June 21, 2002	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 9, 1423

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

PESHAWAR,  June 20: Highlighting the importance of resolution of conflicts for peaceful co-existence of different segments in a society, speakers at a training workshop on Wednesday said that people should be made aware about causes of conflicts and their resolution.

The three-day workshop on “Conflict transformation and peace building in Pakistan and Afghanistan in a 2002 world,” was arranged by the Conflict Transformation Programme of Eastern Mennonite University, Virginia, in collaboration with Save the Children, Sweden.

Head of United Nations High Commission for Refugees here, Masti Notz, was the chief guest in the concluding ceremony.

Ali Gohar and Hassan Yousafzai, Fulbright scholars at the programme,  Mehmood  Asghar of Save the Children and Asadullah Akramyar of Danish Committee for Afghan Refugees also spoke. The speakers said that if there was peace on community level only then it could be extended further.

Mr Gohar and Mr Yousafzai explained the root causes of conflicts, mechanisms of conflict transformation, importance of communication in conflict transformation and the Restorative Justice System (RJS).

Mr Gohar said restorative justice was a process whereby parties with a stake in an offence resolved collectively how to deal with its aftermath and its implication.

He said the system recognized that offenders harmed victims, communities and even themselves, and added that it involved the government, the offender, the victims and communities. “It measures success in terms of how many harms are repaired or  prevented,”  he said.

He gave examples of America, New Zealand and Australia where RJS was in vogue with the criminal justice system. He said the Jirga system was also a kind of RJS as the community sat together to transform conflicts.