Feature

Conveying the message of Peace and Conflict Resolution

Munaf M Chowdhury

CONFLICTS seem to be a fact of life that we cannot be indifferent to. Different people and groups with different goals and needs have come into conflicts and we all know the often intense personal, social and political animosity that can result from it. The fact that conflict exists, however, may not necessarily yield a negative consequence. As long as it is resolved effectively, it can lead to personal and professional growth. In many cases, effective conflict resolution skills can make the difference between positive and negative outcomes.

Dr. Amr Abdalla, Professor and Vice Rector of University of Peace (UPeace) stayed in Bangladesh for a little over 3 weeks in order to promote this ideology of Peace and Conflict Resolution. University of Peace, which is based in Costa Rico, has come into collaboration with the Peace and Conflict Resolution Department of Dhaka University (DU). Every year, a professor of UPeace will come to Bangladesh to take a course in this department and some young faculties from DU will be invited to be trained at the UPeace. This same program is running in 16 other developing countries like India, Pakistan, and Sierra Leone.

Dr. Amr Abdalla obtained a law degree in Egypt in 1977 where he practiced as a prosecuting attorney from 1978 to 1987. He then immigrated to the United States where he obtained a Master’s degree in Sociology and a Ph.D. in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University. He has been teaching graduate classes on conflict resolution and peace building programs in Egypt, Switzerland, Burundi, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Italy, Rwanda, Ireland, Iraq, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Zambia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, India and Sri lanka.

He took the course Research Methodology for Peace and Conflict Resolution through which he tried to promote the idea of youth advancing towards a less violent and corrupt world. He was helped by an Assistant Professor of the Department of Peace and Conflict Resolution, Mr. Saber Chowdhury throughout his stay here. It was a 3 weeks long with 4 hour classes everyday. About 40 students took part in the course and interestingly, some of them were even from different departments.

The course was very interactive with intense participation from the students. It taught the students to integrate Western perspectives with that of the developing world. He shared the experiences that he faced regarding Peace and Conflict Resolution in Sierra Leone, Liberia and other countries. The students were also given a thorough tutorial of the SPSS software for data research. One of his students from the course was enthralled by how Dr. Abdalla adds a lot of humor to the course and makes even the driest topics interesting. Dr. Abdalla always emphasizes on relating the theories to practical life. He believes that this course is different as it emphasizes on the fact that researches done in this course is in order to bring about changes rather than doing it for just the sake of it. Researches related to Peace and Conflict Resolution, are aimed to give voice to the voiceless.

Dr. Abdalla also conducted a workshop titled "Peace and Conflict Resolution Workshop" which was held on April 17 and 18, 2009 respectively. It was jointly organized by UPeace and a worldwide transformational movement, Jaagoron. It was held in the Dhaka University premises. The workshop was aimed to develop participants' knowledge and skills of conflict intervention, including conflict management, resolution and transformation as well as develop negotiation skills, with clear appreciation of cultural factors. Another fundamental objective of the workshop was to ensuring participants' ability to apply knowledge and skills gained from training to all levels of conflict: interpersonal, community, business, international etc. The workshop ended with a distribution of certificates, issued by the UPeace among participating individuals.