Coalition for Peace in Africa
COPA

ADVANCED CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION COURSE

Duration: 30th May – 1st July 2005
Location: Elijah Barayi Training Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa
Language of facilitation: English, with translation into French and Portuguese
Closing date for applications: April 28, 2005

The Coalition for Peace in Africa (COPA) is a membership network of individuals and organisations working for sustainable peace in Africa. It aims to be a resource for African wisdom and expertise able to respond effectively to the conflicts besetting different parts of Africa. It connects people working for peace and development, human rights and related goals, in Anglophone, Lusophone and Francophone countries throughout Africa.

Twice a year, COPA holds a 5-week training workshop. This course covers diverse aspects of conflict transformation and peace building, and is aimed at building the capacity of participants, mostly from the African continent, working for development, human rights, peace, justice and related fields. The purposes of this course are to:

• Explore why and how people and organisations organise and to share strategies for building networks and coordinating the programmes of different stakeholders
• Introduce tools and skills for analysing conflicts that can assist in identifying intervention strategies to reduce and prevent violence.
• Identify the origins and causes of new and ongoing conflicts in Africa and their links to continental and global factors
• Support and strengthen skills for facilitating dialogue, including communication and facilitation skills, negotiation, mediation and arbitration.
• Explore ways of providing support between practitioners and policy makers active in the field of Conflict transformation and Development
• Develop strategies to train other people working for development, human rights and reconciliation in methods of transforming conflict and preventing violence as well as the monitoring and evaluation of these initiatives.
• Develop capacity within organizations for conflict sensitive planning and implementation of development, humanitarian and peace building programmes.
• Develop a vision for Africa that reflects African values and capacities for peace

The course has been designed specifically for people who want to focus on conflict in Africa. Although it will include an analysis of global events and their impact on Africa, emphasis will be placed on culturally sensitive and sustainable responses to regional and community conflicts in Africa. Participants should bring to the course case studies and examples of conflict transformation from their own experience and research. Throughout the course there is a strong focus on personal development and the need for individuals and organizations to form networks, coalitions and alliances with others working in similar fields. By the end of the course each participant is expected to have designed an action strategy, which is developed further and implemented on his or her return. Participants who complete the training will be awarded the Advanced Certificate in Conflict Transformation

Programme:

Module One: Organising for change
Observations and Perception
Bringing about organisational change: Why and how we organise
Networking, coalitions and alliances
Perspectives on world peace
Understanding concepts: Peace, conflict, violence and development
Developing a relationship model between these concepts

Module Two: The dynamics of conflict
Why and how we analyse
Approaches to analysis
Tools for conflict analysis and solving problems
Situation analysis
Developing case studies and intervention opportunities
Processing trauma
Faith, values and religion in Africa
Facilitating dialogue, mediation, negotiation and arbitration
Advocacy, lobbying and campaigning
Reconciliation and reintegration

Module Three: Conflict Intervention in Africa
Changing environments and political systems in Africa
Demilitarisation
Culture and tradition
African renaissance, NEPAD and the AU
Building an African Vision
Human rights and African values

Module Four: The way forward for peace
Conflict and sustainable development
‘Do no Harm’
Impact and effectiveness
Monitoring and Evaluation
Mainstreaming conflict sensitivity in project planning
Developing context specific action strategies

The course includes tours to local places of interest as well as opportunities to make contacts with local organisations.

For organisations:

This course is particularly concerned with strengthening people’s capacities to improve their organisations’ effectiveness in responding to conflicts they encounter in their work. We would particularly encourage organisations to send participants whose knowledge and experiences will be easily shared with the rest of the organisation.

COPA strongly requests organisations wishing to enrol their staff for this course to prepare the participants in the following ways:

• Identify the organisation’s expectations of the course.
• Identify the participant’s objectives for the course.
• How will the participant use the learning obtained from this course in the organisation?
• How does the organisation propose to integrate the participant’s learning and experience?

Facilitators:

Four COPA members from the African continent will facilitate the course. COPA facilitators take a participatory approach, emphasising experiential learning. They have experience of living and working on the continent and internationally. The course process and content will be developed by the facilitators in-line with participants needs.

In addition to the full-time tutors, resource specialists from external institutions will conduct sessions on particular topics.

Participants:

The course is aimed particularly at:
• Development and relief workers operating in contexts of conflict and violence in Africa.
• NGOs wanting to develop their programme beyond development and emergency relief to include advocacy, lobbying, peace building and reconciliation.
• Peace and justice workers from religious institutions
• Human rights workers interested in Conflict Transformation.
• Those wanting to explore African cultural mechanisms for peace making.

We encourage people from Francophone and Lusophone countries to apply. While the course in conducted in English care will be taken not to disadvantage any language groups. Women are particularly encouraged to apply.

If you have special needs that you fear may affect your participation please let us know. Every effort will be made to accommodate these needs.

Numbers on each course are restricted. It is advisable to apply as soon as possible.

Course Fees:

Tuition fee: $1,500
Accommodation, extra curricular activities and medical insurance: $2,000
Total fee: $3,500

A non-refundable deposit of $500 is required to secure a place upon acceptance.

Participants will need about $300 to cover personal expenses within south Africa.

It is the applicants’ responsibility to ensure they have all necessary funds before travelling to South Africa.

Scholarships:

Limited funds are available to support those unable to raise the full fees. Scholarships will be awarded primarily on the basis of the context in which the applicant is working and their need for such training. Other factors taken into account include, prior experience, diversity of applicants (age, gender, nationality, experience etc) and the demonstrated commitment and motivation of applicants. Applicants for scholarships should complete section 4 of the application form as early as possible. This should include an explanation of why they require a partial scholarship and should list the other sources of funds they have approached. Participants should first seek funding from their employer, partner organisations or donors already familiar with their work. COPA can offer advice to applicants on how to find alternative sources of funding.

For further information on COPA and the ACT Course please contact:

COPA Continental Secretariat
Post: P.O. Box 61753-00200 City Square, Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: (254-020) 2736565
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.copafrica.org