In the Field

Promoting non-violent resolution of conflict at all local levels will be essential to bringing, and sustaining, peace and stability to Afghanistan.  In Afghanistan's recent history, the most effective agents in advancing peace and security at the local level have been indigenous structures such as shura and jirga councils, as well as Maliks.

USIP, at the request of the Pakistani Institute of Legislative Development And Transparency (PILDAT), held a series of workshops for women parliamentarians and politicians on "Conflict Management and Negotiation Styles" recently in Islamabad and Karachi.

Ted Feifer and Mary Hope Schwoebel led a seminar at the Defense Institute of International Legal Studies (DIILS) in Newport, Rhode Island for twenty-seven military officers and civilian government officials from seventeen countries, October 29-31, 2008.

Senior Program Officers Keith Bowen and Nina Sughrue, in conjunction with a local partner, recently conducted a training workshop in conflict resolution in Kabul for 34 Afghans from across the NGO spectrum. The objective was to synthesize traditional Afghan and USIP-based methods of conflict resolution.

Ted Feifer and Nina Sughrue led this program for businesswomen in Central Asia held in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, March 4-6, 2008. This was the seventh workshop we have held in Central Asia since 2002, and our fifth partnership with the Businesswomen’s Association of Uzbekistan (BWA).