Peace Bridges recognises the potential of mediation, conciliation and peace education to transform conflicting partes to more sustainable and fairer agreements than arbitrated or advocacy based agreements in many instances. Yet it is also appreciated that these same processes can lead to the abuse of power especially among the vulnerable when seeking fair outcomes from people in strong positions of power. This is particularly the case in a country where a system of patronage often combined with passivity leads to accommodation and avoidance from parties and mediators in conflicts.
Peace Bridges seeks to avoid conflicting parties being affected negatively by well meaning peace builders by:
- educating peace builders on mediation and conciliation ethics and limitations,
- developing effective conflict analysis skills, monitoring the inputs of peace builders, including checking agreements made as part of supervision,
- ongoing education through the Peace Builders Alliance,
- training in gender based violence,
- educating peace builders on the broader matrix of conflict resolution processes of which conciliation and mediation has values within limits,
- building good referral networks to relevant advocacy and network building groups.
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