Category: Past Events Published Date
Date: 03 Apr 2009
Title: Resolving Conflict between Communities - from Kashmir to East London
Speakers: Ashima Kaul (Peace Direct, Kashmir), Bilal Hafeez, Halima Hussain (Muslim Mediation Service, Newham)
Event Details
We are pleased to host a number of speakers who will explore case studies of how to resolve local conflicts at home and abroad.
Bilal Hafeez will introduce Peace Direct and its work.
Ashima Kaul will speak about the situation in Kashmir and her work in bringing Muslim, Hindu and Sikh women together with a view to building foundations for peace.
Halima Hussain will speak about the situation in Newham and the way that Community Conversations have been used to bring people together.
Truce 20/20 participants will share one of their exercises in conflict resolution.
Ashima Kaul is a journalist by training. Born in Kashmir, she left when still a child. She returned to Kashmir as a journalist and was shocked to see young unmarried women queueing up for sterilization, because of their fear of rape. She also saw wives waiting outside the prison, from the Hindu and Muslim communities, facing the same issues yet isolated from each other. She determined to dedicate her life to bridging the gap between the two communities, creating samanbals where women could meet each other in safety, while developing the means to earn a living. Her latest report is attached as an Annex. Peace Direct recruits people in the UK to support Ashima's work on a long term basis.
Halima Hussain (formely Arif) started as a volunteer for Newham Conflict and Change's Muslim Mediation Service in Oct 2004, and is currently the Service Development Officer. She has experience in mediation for both families and neighbour disputes, developing training programmes as well as setting up Muslim Mediation Service as a Charity Organisation. She is in the process of qualifying as an accountant and in Life Coaching.
Muslim Mediation Service works mostly with Muslim families helping them to find ways to resolve their issues through communication. All Muslim Mediation Service volunteers have the opportunity to volunteer for Conflict and Change in neighbour disputes as well. MMS also works with C&C on community conversation projects, bringing different people within the community together to have their say on issues that are affecting them and also an opportunity to hear from other people in their community.
Truce 20/20 is a project (jointly run by Newham Conflict and Change and Peace Direct) that trains young people in Newham, East London, in conflict resolution and community leadership. As part of the training, participants meet an overseas peacebuilder, such as Ashima, and learn from their experience of working in 'hot conflict.' Truce 20/20 is eighteen months old, but already the participants have formed a Steering Committee to direct the project, and are working in schools with peer mediators, and with the police and other community based services. Participants are drawn from a wide range of ethnic and religious backgrounds, with a significant minority on each course being Muslims. In the light of recent events in Gaza, Truce participants are hoping to set up a community conversation with young people from the Jewish community in neighbouring Ilford.
Free Entrance. All Welcome.