A series of capacity building workshops for members of the regional Muslim Peace Assemblies under the theme “Conflict Transformation and Role of Civil Society” has been initiated by PSM.

Training programs were held in Ampara (17th October 2009) and Batticaloa (18th October 2009) in the respective regional offices with the participation of all members of the MPA. Resource person for this workshop was Ms. Monica Alfred who is a trainer, coach and consultant in non-violent conflict resolution and psychosocial support.

Workshop for the Puttalam MPA was held on 24 October 2009 at the PSM regional office in Puttalam. Ms. Vathsala Vasu, Lecturer, Department of History & International Relations, University of Colombo was the resource person at this workshop. Ms. Vasu is qualified in the field of conflict transformation and is a trainer in several NGOs.

The workshops gave the participants an introduction to the concept of conflict, tools of conflict analysis and conflict transformation in the post-war situation. Presentations and interactive group sessions including group discussions were held to train the participants how to practically confront conflict situations in the region and to apply conflict transformation methods. They were also encouraged by the resource person to apply positive thinking when dealing with a conflict situation.

Similar programs will be held in Galle and Trincomalee next month.