Workshop on: Civil Society Cohesion Building on Afghan Peace Process
Dates: March 24 and 25, 2021
Location: Banoo Restaurant; Pul-e-Khumri city; Province of Baghlan
Number of participants: 20 people (10 men and 10 women)
In line with the project ” Civil Society Cohesion Building on Afghan Peace Process ” Mediothek Afghanistan successfully organized a two-day workshop in Baghlan province. Two-day workshop ” Civil Society Cohesion Building on Afghan Peace Process ” the trainers continued their work according to the pre-planned agenda after registering the participants, welcoming and presenting them the workshop protocol, pre-training assessment, and describing the objectives of the program.
The participants believed that all the problems and challenges were rooted in the lack of peace and the continuation of the war. To address these issues, the participants were asked, “What are the main causes and roots of the war in Afghanistan?”.
Based on their perceptions of the objective realities of Afghanistan, the participants identified and isolated the causes and roots of the war and its aftermath in an open space and in group work. The participants pointed out that insecurity, widespread corruption in government institutions, poor governance, violence against women, patriarchy, ethnic prejudices, lack of mutual acceptance, armed opposition, lack of national unity, the monopoly of political power, widespread poverty, drugs, the existence of addicts, was partly due to the war’s causes and partly due to the war’s consequences. Here, too, the views of the participants were different, who, after discussions in the working group, realized that the two main factors of the war and instability were:
• The existence of ethnic prejudices
• Political deprivation
After the discussions of the participants, it became clear that peace will not be possible until the main roots of the war in Afghanistan are properly identified and everyone agrees on it, and work is not done to eradicate it together.
Are we a nation?
The participants were determined to support any program that seeks to really eradicate the roots of the war and to work together to strengthen and implement it so that the war is over and lasting peace is established in the country. The participants discussed Afghanistan, recalling the historical events of the last century and specially the last four decades.
When asked, “Are we a nation?”, Mohammad Wasim Momand the Director of the NSRDO responded that “we are not yet a nation. Lack of mutual understanding, linguistic prejudices and ethnicity indicate that we are not a nation and if we accept each other we would become a nation.”
Even more the participants added that ignorance and illiteracy, prioritizing personal and family interests over national interests, show that we are not a nation. The participants also stressed that the encroachment of foreign countries in order to secure their own interests is another factor that has prevented us from becoming a nation. Afghans still do not have a strategic friend, and all relations are based on interests.
Another question was posed to the participants: “Does Afghanistan have a strategic friend?” In this case, too, the opinions and views of the participants were completely negative.
Participants stated that we do not have a strategic ally because, for many years, all ties between neighboring countries or other countries wishing to have a presence in Afghanistan have been based on their interests, with policies established in response. There are poverty and many other things that have made us dependent on following the policies of foreign countries, all of which are basically a tool of pressure on the Afghan government. Participants also stressed that it is now up to Afghan politicians to seize the opportunity to work on the peace process, understanding the gaps that have arisen in the past.
What is peace?
In accordance with the agenda, the participants worked on understanding the concept of peace. Participants first presented their perceptions of peace, which included the following concepts and meanings: Peace is a peaceful environment in which all citizens of the country live in peace, or peace means reconciliation, compromise, renunciation of peace, strengthening security, all-round stability, ensuring social justice without discrimination, the process of eradicating conflict and war in order to create a peaceful society and full of love, peace defined the end of the war between two groups.
After hearing the participants’ perceptions and opinions, the main concept of peace was expressed by the teacher to the participants as follows: “Peace is the existence of relations, peaceful coexistence, and active and honest cooperation between members of society to achieve lofty goals such as justice, security. It is the development, progress, and strengthening of national unity.” This comprehensive definition was able to change the different views, perceptions, and understandings that existed about the definition of peace among the participants into a single view.
We do not have generally accepted national values?
On the subject of national values, the participants had different views and opinions, and each of them considered cases and phenomena as national values.
“National Anthem, People’s Culture, Independence, Flag, Constitution, Territorial Integrity, Great Writers, Afghan Jihad, History, Religion of Islam, Sayyid Jamaluddin Afghan, Ahmad Shah Massoud, General Raziq, Abdul Ali Mazari, Republic, National Languages, Mines, Nationality, Hospitality, Agriculture and livestock, National Parks, Handicrafts, Historical Monuments, New Year celebrations, Respect for Human Rights, Freedom of Expression, etc. The teacher provided information about the national values of some other countries of the world, value was defined as a social concept, and each of the issues raised by the participants as a value was discussed and examples were given. After a long discussion, the participants came to believe that the majority in these cases, we do not have common values that everyone agrees on. Even on independence, there are differences of opinion. Participants agreed on only a few of the issues raised as national values: historical heritage, hospitality, faith, flag, constitution, the official languages of the country should be national values.
The role of civil society in the peace process:
Discussing the role of civil society in the Afghan peace process, participants set up a working group to outline their responsibilities and roles. Advocating for peace, mobilizing the people for peace, raising voices of the victims of war, trying to harmonize the views of different sections of society, creating a mindset for peace, monitoring peace agreements so as not to be trampled on, and considering the citizenship rights of citizens.
All participants were divided into two groups, one team was able to finish its work and responsibilities better than the other team, and the team members mentioned the reasons for their victory with such obvious reasons. Self-confidence, respecting each other’s opinions, giving role to all team members, working as a single team, being focused in order to achieve your goal.
The second group described their failure factors as follows:
Working alone, not respecting each other’s viewpoints, not being cautious and dividing roles, and assigning a greater position to one person as a whole intellect are all examples of individualism. Not considering time, not focusing on the main goal.
After receiving the factors of success and failure, the members of both teams came to the conclusion that in order to achieve real and lasting peace in the country and in order to conclude the peace process, the peace process requires teamwork based on coordination between team members, mutual trust, all involvement of community members in the process, consensus, prevention of political exclusivism and display of power, use of successful models of peace processes in other countries, management of team members’ differences of opinion, they are considered as important factors for success.
The trainer, Mr. Habibullah Guldost stated that “Publicity and having a regular work plan with a clear vision, goal and purpose, and activities are the essential elements of a teamwork for the peace process. Creating an atmosphere of intimacy among team members and creating motivation and encouragement can make teamwork for the peace process a success and are essential components of this process.”
After the workshop participants were asked to develop a vision for their province, the participants were divided into four groups to develop a vision for their province.
The perspective of the first group: Baghlan united and free from violence with the coordination of ideas, social justice, and lasting peace.
Prospect of the second group: United Baghlan, free from war and with the protection of women’s rights.
Prospect of the third group: Baghlan free from united the imposed war and the existence of lasting peace.
