Fundamental differences exist among Afghans; they lack strategic allies; Afghanistan’s relations with other nations are based on the interests of others; and there is no single vision for peace. These are the views of 20 members of civil society organizations in Samangan province who participated in a two-day workshop entitled “Strengthening the Solidarity of Civil Society Institutions on Peace”. An attempt was made to bring together the participants of the workshop, who initially had different definitions of peace, and to share their beliefs and views on the definition of peace from a single perspective.
Twenty officials and members of prominent and active civil society organizations participated in the two-day workshop ” Civil Society Cohesion Building on Afghan Peace Process ” held in Samangan Province. At the beginning of the workshop, participants discussed the major problems and problems of society, including the widespread corruption in government offices, the lack of social justice, poverty and economic weakness, illiteracy, and ignorance in society. Insecurity and inequality of law are some of the challenges and they knew the current great problems of society.
Participants also complained about the insecurity that led to armed robberies, the presence of irresponsible gunmen, the presence of the Taliban in the three districts of Dara-e-Suf, up and down, as well as the district on Wawab, and the seizure of government lands by powerful individuals. They read. Participants cited foreign intervention, war, insecurity, and violence as other realities of their community.
They stated that, lack of proper management at the level of the country’s leadership and the lack of good governance as other factors and realities that, instead of reducing the problems and challenges of society, have multiplied it. Participants believe that all the problems and challenges are rooted in the lack of peace and the continuation of the war. To address these issues, the question was raised with the participants as to “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.
After group work of participants on issues such as insecurity, widespread corruption in government institutions, poor governance, coercion, violence against women, patriarchy, ethnic prejudices, lack of mutual acceptance, no threat of the media from the government, and armed opposition, the government did not arrive. Gay came to believe that the issues of the victims, the lack of national unity, the monopoly of political power, widespread poverty, drugs, the existence of addicts, were partly due to the causes of the war and partly to the consequences of the war. Here, too, the views of the participants were different, who, after discussions in the working group, found two main factors of instability: “1- the existence of ethnic prejudices and political deprivation. 2- ignorance, illiteracy, and deprivation of citizenship.”
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. The participants were determined to support any plan to really eradicate the roots of the war and to work together to strengthen and implement it so that the war would end and lasting peace could be established in the country.
The participants discussed Afghanistan, recalling the historical events of a century and at least the last four decades. When asked, “Are we a nation?”, The answers given by the participants showed that we are not a nation yet, including the statement, “Lack of mutual understanding, linguistic and ethnic prejudices all indicate that we are not a nation and if we accepted we would become a nation.
It was also said that ignorance and illiteracy, prioritizing personal and tribal interests over national interests, did not allow us to become 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: “Do we have a strategic friend?” In this case, too, the opinions and views of the participants were completely negative.
Ziagul, Project Manager working at EOWA said that “we do not have a strategic friend because for many years all relations between neighboring countries or other countries that want to be present in Afghanistan in some way formulate their policies based on their interests every year and even days. There is, of course, immigration. There are poverty and many other things that have made us dependent on following the policies of foreign countries, all of which are often used as a tool of pressure on the Afghan government.” Even more, participants 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”, although the participants had different definitions of the concept of peace, but considered peace as one of the basic necessities of their society that all the current anomalies of society in the absence of peace and security they knew in their own country.
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. War, living in a safe and free environment of war and violence, still peace means ending the war, strengthening security and all-around stability, ensuring social justice without discrimination. Peace, the process of eradicating conflict and war in order to create a peaceful. Peace defined the end of the war between two groups and peace as reconciliation and mutual acceptance. After hearing the views and opinions of those involved in the main concept of peace, the trainer said to the participants that “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, development, it is the progress and strength of national unity.” This comprehensive definition was able to change the different views, perceptions, and understandings that existed from the definition of peace among the participants into a single view.
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, Martyrs, Great Writers, Afghan Jihad, History, Islam, Sayyid Jamaluddin Afghan, Military Forces, National Languages, Hospitality, Agriculture and Livestock National parks, Historical monuments and women’s rights. The teacher provided information about the national values of the countries of the world, defined value as a social concept, and discussed each of the topics raised by the participants as values, and gave examples.After lengthy discussions, participants came to believe that in the majority of cases, we do not have shared values that everyone agrees on. Even on independence, there are differences of opinion. Participants agreed on only three of the issues raised as national values, which are the historical “hospitality” of a common religion and culture.
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 the 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 of which was able to complete its work and responsibilities better than the other, and the members of the team mentioned the reasons for their victory for obvious reasons. Self-confidence, respecting each other’s opinions, giving the role to all team members, working as a single team, being focused on achieving your goal.
The second group described their failure factors as follows. Working alone, not accepting each other’s opinions, not being careful and not separating responsibilities, giving more role to one person as a whole intellect. Not considering time, not focusing on the main goal.”
After receiving the factors of success, 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, non-censorship of information and encouragement of information sharing among team members they are considered as important factors for success.
Publicity and having a regular work plan with a clear vision, goal and purpose, and activities can be essential elements of 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 one of the key components of this process.
After these discussions, the workshop participants were divided into five groups, and each group worked on creating a vision for Samangan.
The perspective of the first group “Non-discrimination, security, social justice, self-sufficiency.”
Group II Perspective: “Unity and Reciprocity, Ensuring the Rights of Children and Women, Balanced Development.”
Group 3 Perspective: “Transparency and Accountability, Academic Growth, Counseling, and Public Participation.”
The perspective of the fourth group: “Upgrading Samangan province from the third to the second degree, creating empathy. Sharing the demands of the people in the strategic plans of the local government.”
Group 5 Perspective: “Samangan is a province free of discrimination and violence.
In the end, all members of all five groups worked together and from the results of the work of all groups, they created a common vision for Samangan province, which is as follows.
The perspective of Samangan:
“Samangan without discrimination, with balanced development, security, social justice and respect for the rights of women and children.”
