counterparts, India
is still a strongly male dominated society. However, the rapidly increasing
number of well-educated young women gives hope for the future.
Muslims in India remain at the margins of
scientific research and higher education. Hamdard
University in Delhi is distinctly better than the
university bearing the same name on the Pakistani side. Jamia Millia, a largely
Muslim university, appears to be doing well and a bit better than any Pakistani
university in the field of physics. But, although Muslims form Twelve percent of
India's
population, I met only a few Muslim scientists in leading Indian research
institutes and universities. Discrimination against Muslims does not appear to
be the dominant cause. A professor at Jamia told me that an overwhelming
number of Muslim students were inclined towards seeking easier (and more
lucrative) professions in spite of special incentives offered to them at his
university. In general, Muslims
in India appear more modern
and secular than in Pakistan.
However, Hyderabad
surprised me. In the lecture that I gave at a government women's college, there
was only one young woman without a burqa in an audience of about a hundred. The
women there were astonished to learn that Pakistan
is, at least in most places, more liberal than Hyderabad. The extreme conservatism in the
Muslim part of Hyderabad city reminds one of Peshawar.
There was a remarkable lack
of hostility towards Pakistan.
Indeed a desire for friendly relations was repeatedly expressed in every forum
I went to. This is not to be taken lightly: many of my public lectures were
either about (or on) science, but others dealt with deeply contentious issues -
nuclear weapons, India-Pakistan relations, and the Kashmir
conflict. Various Indian peace groups and NGOs organized public discussions and
screenings of the two documentaries that I had made (with Zia Mian): "Pakistan and India
under the Nuclear Shadow", and "Crossing the Lines - Kashmir,
Pakistan, India". To be sure, my
views on Indian policies and actions in Kashmir
occasionally provoked knee-jerk nationalistic responses, but these were
infrequent and exchanges always remained within the bounds of civility.
Ignorance about Pakistan
is widespread. In most public gatherings, and certainly in every school that I
spoke at, people had never seen a Pakistani. Many Indians have a misconception
of Pakistan
as a medieval, theocratic state. In fact, only some parts of Pakistan can be so characterized.
Many Indians think that Pakistanis have been totally muzzled and live in a
police state. This is also untrue - articles in the Pakistani press are often
blunter and more critical than in the Indian press. An Indian friend
hypothesized that knowledge of the other country is inversely proportional to
the geographical distance between countries. Unfortunately this will remain
true unless there is a substantial exchange of visitors between the two
countries.
Indians are deeply
nationalistic and may dislike particular governments but they only rarely
criticize the Indian state. This is easy to understand: the democratic process
has given a strong sense of participation to most citizens and successfully
forged an Indian national identity (except in Kashmir,
and parts of the North East) that transcends the immense diversity of cultures
across the country. But this has an important downside: nationalism is easy to
mobilize and highly dangerous in matters of war and conflict. I found the
smugness of the Indian elite (especially the heads of nuclear, space, and
technology programs) to be rather irritating. Even if India has done well in some
respects, in most others it is still behind the rest of the world. Fortunately,
Pakistani intellectuals are less attached to their state and therefore more
forthright. The reason is rather clear: three decades of military rule have
dealt a serious blow to nation building and firming up the Pakistani identity.
Similarities between the two
countries exceed the differences. Cities in both countries are poisoned with
thick car fumes (Delhi
is the exception) and grid-locks are frequent; megaslums and exploding
populations threaten to swallow up the countryside; electricity supplies are
intermittent; and water is fast disappearing from rivers and aquifers. The
rural poor are fleeing to the cities, and wretched beggars with amputated limbs
are casually accepted as part of the urban scenery. The absence of long-term
planning is manifest. Obsessive militarization and reckless spending on defense
shows no sign of abating in either country.
So much for all that.
As I head back home to Islamabad, I want to
thank the many friends and organizations in India who made elaborate logistical
travel and accommodation arrangements for my wife Hajra and myself. Others
arranged my talks and public meetings, sometimes on subjects normally
considered as deeply controversial and divisive. They worked hard to make each
event a success. This letter is also addressed to those who I met for the first
time but who I would like to keep in contact with. It would take much too long
to write to scores of people individually, and so I ask for forgiveness in
sending this one letter to all.
With best regards,
Pervez Hoodbhoy
EDUCATION & TRAINING
Peacebuilding and Development Summer
Institute 2005
American University Washington, DC
- Week I: June 27 - July 1
- Week II: July 5 - July 9
- Week III: July 11 - July 15
Peacebuilding and Development Institute
The Peacebuilding and
Development Institute provides knowledge, practical experience and skills for
scholars and practitioners involved in conflict resolution, peacebuilding,
humanitarian assistance and development. There are two components to the
institute: one is the summer professional training program and the other is the
year-round practical training, capacity building, and curriculum development
programs in conflict areas. The Summer
Professional Training Institute focuses on various approaches to mediation,
negotiation, facilitation, reconciliation and dialogue, particularly in
conflict-torn and developing regions. Participants will explore innovative
methods of promoting cultural diversity with respect to; public policy,
community and religion, war and post-conflict environments, while expanding their
knowledge and skills in a participatory and interactive learning environment.
Participants in the summer institute will be exposed to leading national and
international professionals in the fields of public policy, conflict
resolution, and development.
International Peace and Conflict
Resolution Program
The International Peace and
Conflict Resolution (IPCR) Program, housed within the School of International
Service at American University, is designed for students and faculty who want
to better understand the causes of war and violence and the conditions for
constructing peace. IPCR’s philosophy is based on four underlying principles:
the impact of culture on political activity, examination of social and economic
justice issues, environmental balance, and a value explicit approach that
favors peace and nonviolent conflict resolution.
School of International
Service at American
University
American University is a nationally and internationally recognized
university. The School of International Service (SIS) is the largest school of
international relations in the United
States. SIS aims to foster knowledge and
cooperation through teaching, research and public dialogue. Through a carefully designed combination of
scholarly breadth and concrete experience, faculty challenges their students to
care about the moral, philosophical, and practical implications of an
interdependent world.
The Summer Institute
The Summer Institute is a
unique training program designed to give foreign aid workers, government
officials, and conflict resolution and development practitioners, practical
skills to complement their daily work in conflict affected areas. The
Peacebuilding and Development Summer Institute is one of the first academic
programs specifically organized to bridge the two issues of peacebuilding and
development. The Summer 2004 institute welcomed 170 participants from 27
countries that spanned all continents and many conflict areas. The participants
came from varying backgrounds ranging from international agencies such as the
UN, CARE, USAID, World Vision, Mercy Corps, teachers, and small
non-governmental organizations. They
were joined by master’s degree students from the International Peace &
Conflict Resolution and the International Development programs at the School of International
Service at American
University.
The summer institute engages
participants in a wide variety of social and academic events in Washington, DC,
bridging cultural gaps and establishing a dynamic community in the process.
Last year’s summer institute provided the opportunity for participants to get
involved with some extracurricular activities such as: a networking reception,
4th of July celebrations, a grant writing workshop, storytelling,
panel discussions, and dinner/social gatherings. The participant
evaluations have expressed their appreciation of the cultural and intellectual
diversity in the classroom.
Certificate in Peacebuilding
Participants in the Summer
Institute may also register to complete a 15 credit hour graduate Certificate
in Peacebuilding, with concentrations in Conflict Resolution, Conflict and
Development, or Human Rights, which is designed to illuminate the interfaces
among these important fields of professional practice. Please visit the
Institute website for additional information about this exciting opportunity.
SUMMER 2005 Courses
Week I: June 27-July 1, 2005
Course 1: Religion & Culture in Conflict
Resolution with Mohammed Abu-Nimer
This course focuses on the
impact of cultural and religious factors in peacebuilding processes.
Participants explore the role of cultural and religious identities in
peacebuilding, and gain concrete skills and approaches to integrate with their
ongoing work. Mohammed Abu-Nimer, an Associate Professor at American University,
has intervened and conducted training workshops in many parts of the world,
among them: Egypt, Turkey, Ireland,
Switzerland, Sierra Leone and the United States. He recently
authored Reconciliation, Justice and Coexistence: Theory and Practice (Lexington, 2001) and has
a forthcoming book on nonviolence and peacebuilding in Islam: Theory and
Practice (University Press of Florida, 2003).and peacebuilding in Islam: Theory
and Practice (University Press of Florida, 2003).
Course 2: Applied Conflict Analysis and Resolution
with Ronald Fisher and Brian Mandell
This interactive course
provides an overview of 1) useful conceptual tools (models, concepts, theories)
for understanding violent and protracted conflict between racial, ethnic,
religious, cultural and other identity groups, and 2) constructive methods
(negotiation, mediation, consultation, dialogue) for addressing such
conflicts. Through a combination of lecture/discussions, analytical
exercises, role plays and simulations, participants will come to appreciate the
dynamics of destructive conflict and learn practical approaches for its
de-escalation and resolution.
Ron Fisher, Ph.D. is a
Professor of International Peace and Conflict Resolution at American University,
where he teaches courses in approaches to peace, conflict resolution, and third
party intervention. He is a social psychologist, who has been published
in many of the interdisciplinary journals in peace studies and conflict
resolution, and who has twenty-five years of training and consultation experience
at the domestic and international levels. In 2003 he received the Morton
Deutsch Conflict Resolution Award from the Society for the Study of Peace,
Conflict and Violence, a Division of the American Psychological Association.
Brian Mandell, Ph.D. is a Lecturer
in Public Policy and Executive Director of the Negotiation Project at the
Kennedy School of Government, Harvard
University, where he
teaches courses in conflict resolution and negotiation. His emphasis
surrounds facilitation and consensus building in addressing protracted policy
disputes, at both the domestic and international levels. He is a
political scientist and international relations specialist, who studies
contentious and protracted conflicts with a view to integrating theory and practice
in his teaching and writing, and who has provided training to a variety of
audiences in the United
States and abroad.
Course 3: Political Negotiation in Latin
America with Graciela Tapia
The course will focus on the
nexus between democratic governance, peaceful approaches to conflict
resolution, and development in Latin American and Caribbean
contexts. The course is geared towards individuals from government and civil
society who are positioned to play important roles in managing and resolving
complex political issues in their countries.
Graciela (Gachi) Tapia is a lawyer and a mediator from Argentina and until recently was the Executive
Director of Partners for Democratic Change National Center in Argentina. She
comes to the Institute through a partnership with the Organization of American
States and has conducted high level trainings throughout Latin
America.
Week II: July 5-July 9, 2005
Course 1: Training for Trainers in Peacebuilding &
Development with Mohammed Abu-Nimer
This course utilizes training
approaches and explores their practical applications in peacebuilding and
development contexts. It focuses on skills and approaches for designing,
implementing, and evaluating effective training courses in conflict resolution,
humanitarian assistance, and democracy and governance.
Course 2: Development in Conflict: Practical
Approaches to Recoverywith Kimberly Maynard
This course is designed
specifically for the individual and organization working in conflict-affected
and structurally violent developing countries. It is aimed at those interested
in acquiring analytical and practical skills in helping countries overcome the
social, physical, and economic destruction of violence. With an emphasis on
practical application supported by conceptual and theoretical foundations, it
centers on operational considerations and approaches, strategy and goal
development, program design methods and skills, and various types of analyses.
It will include such conceptual approaches as community-driven development, do
no harm, human security, and conflict impact mapping as well as draw on the
practical experience of both the participants and the professor.
Kimberly Maynard, has worked
with the U.S. Agency for International Development, United Nations agencies,
non-governmental organizations, and private foundations on disaster and
humanitarian issues for 23 years. Her fieldwork includes such complex
emergencies such as Bosnia, Burundi and
Kosovo to name a few. She has written on such issues as community
participation in post-conflict settings, grassroots psychosocial recovery from
conflict and the healing process in post-conflict settings.
Course 3: Linking Human Rights with Conflict
Resolution & Development with Julie Mertus
This workshop builds the
participants' understanding of human rights as it relates to conflict
intervention and international development. Participants are introduced to the values,
norms, techniques and processesused by practitioners in these three fields, and
have an opportunity to reflect on what each field can contribute to the other.
Julie Mertus is an Assistant
Professor at American University’s School of International
Service and co-director of the Ethics and Peace
M.A. program. She was formerly a Senior Fellow at the United States
Institute of Peace, Fulbright Fellow (Romania) and Counsel to Human
Rights Watch. She has extensive field experience in the
Balkans and has worked on human rights projects in over a dozen countries
worldwide.
Course 4: Media and Peacebuilding: Concepts, Actors
and Challenges with Ross Howard
This course will delve into
the destructive role media has played in many conflicts such as in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. NGOs are
realizing the crucial role media plays in peacebuilding and understands that
the
potential is present for them
to influence the outcome. The course aims to present a clear picture on
the concepts; provide an overview of the strategies applied by different
actors; and highlight the actual trends and future challenges of the media’s
involvement in conflict resolution.
Ross Howard is a Canadian
journalist and advisor on media in conflict and democratization. An Associate
of IMPACS - the Institute for Media, Policy and Civil Society, and a
journalism faculty member of Langara College, Vancouver, he has trained
journalists and conducted media assessments in countries including Sri Lanka,
Cambodia, Nepal, Rwanda, Burundi and Canada. He is co-editor of The Power of
Media (European Centre for Conflict Prevention); and author of Conflict
Sensitive Journalism, a handbook (International Media Support-Denmark), and An
Operational Framework for Media and Peacebuilding (IMPACS-CIDA), and Media &Elections,
a handbook, (IMS-IMPACS), and co-author of Gender.Conflict.Journalism
(forthcoming: UNESCO/NPI). He is a former Senior Correspondent for The Globe and Mail newspaper and a
former Vancouver
television editor.
Week 3: July 11- July 15,
2005.
Course 1: Arts Approaches to Peacebuilding &
Development with Babu Ayindo
In what ways can we
accentuate the power of art to transform conflicts and enrich peacebuilding
work? How can the arts contribute to social justice, healing and dialogue? This
course explores various arts approaches to peacebuilding, drawing from a
variety of traditions. Emphasis is given to integrating Story-Telling,
Photography, Image Theater and Forum Theater. Participants will engage in
skills practice to enhance imagination and creativity in exploring arts
approaches to peacebuilding. Babu Ayindo is a Lecturer at the Peacebuilding and
Conflict Transformation Program, Mindolo Ecumenical Foundation in Zambia.
He is the founding artistic director of the Amani People's Theatre in Kenya. He
has conducted trainings in art and peacebuilding throughout Africa, Austria, UK,
US, and Australia.
He has facilitated, Apublished and performed in many theatre productions on art
and healing. As an international trainer and practitioner, he has bridged the
fields of theatre, reconciliation and peacebuilding through Theatre and other
mediums of creative expression.
Course 2: Positive Approaches to Peacebuilding &
Development with Claudia Liebler
This interactive and
practical course is for participants who enjoy a creative learning environment
that encourages “out-of-the-box” thinking and experimentation. The course will
introduce participants to some of the most innovative approaches for change of
our times that have application for both peacebuilders and development
practitioners. It will draw on the newly released book: Positive Approaches to
Peacebuilding: A Resource for Innovators. Positive approaches are having
success in building a common vision among diverse stakeholders, mobilizing
elements of a community, building improbable partnerships, eliciting
cooperation where none has existed before, and focusing participants on the
ability of positive change existing within every human system.
Claudia Liebler, has been
involved with international development for 30 years, with experience in 28
countries in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
She was co-founder of the Global Excellence in Management Initiative of Case
Western Reserve University, which for seven years provided training and
consultation in Appreciative Inquiry for development NGO’s worldwide.
Course 3: Islam and the West: Strategies for Peace with
Nathan C. Funk and Meena Sharify-Funk
This course explores the
relevance of peacebuilding as a framework for policymaking vis-à-vis the
Islamic world. Readings
and lectures will cover a variety of topics pertinent to American relations
with Islamic cultural groups. Particular emphasis will be placed on
intellectual debates and sociopolitical conflicts within the Islamic world that
have a direct bearing on the quality of Muslim-American relations. While
conducting independent projects on specific cases of conflict and/or
peacebuilding, participants will develop analytical schemata suitable for
understanding the diversity of approaches to Islamic interpretation, the
historical contexts of contemporary events, and the complexity of relationships
between culture, religion, communal identity, and politics. Special
attention will be devoted to global trends as they relate to internal dynamics
of social change and political contestation. In addition, strategies for
resolving deeply rooted conflicts through democratization, negotiation, and
intercultural peacebuilding measures will be targeted.
Meena Sharify-Funk is a Ph.D.
Candidate in International Relations at American
University’s School of International
Service, where her areas of specialization are
International Peace and Conflict Resolution and Islamic Studies with a
particular focus on the status of women in the Islamic world. She has
written and presented a number of articles and papers o> Islamic conceptions
of peace and of nonviolence, and co-edited the book, Cultural Diversity and
Islam. She has also coordinated three international conferences: one at
the Washington National Cathedral, entitled ?Two Sacred Paths: Islam and
Christianity, A Call fo> Understanding?, one at American
University, entitled ?Cultural
Diversity and Islam?, and another at the Library of Alexandria in Egypt entitled,
“Contemporary Islamic Synthesis”. She is currently co-teaching a course
on Islam and Democracy at American
University (Fall 2004).
Nathan C. Funk is Assistant
Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University
of Waterloo?s Conrad Grebel
University College.
Dr. Funk received his B.A. in Global Community Studies from Gustavus Adolphus
College in 1994 and his Ph.D. in
International Relations from American
University in 2000.
He has authored or co-authored writings on international conflict resolution,
the role of cultural and religious factors in peacemaking, and United States
foreign policy, including two edited volumes, Peace and Conflict Resolution in Islam
(University Press of America, 2001) and Ameen Rihani: Bridging East and
West: A Pioneering Call for Arab-American Understanding (University Press
of America, 2004), and a forthcoming book entitled Making Peace with
Islam. He has lived in the Middle East and South Asia, designed an
internet course on conflict resolution, worked on research and training
projects for the United States Institute of Peace, and participated in efforts
to develop the Academic Consortium for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution,
which supports conflict resolution capacity building and curriculum development
in the Kurdish region of Northern Iraq.
Course 4: Design, Monitoring and Evaluation for
Peacebuilding and Conflict-Sensitive Development with Cheyanne Church
and Mark M. Rogers
This introductory level
course combines presentations and interactive, experiential learning
methods. The major themes to be covered include: project design,
monitoring & evaluation, theories of change, indicators> evaluation
criteria, methods of data collection, working with external evaluators and the
newest thinking on effectiveness in peacebuilding. There will be an opportunity
to apply learning to participant’s current programming. Cheyanne
Church is the Director of
Institutional Learning and Research at Search for Common Ground, an
international conflict transformation NGO in Washington, DC, USA. She has published on
evaluation and conflict resolution, single identity work and most recently
co-edited NGOs at the Table: Strategies for Influencing Policy in Areas of
Conflict. She was a member of the Advisory Group for the Reflecting on
Peace Practice Project, during her tenure as the Director of Policy and
Evaluation at UNU/INOCRE in Northern
Ireland. Cheyanne received her MSc
from The London School of Economics.
Mark M. Rogers is an
experienced facilitator, trainer, mediator, program designer and peace
builder. He served as the Country Director for search for Common Ground
in Burundi.
Previously Mark was a mediator, trainer and service coordinator with Mediation
Services, Inc., in Upstate New York. He holds a Masters in International
Administration from the School for International Training in Brattleboro,
Vermont and has over two decades of field
experience in Central and West Africa, Asia, Central
America and the Balkans working with several organizations
including PLAN International, the International Rescue Committee and the
International Medical Corps.
Tuition and Fees
Non-credit Tuition: $735 per
course.
Credit Tuition (2 Credit):
$1,860 per course.
International Participants
Participants who are not
citizens or permanent residents of the United
States are responsible for
obtaining necessary visas. For more information, please contact the
Program Administrator at pcrinst@american.edu
Housing
On-campus housing is
available on a limited basis. Sign up early to take advantage of the on-campus
housing option. The applicants are responsible for securing their own housing
arrangements. For more information, please
contact the Summer Housing Office
directly at (202) 885-3370, or email: summerhousing@american.edu
For the most complete
information available for housing, please see the website located at:
http://www.american.edu/ocl/reslife/summer_housing_conferences/intern_housing.cfm
Financial Aid
There are four need-based
tuition scholarships available. The scholarship will pay for one week of
tuition, and you will be responsible for paying for the second week, at least.
The Scholarship deadline is Thursday, March 31st 2005. For more information,
please contact the Program Administrator at pcrinst@american.edu
To apply for the Summer
Peacebuilding & Development Institute go On-line at: www.american.edu/sis/peacebuilding
APPLICATION DEADLINE: FRIDAY,
APRIL 29th 2005
Email the completed
application to: pcrinst@american.edu
or fax it to 1-202-885-2494
For questions call: 1-202-885-2014
or email: pcrinst@american.edu
Mailing address:
Peacebuilding and Development
Summer Institute 2004
School of International Service
American University
4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20016-8071
USA
******
Participant Application Form
Registration Information
1. PASSPORT NAME
Family name (surname): ______________________________
First name: ______________________________
Middle name or initial: ______________________________
Name you prefer to be called: ______________________________
2. How did I hear about the
Institute? _______________________
3. MAILING ADDRESS
Street or post office
box: ____________________________
City:
____________________________
State/province: ____________________________
Postal
code: ____________________________
Country: ____________________________
If temporary address, valid
until: ____________________________
Mailing Address is (personal
or organizational): ________________
Is mail service to you at
this address reliable (yes or no)? _________
If you answered no, how would
you recommend we communicate with you?
An alternative name and
address: ____________________________
By e-mail (yes or no): ____________________________
By fax (yes or no): ____________________________
4. TELEPHONE & E-MAIL
Home: ____________________________
Office: ____________________________
Fax: ____________________________
E-mail: ____________________________
Web
site: ____________________________
5. PERSONAL INFORMATION
Gender (Male/Female): ____________________________
Date of Birth
(Month/Day/Year): __________/__________/_______
Country of Citizenship: ____________________________
Country of Birth: ____________________________
Passport Number:
____________________________
Do you currently hold a US
Visa (yes or no)? ___________________
First Language & other
Languages spoken: ___________________
6. ORGANIZATION:
Name of Organization: ____________________________
Title: ____________________________
7. COURSE(S) (Please choose
only one course per week) Participants can enroll in only one course per week
but may choose to participate in any number of the weeks desired.
Week 1: Monday June 27-Friday July 1, 2005
Course 1: Religion and Culture
in Conflict Resolution with Mohammed Abu-Nimer, Ph.D.
Course 2: Applied Conflict
Analysis and Resolution with Ronald Fisher and Brian Mandell
Course 3: Political
Negotiation in Latin America with Graciela
(Gachi) Tapia
Week 2 : Tuesday July 5-Saturday July 9, 2005
Course 1: Training for
Trainers in Peacebuilding & Development with Mohammed Abu Nimer
Course 2: Development in
Conflict: Practical Approaches to Recovery with Kim Maynard
Course 3: Linking Human
Rights with Conflict Resolution & Developmentwith Julie Mertus
Course 4: Media and
Peacebuilding: Concepts, Actors and Challenges with Ross Howard
Week 3: Monday July 11-Friday July 15, 2005
Course 1: Arts Approaches to
Peacebuilding and Development with Babu Ayindo
Course 2: Positive Approaches
to Peacebuilding and Development with Claudia Liebler
Course 3: Islam and the
West: Strategies for Peace with Nathan C. Funk and Meena Sharify-Funk
Course 4: Participatory
Monitoring and Evaluation of Peacebuilding Initiatives (PM&E) with Cheyenne Church and Mark Rogers
8. These courses will be
taken:
__ Credit
__ Non-Credit
9. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
In this statement of
approximately 500 words, please identify how the course(s) in the Peacebuilding
and Development Summer Institute will specifically benefit your career.
Please include any previous personal and professional experiences.
Zack Kassim
Program Director
Peacebuilding and Development
Institute
American University, School of Int'l Service
Washington, D.C USA
202-885-2014
www.american.edu/sis/peacebuilding
PEACE EVENTS
India-Pakistan Peace March; Delhi to Multan,
23rd March – 11th May, 2005
Probably nowhere in the world
we have a situation where people are as emotionally entwined as between India and Pakistan and yet there is an enmity
thrust upon them. The cruel turn of events in the history resulted in political
separation even though the majority of common people were never consulted and
the world witnessed a bloody mass cross movement of people. Family links
were severed and a deep scar was left. Even the post partition history has
remained quite tumultuous interspersed with four wars and loss of innumerable
valuable lives. Kashmir remains a sore point between India
and Pakistan
threatening to take both countries to self-destruction. Even though the common
people never want violence and hatred, the fundamentalist elements on both
sides as well as the political compulsions have ensured that the animosity will
continue to take heavy toll on both sides.
Common people on both sides
are now fed up with violence and atmosphere of antagonism. They want
friendship, peace and normal relations to be established between the two
countries. We have seen that even though the governments of the two
countries may be suspicious of each other whenever the common people of the two
countries get to meet all walls of reservation against each other melt as warm
emotions of affinity surge. It is almost like people of same family meeting
each other after years of separation. The enmity, hatred and distance is
only artificial and soon gives way to warmth, friendship and camaraderie.
We feel that if real peace
and friendship has to be established between India
and Pakistan,
the initiative will have to be taken by people of the two countries. The
governments will merely follow the will of the people. So far, the governments
have tried to create an artificial barrier between the two countries preventing
easy access to the other country and free mingling among the people.
However, now there is a subtle change in the atmosphere. The governments seem
more willing than before to allow the people of two countries to interact
freely and also seem to be supportive of the people-to-people level
initiatives. Various initiatives are being undertaken to bring down the
artificial wall between India
and Pakistan.
We plan to organize a peace march between Delhi
and Multan
beginning March 23, 2005 and ending on May 11, 2005. The long march will allow
peace loving people of both countries to participate in the grassroots
initiative for peace and friendship and will help build an atmosphere among the
common people of the two countries which will ultimately persuade the two
governments to follow suit.
For more details about the peace
march or interest in participating in the peace march you may contact the
following.
Karamat Ali Sandeep
Pandey
ST-001, Sector X, Sub-Sector
V A-893,
Indira Nagar
Gulshan-e-Maymar, Karachi – 75340 Lucknow-226016,
U.P.
Pakistan India
Tel: (9221) 6351145, 46, 47 Tel: (0522) 2347365,
Cell: 9839073355
Fax: (9221) 6350354, 6350919 Fax:
(0522) 2353020
e-mail: piler@cyber.net.pk e-mail: bobbyramakant@yahoo.com
Please visit our website at
www.thesouthasian.org and subscribe to indpakpeacemarch@yahoogroups.com
to receive regular information about the peace march or send mail to moderator
at indopakpeacemarch@yahoo.co.uk
SANSAD: South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy
Suite 435, 205 -
329 North Road, Coquitlam, BC,
Canada. V3K 6Z8
Phone
: (604) 420-2972; FAX: (604) 420-2970
Electronic
mail : sansad@sansad.org
[Incorporated in British Columbia under
the Society Act as a Non-Profit Society, # S-31797]
SANSAD invites you to an afternoon Forum to hear the
experiences in Pakistan and India
from
Mr.
Muhammad Mahtab of Vancouver (formerly Capt. in Pakistani Navy) and Drs. Pritam
and Kundan Rohila, of Portland, Oregon on their recent trip to Pakistan and India.
The three were part of a
21-member delegation of Non-Resident Indians and Non-Resident Pakistanis living
in
Canada, the USA
and UK, which recently went
on an unprecedented Peace and Goodwill Mission to Pakistan and India.
The two week trip took the
delegation to Peshawar, Islamabad,
Rawalpindi and Lahore
in Pakistan, and Delhi,
Amritsar, Jammu and Mumbai in India.
They met government leaders, leaders of political parties, grass-root
organizations, academics, journalists, artists, and of course lots of ordinary
people.
And the Delegation conveyed
the message to the rulers of the two countries that good, peaceful, neighborly
relations between India and Pakistan, and
the well-being of the people in the two countries, are matters of as much
concern to the Indians and Pakistanis living abroad as they are to those living
within the countries.
Participatory,
interactive, discussion will be followed by recital of poems and ghazals by the
local artists.
Saturday,
February 26, 2005, 2-5PM
Collingwood Neighbourhood
House
5288 Joyce Street, Vancouver.
The Collignwood Neighbourhood
House is located about two blocks south of the Joyce Street Skytrain station.
Plenty of free parking is available on the street; as well as in the
underground parking lot (entrance to the lot is from Euclid Ave.)
Co-sponsored by Canada
Urdu Association.