The Transforming Role of Education in a Post-Conflict Region in Southeastern Bangladesh

2020 ◽  
pp. 295-310
Author(s):  
Ala Uddin

This paper attempts to provide an insight into the transforming role of education in peace-building in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT). The region has been witnessed ethnic conflict since the mid-1970s. However, the situation intensified with the government sponsored population transfer program (1979 onward), which not only changed the demographic profile, it forcibly displaced many indigenous people—who less than two decades earlier had already been displaced by the Kaptai hydroelectric project (in 1960s). Consequently, the indigenous people who were already in duress because of land scarcity caused by the dam and transmigration faced further survival problem in competition with the Bengali settlers. In this situation, the indigenous people resisted the influx of the Bengali settlers in the hills. In response to the resistance, the Bangladesh government deployed a huge number of military and other armed forces to foil the “insurgency”. In consequence, many incidents of massacre, attack and reprisal attack, killing, sexual violence, etc. took place, often committed by the armed forces and Bengali settlers. However, a couple of initiatives led to a long-awaited agreement in 1997, which formally ended the two and half-decade-long bloody conflict in the hills. Even though 17 years have elapsed since the signing of the Accord, the region is neither a peaceful nor a secured region to its people. Under the circumstances, this paper proposes education can transform the communities toward peaceful coexistence. Addressing the sensitive issues education can contribute to reconstruct and social renewal in the aftermath of violent conflict. Based on empirical findings, also consulted with secondary sources, the paper posits, merely education is not the solution of the long-standing conflict; however, it has significant role to play in peace-building in the post-conflict and conflict-affected societies, like the CHT.

Author(s):  
Ala Uddin

This paper attempts to provide an insight into the transforming role of education in peace-building in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT). The region has been witnessed ethnic conflict since the mid-1970s. However, the situation intensified with the government sponsored population transfer program (1979 onward), which not only changed the demographic profile, it forcibly displaced many indigenous people—who less than two decades earlier had already been displaced by the Kaptai hydroelectric project (in 1960s). Consequently, the indigenous people who were already in duress because of land scarcity caused by the dam and transmigration faced further survival problem in competition with the Bengali settlers. In this situation, the indigenous people resisted the influx of the Bengali settlers in the hills. In response to the resistance, the Bangladesh government deployed a huge number of military and other armed forces to foil the “insurgency”. In consequence, many incidents of massacre, attack and reprisal attack, killing, sexual violence, etc. took place, often committed by the armed forces and Bengali settlers. However, a couple of initiatives led to a long-awaited agreement in 1997, which formally ended the two and half-decade-long bloody conflict in the hills. Even though 17 years have elapsed since the signing of the Accord, the region is neither a peaceful nor a secured region to its people. Under the circumstances, this paper proposes education can transform the communities toward peaceful coexistence. Addressing the sensitive issues education can contribute to reconstruct and social renewal in the aftermath of violent conflict. Based on empirical findings, also consulted with secondary sources, the paper posits, merely education is not the solution of the long-standing conflict; however, it has significant role to play in peace-building in the post-conflict and conflict-affected societies, like the CHT.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Oscar V. Bautista-Cespedes ◽  
Louise Willemen ◽  
Augusto Castro-Nunez ◽  
Thomas A. Groen

AbstractThe Amazon rainforest covers roughly 40% of Colombia’s territory and has important global ecological functions. For more than 50 years, an internal war in the country has shaped this region. Peace negotiations between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) initiated in 2012 resulted in a progressive de-escalation of violence and a complete ceasefire in 2016. This study explores the role of different deforestation drivers including armed conflict variables, in explaining deforestation for three periods between 2001 and 2015. Iterative regression analyses were carried out for two spatial extents: the entire Colombian Amazon and a subset area which was most affected by deforestation. The results show that conflict variables have positive relationships with deforestation; yet, they are not among the main variables explaining deforestation. Accessibility and biophysical variables explain more variation. Nevertheless, conflict variables show divergent influence on deforestation depending on the period and scale of analysis. Based on these results, we develop deforestation risk maps to inform the design of forest conservation efforts in the post-conflict period.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
D.G. Rajitha Nilaksha Rukshan

Historically, Sri Lanka (Ceylon) used to be considered as one of the more stable and secure countries in the South Asian region. In the years after independence it gradually dawned on the government that maintaining national security was a crucial and most challenging contemporary issue faced by the country. At the global level, the role of the Military was understood as being vital for ensuring the safety, security and dignity of the nation-state. And, when national security is threatened on any ground, the military is expected to play a key role in safeguarding it. However, after the military victory was won by defeating the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka in 2009 it was expected that a deep sense of peace and tranquility would be restored in the country. Contrary to this expectation, Sri Lankan national security was breached very badly, leadimg to an unstable situation as a result of a series of bomb blasts set off by certain extremist elements on the 21st of April 2019. In this backdrop, it would be a timely exercise to explore and analyze the Sri Lankan nation stateʼs security, peace building initiatives, and the role of the military. Taking this a step further, this study sought to analyze the role played by the military in the post-conflict peace building process as well. The study used qualitative methodology to conduct the investigation. Secondary data sources including books, articles and official reports were utilized to collect information for this study. This research found that in Sri Lanka the military was actively engaged in maintaining national security by using its soft and hard power as appropriate. This Study also found that lack of a coherent National Security Policy in Sri Lanka has been a key problem that needs to be addressed and corrected soon to ensure the safety and security of the country.


2021 ◽  
Vol 50 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Tunde Abioro ◽  

The cycle of individual and communal lives from birth to death is supposedly preserved by the government through institutions. However, political, social, and economic activities are engaged to make ends meet wherein the government is to serve as an unbiased regulator. The activities that play out in Southern Kaduna reflected politics of being on one side with interplay on origin, identity, religion, and locality. On the other hand, it reflects politics of belonging that play on kin, reciprocity, and stranger status. It has thus resulted in violence, suspicion, and persistent conflict. The study examines citizen’s inclusiveness in peacebuilding initiatives and the people’s perception of the sincerity of the government. The research relies on secondary sources where governmental and non-governmental publications and documents from relevant and reliable sources enriched the socio-historical approach, particularly those relating to contestation in the region. The study found out that just like situations in the other northwest states of the country, the crisis exacerbates by the government’s inability to mediate fairly between warring parties to ensure fairness and justice as well as failure to apprehend and punish the culprits, even as recommendations from the various interventions were unimplemented. Thus, the spate of violence continues.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Dylan Page

<p>The potential role of women in conflict and post-conflict environments has been the subject of much debate in the field of peace and conflict studies. In 2000 the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1325, which called for a greater involvement of women and acknowledgement of gender issues in conflict and post-conflict environments, and this has led to further discussion about what this might mean and how it might be implemented. Despite this women are continually under-represented in nearly all peace processes and there is no universally agreed upon way to ensure this situation does not come about. The barriers women face range from cultural to logistical and economic, and surmounting them can be hard to achieve.  One case where women have been involved at all levels in the peace process with substantial success is the Pacific island of Bougainville, where a conflict over mining issues and secession from Papua New Guinea was waged from 1988-1997. Women were active in attempts to bring all parties to negotiations during the conflict and have also been heavily involved in the continuing reconciliation and healing processes. For cultural reasons Bougainvillean women were well placed to perform the role of peace-builders but that is not to say that they did not face challenges and barriers to their involvement. This thesis examines the involvement of women in both the immediate peace negotiations and the longer-term aspects of the peace process in Bougainville in order explain how and why they enjoyed these successes and what lessons can be learnt from this case in regards to the potential roles of women in other post-conflict environments. Four factors will be identified as key to women's involvement in the peace process: the history of Bougainville up to and including the conflict; the grassroots mobilisation and organisation of women; the traditional cultural roles of women in Bougainville; and the identification of women with motherhood and its associated traits.  These factors indicate that the involvement of women in peace processes is highly context-specific and although there are policies which can be pursued to encourage their participation the potential barriers to this are imposing.</p>


Author(s):  
Elena DE OLIVEIRA SCHUCK ◽  
Lívia BRITO

Armed conflicts have different impacts on women. In this regard, women’s civil society organizations are inserted in the international political arenas in order to guarantee their rights in warfare contexts. In the case of conflicts in Colombia, women are identified not only as combatants and victims, but also as members of women civil organizations for peacebuilding. These organizations played a prominent role in the elaboration of the peace agreement between the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in Havana, Cuba, between 2012 and 2016. This article proposes an analysis of the theoretical production on peace, international security, feminism and subalternity, to present the specific case of the conflict in Colombia and its gender perspectives. The results indicate that peace agreements can be instruments of political inclusion and reparation for women affected by armed conflicts. In highlighting the role of political minorities in the international peace negotiations in Colombia, this research contributes to the development and expansion of critical perspectives —feminist and subaltern— on international security and studies for peace. Moreover, building upon the specific analysis of the Havana Agreement, this paper aims to contribute to the inclusion of a gender perspective in future peace agreements.


Author(s):  
Gray Christine

This final chapter examines the role of regional peacekeeping, the limitations on what may be expected from it, and the uncertainties about the applicable law that remained at the end of the Cold War. The UN Secretary General, in his 1991 Agenda for Peace, argued that the regional organizations possessed a potential that should be used for preventive diplomacy, peacekeeping, peacemaking, and post-conflict peace building. Since then the UN has increased its cooperation with regional organizations in the sphere of peacekeeping. The Brahimi Report and the 2015 High-level Panel Report made recommendations on the division of labour between the UN and regional organizations in the light of their comparative advantages. Today, regional organizations, and particularly the African Union, operate as ‘first responders’ when the UN is not willing or able to take swift action in situations of ongoing conflict.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 211-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qasim Ali Shah ◽  
Bahadar Nawab ◽  
Tahir Mehmood

Peacebuilding is a continuous process to transform conflicts into development opportunities for and by the stakeholders. This article explores the role of stakeholders in post-conflict peacebuilding in Swat. Applying Constructivist paradigm and Discourse Analysis, 80 semi-structured interviews were conducted by incorporating local community, civil society and the government. Study finds out that cultural, political, social and economic tiers of peacebuilding measures in Swat hardly achieved its purpose. The lack of institutional coordination and gaps in peacebuilding measures are important hurdles, which needs to be minimized for sustainable development processes in Swat.


Subject The rising threat from BACRIM. Significance Organised criminal groups are now the non-state actors most frequently responsible for internal displacement of Colombians, according to a recent UN report. There is also evidence that the so-called BACRIM (criminal bands) are seeking to fill the vacuum after an eventual demobilisation of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The BACRIM, and Los Urabenos in particular, have expanded control over rural areas and the mining sector, posing a threat as the government seeks to attract foreign investment to boost development in a post-conflict environment. Impacts Criminal violence in cities along the western coast is already causing damage to Colombia's international image. Increased insecurity perceptions risk marring the political and economic benefits the government expects from the peace process. Criminal groups such as Los Urabenos will benefit from the vacuum left by the FARC if a peace treaty is signed later this year.


2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 75
Author(s):  
Husnul Khotimah

This paper intends to explore the events of the conflict on 23 May 1997 from the aspect of the peaceful resolution. Where a peace-building effort is needed to maintain a peaceful situation. With the collective memory being represented in the present mass, it is part of the form of efforts in fostering post-conflict sustainable peace. Through the elements of society (Non-Governmental Actor) the memory of conflict is represented in the public sphere as a form of warning against forgetting over history.The role of a non-governmental actor in peacebuilding has a strategic role in resolving conflicts and building peace post-conflict. There are three things raised in this research that is: The incident of conflict "Jum'at Kelabu" in the city of Banjarmasin in 1997, a collective memory form of conflict that built elements of society after the conflict, and the views of elements of society to the collective memory that was represented in the present in the effort to build peacebuilding. This research is a qualitative research, using a sociology-historical approach. The method used in data collection is through observation, interview, and documentation as secondary data. From the results of data analysis, the following results are obtained: the conflict that occurred in Banjarmasin city has a long chronology, the cause of this conflict is an unclear campaign route, the party base that controls Banjarmasin, because the mass of one the OPP that interfere with the Friday prayer, and aggressiveness of campaign participants. The form of peacebuilding efforts of the elements of society is to take peaceful action down the street, discussion/dialogue, and watching a documentary film. Elements of society argue that bringing back the memory of the conflict has two impacts: negative and positive impacts on people’s lives thereafter. These efforts need to be built to create an awareness that the conflict is painful, unpleasant and disturbing so hopefully it will never happen again.


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