Dissertation Title: Establishing a Conflict Resolution and Mediation Center in Kigali, Rwanda As the candidate's supervisor, I consent to the submission of this thesis for examination. Informal discussions were also held with key informants to assess the relevance and contribution of a conflict resolution and mediation centre. The study showed strong support for the initiative to establish a conflict resolution and mediation center as a means of dealing with conflicts in a constructive manner.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
- Introduction
- Background to the topic
- The overall objective and the specific aims
- Study rationale
- The scope of the study
- Significance of the study
- Research methods
- The structure of the dissertation
This study will therefore focus on the establishment of the conflict resolution and mediation center in Kigali. The study will be carried out in Rwanda, especially in the city of Kigali, within those institutions that mainly handle or encounter human complaints or mainly advocate human rights. The literature review will also be undertaken to develop an understanding of the subject (conflict resolution and mediation).
KEY CONCEPTS IN UNDERSTANDING
Introduction
Definitions of key concepts
- Conflict management
- Conflict resolution
- Conflict transformation
- Conflict and violence
- Conflict as inevitable, violence as a choice
- Negotiation
- Mediation
It is embedded and built around the immediacy of the relationship where the symptoms of disruptions appear. One of the factors that hinders effective negotiation is the way negotiators frame or describe a problem. It is not actual changes in needs or interests, but people's perceptions of them, that largely determine the course of negotiations.
Specifically, Isenhart and Spangle (2000) describe mediation as a process in which a third neutral party – the mediator – who is not primarily concerned with the content of the conflict, impartial and has no power to impose a decision, guides disputing parties. through a non-adversarial discussion process aimed at settling their disputes. In this regard, Isenhart and Spangle (2000, p. 76) argue that “The best mediators show empathy at appropriate points to let the parties know that their concerns matter.
The effectiveness of education and training in dealing with conflict
Reductions in levels of aggression and violence have been observed where peace education topics have been introduced into school and university curricula, for example in Japan, Australia, Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom, the United States, and South America (Harris, 2004). Nevo and Brem (2002) conducted a study on the evaluation of the effectiveness of peace education programs at all levels of education and criteria. The study found that between 1981 and 2000, nearly 300 studies described the peace education program and 79 specifically analyzed the effectiveness of the program.
Another study (Kaman and Harris, 2000) surveyed students at the University of Papua New Guinea to assess the effectiveness of changes in peace education. The same questionnaire was presented to two different groups of students: Political students and Peace Studies students. The study found that students had significant and higher scores on critical thinking and values after studying Peace Studies.
Teaching methods, discipline methods, classroom and school decision-making processes, and all aspects of the school environment must be part of education for peace, just like the curriculum itself. Nevertheless, as argued above, schools and universities are not the only contexts in which peace education is possible. In this regard, Harris (2004) argues that peace education can be undertaken throughout society through the mass media, through religious organizations, through community structures and publicity campaigns.
I agree with the statements of the Seville scholars (UNESCO, 1986) when they urge us to enable peace in the minds of our educators at all levels and in those who will benefit from it.
METHODOLOGY
- Introduction
- Qualitative research and procedure
- Recruiting participants and sampling
- The interview process
- Some challenges
- Data analysis
- The procedure
- Reliability and validity
- Documentary analysis
- Informal discussion
- Ethical considerations
- Limitations to the study
- Conclusion
One of the main aims of qualitative research is to give the researcher the maximum opportunity to learn from the participants, therefore this requires data collection to be flexible. It also helped me collect subtle verbal and non-verbal messages from the participants in as much detail as possible. Its critics argue that qualitative researchers may deviate from the original goals of the research in response to the changing nature of the context.
This means that research decisions are made in incremental response according to the nature of the social environment under investigation as its nature is revealed. With participants consenting to take part in the study, the way to document an interview was to take extensive field notes of the participant's responses. Another thing, which is no less important, is that I tried to make sure that I was in the interview room well before the appointment time.
This challenge was given some explanation about the purpose and nature of the study and was given confidentiality. I decided to use thematic analysis because it focuses on identifiable themes and patterns of lifestyle or behavior, providing a much broader understanding of the participants' responses. The first step was to collect data mainly through in-depth interviews with the participants.
Before conducting the interviews, the researcher explained to the participants that the data will only be used for the stated purpose of the research and they were assured that no other person will have access to the interview data.
CONFLICT IN KIGALI
- Introduction
- Nature of conflicts
- Extent of the conflicts
- Causes of conflicts
- Domestic conflicts
- Land and expropriation conflicts
- Property and succession conflicts
- Ethnic conflicts
- Consequences of the conflicts
- Domestic conflicts
- Land and expropriation conflicts
- Property and succession conflicts
- Methods used to deal with conflicts in Kigali
- Ways used in dealing with conflicts
- Effectiveness of the ways used in dealing with conflicts
- Conclusion
As shown in Table 3, 80% of respondents reported that family conflict or domestic violence is common in Kigali, while 60% of respondents mentioned disputes over property or ownership and inheritance. 45% of respondents indicated that land disputes and expropriation are taking place in the city of Kigali, while 35% mentioned ethnic conflicts. This is why there are also land disputes in the city of Kigali due to the high rate of expropriation in support of Vision 2020 (the Rwandan government's plan to accelerate development and eradicate poverty by the end of 2020).
In this study, participants indicated several ways to resolve conflicts in Kigali. As shown in Table 5, judicial process or judicial process is the one most frequently used (at 95%) for conflict resolution, while respondents reported that sensitization and law-making are used by 65% for conflict resolution in Kigali. . In our sample, participants were asked to rate the effectiveness of those methods used to resolve conflicts in Kigali.
According to the results from the table above, most of the ways used to handle conflicts in Kigali were reported by the respondents as ineffective. Moreover, with the informal discussions conducted by the researcher with several different people (police staff, lawyers, court officials) there is a belief that a proper attention should be focused on how to deal with conflicts in Kigali in particular and in society Rwandan in general. The data shows that in Kigali there are major types of conflicts with serious negative consequences.
The following chapter will deal with the survey conducted in connection with the establishment of a conflict resolution center and mediation center in Kigali for the purpose of effective conflict management.
ESTABLISHING A CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND
- Introduction
- The attitudes towards establishment of the centre
- Reasons for establishing a conflict resolution and mediation centre
- Other possible functions of the centre
- Interest by people to do training at the centre
- A strategic plan for the centre
- The vision of the centre
- The mission of the centre
- The centre’s principles
- The strategies of the centre
- Other actions needed to fulfil its mission
- Human and financial resources
- Personnel
- Finances
- Conclusion
The center should provide ongoing training for center staff on conflict management and resolution; The Center was also proposed to train public administration personnel in dispute resolution to improve their ability to deal effectively with conflicts. In any case, from the results of the survey, the attitude of the respondents towards the establishment of the center is very positive.
The center will train people to communicate and solve the problem themselves by facilitating group meetings. Empowering center staff by training them in conflict resolution through workshops and seminars; To be successful, the creation of the center requires time and planning, good organization and well-done awareness.
As we have mentioned above, once the center is established, it has different goals to achieve. For its effective functioning, the center will definitely have good staff who are highly engaged in conflict resolution and peace studies. Without hindering the independence of the centre, the financial help from the state institutions would also be welcomed.
Most of the surveyed respondents reported reasons justifying the importance of the center and welcomed its establishment.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
General conclusion
Regarding the ways used to deal with conflicts, this study found five main ways currently used to deal with conflicts: litigation or court proceedings, traditional conciliation/mediation and conciliation facilitated by public administration, sensitization and education about laws that family, property and succession control. ; counseling to the persons concerned and advocacy by human rights NGOs or civil society towards the government. However, it was revealed that the majority of cases are reported to courts or public administration. Regarding the effectiveness of these ways of dealing with conflicts, the vast majority of respondents reported that they were almost totally ineffective.
Chapter 5 reports that the attitude towards the idea of establishing a dispute resolution and mediation center in Kigali was very positive. The participants also gave specific reasons why they think the idea is very good (see chapter 5.3). Based on these results, the study then offered a number of recommendations that we hope will represent constructive suggestions for how the center should operate.
Recommendations
It was also observed that the establishment of the conflict resolution center could play a positive role in reducing the number of cases reported to state institutions and courts. Without interfering in any way with its function, we recommend the Rwandan government to financially support the establishment of the center or other initiatives in conflict resolution;. The Rwandan government should encourage students to study conflict resolution and provide scholarships to those who wish to do so;.
Many NGOs and churches in Rwanda have good programs related to the social and economic development of the community. NGOs and church organizations should take within their responsibilities the initiative of promoting conflict resolution by supporting the establishment of the conflict resolution center and should be among its main donors. NGOs especially those that protect human rights and all churches should include conflict resolution in their programs.
According to the results of this study, a high rate of domestic conflict has been observed in recent years, while the Rwandan family has normally been a smooth and peaceful place for a long time. Harris, G., 2004, Achieving Security in Sub-Saharan Africa: Cost-Effective Alternatives to the Military, Pretoria: Institute of Security Studies. Objective: To investigate the main types of conflict in Kigali and to evaluate the possibility of establishing a conflict resolution and mediation center.
ICYITONDERWA: Ibisubizo kubibazo byavuzwe haruguru byababajijwe bizakusanywa ukoresheje imbonerahamwe ikurikira. Ndateganya gushinga ikigo gikemura amakimbirane i Kigali gifite intego ebyiri: guhugura abantu muburyo bunoze bwo gukemura amakimbirane no gutanga serivisi z'abunzi zifasha abantu mugihe badashobora gukemura amakimbirane bonyine. Intego: Kumenya ubwoko bwingenzi bwamakimbirane muri Kigali no gusuzuma niba hashobora kubaho ikigo kigamije gukemura amakimbirane.
