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Workshop on Peaceful Resistance & Conflict Management

Kesang Renchen
Program Officer

Background
MS Nepal’s increased focus on pluralism and advocacy has resulted in partnership with local organizations that are working on human rights issues. This has brought to the forefront the need for partner organizations to be well versed and equipped with means for peaceful resistance and conflict management. Keeping this in mind MS Nepal organized the first part of Peaceful Resistance in Conflict Management Workshop on July 25-27 2001 in Lalitpur.

The workshop was designed by an external consultant in cooperation with MS Nepal’s Pluralism Working Group members. The emphasis regarding the methodology was on participatory approach and on putting forward the peaceful means perspective.

A short but revealing discussion resulted in changing the original title of the workshop from Peaceful Resistance and Conflict Resolution to Peaceful Resistance and Conflict Management. It was felt by the team taking part in the initial designing session that the word “Management” gave a different perspective to Conflict. It reflected Conflict more as a challenge and made one look at a difficult situation in a more proactive way.

Objective of Workshop 
Twenty-three participants mainly consisting of representatives from MS Nepal partner organizations attended the three-day workshop aimed at helping the participants understand and learn the different factors which play key role in enhancing conflict, perceive that peaceful resistance represents a certain perspective on conflict and learn that various means can be used to respond to conflict for peaceful social change. 
The workshop was quite fruitful in the sense that the participants were able to identify and establish patterns of Leadership; reach a common understanding on conflict, methods of analyzing and responding to conflict; identify patterns of conflict; tools for conflict resolution; and various peaceful means of conflict management such as diplomacy track one & multi track, non violent peaceful resistance and civil disobedience.

What Next
The turn out in the first session was more than expected and participants were quite enthusiastic and inspired. The participants also were quick to adapt the usefulness of the lessons learned from the workshop in issues ranging from family situations, gender issues, organizational conflicts to national issues of ethnic minority’s and marginalized caste groups’ rights. 
In keeping with the general consensus it was agreed that MS Nepal would keep to the original plan and organize a follow up workshop within September 2001. The same participants have been requested to participate as far as possible. A full report on the workshop will be ready for distribution before the second workshop.