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The College at a Glance...

Based in Turin, Italy, the United Nations System Staff

College (UNSSC) is the primary provider of inter-agency

training and learning within the UN system. Its main

objective is to promote and support UN inter-agency

collaboration and increased operational effectiveness of

the system as a whole.

The College conducts a variety of learning and training

activities, in Turin as well as at the regional and country

level. All such programmes are conducted on an inter-

agency basis and are effectively a blend of four different

elements, combined according to requirements:

• Leadership for the 21st Century: Strengthening leader-

ship capacity within the UN system is a principal mission

of the Staff College.

• Collective Processes: Taking the United Nations Develop-

ment Group policies as its starting point, the College helps

managers make effective use of the various instruments

and processes at the disposal of UN Country Teams.

• Emerging Issues: The College conducts a variety of

programmes which explore current or emerging issues,

such as climate change, disaster preparedness and conflict

prevention. These are enriched by the interdisciplinary ap-

proach inherent to inter-agency discussions.

• Knowledge Management: The College seeks to harness

the power of the internet, through e-learning modules,

web-based communities of practice, and other tools to

enhance knowledge sharing, team work and overall system

performance. It also trains and maintains a cadre of train-

ers throughout the UN system.

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As John Paul Lederach states in his book The Moral Imagination:

“Is building peace an art or a skill?” Four days were spent

engaging UN practitioners in discussions, analyses, jour-

nals and journeys to realize that... “Building constructive

social change in settings of deep-rooted conflict requires

both”1.

The first day was about creating a space, a tight container,

a sense of safety, permission to be and explore what we

had come for: how to analyse experiences of conflict,

violence and war in a way that can serve UN practice and

action in transforming conflict. The first day was playful,

from fingertips to Alligator town. Some of the things we

did seemed almost too simple: what is conflict? How do

we experience conflict? What shapes our perceptions in a

conflict situation? Foundational things, seemingly familiar

to everybody but rarely reflected upon.

We traveled from Alligator river (what is honour? How do

silence and laughter work?) to Alligator Town (trouble in

sight!) where we did Stakeholder Mapping, explored Positions,

Needs, Interest and Capacities of parties in the form of

the Onion visual methodology, traced the levels of the

conflict from intra-personal to international.

On the second day, we explored the Escalation Stages of

Conflict from Stage 1 (Conversation) to Stage 9 (Total Mutual

Destruction) and back.2 We realized that escalation and

de-escalation are rarely as linear as in the model, but

1. John Paul Lederach: The Moral Imagination, pag IX.2. Glasl’s Nine_stage model of conflict escalation.

Engaging UNPractitioners

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discussing the psychological states (and types of interventions

possible at a certain stage or not) was helpful.

This day was about Carana, a fictitious but realistic country

scenario: learning and practicing the tools by using the

case study and analysing it in detail. It gave us a chance to

conceptually grapple with conflict prevention and peace-

building in the UN. We then engaged with the evolution

from conflict resolution to conflict management to conflict

transformation by telling a

via ‘managing conflict non-violently’, to a focus on the

transformation of deep-rooted conflicts. Lederach’s Nested

Paradigm helped us structure our thoughts.

We also spoke about Human Needs (according to Max-

Neef): subsistence; protection; affection; identity; under-

standing; participation; leisure; creation and freedom.

Before we moved to the Republic of Carana, we explored

the bus-taxi conflict in Cape Town and the Centre for

Conflict Resolution efforts at mediation using the Problem

Tree, to then apply the root causes, core problem, symp-

toms analysis on Carana - followed by the ABC triangle -

looking at attitudes, behaviours, competencies (we changed

this model from its original version that has “C” as Context,

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finding it more helpful to look at the ABC with “C” as

Competencies of parties for peace) and, finally, we did the

Force Field Analysis, all on Carana.

Later in the day, we examined different

and debated issues such as: what does conflict analysis have

to do with me? What is my conflict style? Accommodating?

Avoiding? Competing? Compromising? Consensus building?

Which style is my habitual one? Which style serves me in

which situation? Which not?

Stories are told: from data collection and interpretation in

Sudan, to using analysis at headquarters. The questions

are sharp and fast. Each practitioner sees so much more

than he or she is able to realise and bring meaningfully

into the work: what is needed here to deal with the

internal dilemmas?

By the third day the level of trust had grown encouraging

creativity and we used Matt3 to ask ourselves: how do we

find resonance points? Matt started dancing in many places

and, thus, became a wealthy, far-travelled global celebrity.

Matt understood the resonance point at the intersection

between the dream of a travel-some, adventurous life,

breaking out of the mold and dancing anywhere you want,

in the face of others who say: you can’t dance. Yes, I can.

3. You Tube: Where the hell is Matt?

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On the third day we consider a kaleidoscope of analyses

and interventions from inside the UN system and realized

that conflict analysis needs to be guided by a clear purpose

and intention that is shared between those doing the data

collection and analysis, and those who will actually use the

analysis. Building a shared understanding is a facilitative

process that enables analysis to become the basis for effec-

tive, collective and sustained action. Often, local people are

not involved (for ‘lack’ of time). This can result in a discon-

nect from actual realities, needs and capacities for solutions

of those most affected directly by the situation. Ownership

needs relationship building, direct involvement and hold-

ing a space for innovation in situations where acute suffering

results in a poverty of the imagination. How can solutions

other than violence be unearthed and made visible?

If the political level cannot be reached, there may be

potential at the middle and lower levels (technocrats):

Peace is built from the bottom up, from the top down and

from the inside out. (John Paul Lederach)

We used to think: if you are part of the problem, you cannot

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be part of the solutions. In fact, we realise that: if you are

not part of the problem, you cannot be part of the solutions.

We examine how far are UN actors conscious of their

stakes in the situation? How far is there awareness that

every UN intervention changes the local power dynamics?

There is no neutrality.

One insight that stands strongly is: how does an intervention

contribute to building a value and identity base that is

constructive in the long run, fostering healthy identities

and ‘lived values’ rather than new benevolent leaders

(aka not yet autocrats) who might rise up quickly and

be useful and constructive in the moment but turn into

‘power mongers’ at a later stage?

In the afternoon, we speak about complexity and how it

is created: when multiplicity, interdependency and simultaneity

come to play out in a situation. The key insight is that

since we have not yet developed navigation tools for

complexity, we tend to be overwhelmed by it. The aim is

to reach simplicity on the other side of complexity, to find

patterns and essence (not to simply reduce complexity)

which can guide our actions.

We realize that

are the greatest challenge of peacebuilding: how to build

creative responses to patterns of self-perpetuating violence

in a complex system made up of multiple actors with

activities that are happening at the same time? This needs keen

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observation skills and self-reflective practitioners who can

read inside and outside at once. The key skills are listening

and asking good questions that can unlock potential in

people and situations. Otto Scharmer’s levels of listening

helped us comprehend and probe our capacity to: observe,

observe, observe; suspend knowing, suspend judgment,

avoid interpretation, stay with facts; observe outer process

and inner responses of the practitioner (journaling) in

order to see possibilities for engaging and impact

(awareness of resonance points in the system and self);

locate a core set of patterns and dynamics that generate

the complexity (finding simplicity/essence on the other

side).

The fourth day we questioned how aware we are of our

own capacities and limitations in prioritisation. What is

behind the desire to ‘do it all’? Faith in technical processes

and solutions does not prove enough in messy chaotic

non-linear conflict situations. Theories of Change at the

personal, relational, structural and cultural level were ex-

plored and debated.

We ended the four days with writing stories and reminiscing

about the question:

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The Authors.Aleksandra Dier

Ali Hassan

Alice Crowley

Ana Maria Hermoso-Borges

Andrew Shuruma

Anoulak Kittikhoun

Emenike Anyaoku

Ernest Fausther

Fabio Oliva

Gaspar Bergman

Gilbert Poumangue

Giulia Riedo

Hanna Grahn

Helena Puig Larrauri

Jane Safary

Joel Ambroise

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Jung Hwan Bobbi Lee

Kwame Attikese

Laurence Hermant

Laurent Rudasingwa

Mensah Aluka

Michelle Kierulf

Mohammad Zaman Amin

Mwende Caroline Mueke

Naqibullah Asad

Narcisse Madjiyore Dongar

Roman Shpak

Rowland Mujakperuo

Sanae El Hitmi

Suman Pradhan

Svenja Korth

Undine Whande

TheStories

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The Storyof Tommy.

in a four-day training, which also had the added benefit

of combining comparative studies, theoretical frameworks

and case studies as well as insightful views of fellow practi-

tioners sharing a common goal but with different methods

and insights. The experience mirrored the substance and

Tommy went back to his desk with infinite questions to

guide his career development, and with a clearer sense

of purpose and direction. The opportunity and lessons

learned gave Tommy one more reason to appreciate his

career choice and while the mountain of challenges stand

high, he set into the dawn knowing that he is certainly not

alone in fighting the fight of making sense of this thing

we call the UN. Extremely well

organized, prepared and

coordinated the chem-

istry of all trainers

made the days flow

smoothly.

Thank you!

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New andRevealing Ways.

Well..well..well.. How to start? Coming in, I purposely

tried to keep an open mind about what to expect from the

course and kept my expectations fairly broad: “meet my

colleagues; share experiences; and gain new practical con-

flict analysis skills”. At the end of the four-day experience,

during the course of the course, were fully met! I was able

to meet and have quality, meaningful, thoughtful and pro-

longed interaction with my UN colleagues, work-

ing all over the world. I was able to share and

learn from diverse and often painful experiences

in conflict monitoring, analysis and mediation from

my friends working in Darfur, Juba, Congo, Afghanistan,

Johannesburg and beyond. I was also able to gain valuable

insight from some veterans serving in often treacherous

political realities of headquarters life. For me as someone

new to the UN system and eager to plan his next move

to a mission position where I can make a real difference,

such experiences were particularly important and insight-

ful. In terms of the final objective, I am happy to repeat

that I gained a deeper and more varied understanding of

the multitude of tools, methods and techniques and ways

conflict analysis could be done and how it could help in

my work within DPA and beyond. Although some tools

and theories were already familiar to me, the created nexus

of theory and real-life examples was valuable to allow

me a chance to re-examine my previous assumptions and

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theories on conflict analysis and to see them in new and

revealing ways. In particular, I enjoyed practicing the

stakeholder analysis, conflict tree, situation analysis and

drivers of conflict methods. The listening triangle exercise

was also very useful and allowed me to openly and freely

interact with my colleagues and discuss, as well as learn

about current critical issues facing various parts of the UN

in a confidential, trusting and interactive problem solving

way. Most importantly the four-day workshop in beautiful

Torino allowed me to feel a much greater connection to

UN as a whole; to see and value the great talent working

for the same goals under the UN Charter all over the

world and to actually feel like I belong to this great

mission and unique experiment in human

cooperation. Kudos for organization and

conduct of the training!!

Well done!!

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Dear Turin.Dear Turin,

After hearing so much about you, I simply had to come

for myself and see what you were about. As a European,

I have to say that at first I wasn’t impressed with the way

you looked on the surface. But that changed when I got to

know you from the inside out .

Turin, my dear, you have a sexy personality. Your capacity

at understanding the dynamics of conflict really made you

attractive in my eyes. But it was difficult at first to really

cut through the complex layers that make up the sum

of who you are. The first two days of our affair had me

wondering just where the hell you were going and what

you were about!

I mean, I travelled from far away for this extensive “date”.

I was beginning to feel that you were not going to “put

out!”. I don’t expect much on the first day of our encoun-

ter but my hopes were dashed at first. But towards the end

of the second day, you started to break out of your shell.

You even showed me part of your tree trunk and that is

when things started to heat up. You started to share your

history and situations that I could relate to

my work and, boy, that is when you

got my attention. The only real is-

sue is that I had to share you with

so many people! Just kidding! The

only problem is that as fascinating

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as you are, four days were too short to get a full understanding.

That being said , it is a good start and I hope to get a second

date! So my dear Turin,

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Wetlands.

to improve their conflict management skills because they

were tired of having to deal with conflicts. They sent a

member of each family to the Coldlands. Some actually

fell sick but each one of them learned something.

Conflict is part of life and we cannot avoid it but we can

manage it better.

The first day they learned about Alligator town where the

love story between two individuals turned into a commu-

nity conflict but we know that this is not the first time in

history. The Trojan war is a good remembrance. The story

was an excellent tool to show how people’s own prejudices

are brought in any conflict and how we have to guard

against them.

On the second day they learned about quantum physics,

the many possibilities and the possibility to be at the same

time in several places.

On the third day they learned about the importance of

listening, story telling and observations as tools for conflict

resolution.

On the fourth day they put together the toolkit that they

took back home to be used every time a conflict will arise.

At that time they will find out if the course was worth it.

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People. Once upon a time, a group of people coming from differ-

ent parts of the world decided to stop in the same place for

having a rest during their personal long trip.

They started looking at each other suspiciously, each of

them had an heavy baggage experience. Most of them

were looking for a solution, others were travelling just to

learn something more to improve their work.

So they were sitting one in front of other and one started

sharing his experience. They soon built a dialogue, a web

of experiences was created. Some of them gave useful

suggestions, some highlighted their principal worries and

others learned simply how to grow listening to the others’

stories.

During the discussion they raised some important issues

that may be remained unsolved, but at least they had the

occasion to reflect on that, they reflected also on their

differences and how to overtake those.

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The Old Scale. Once upon a time, there was an old salesman in the small

town of Torino, Italy. The man owned an old scale,

a n d

perfect

h a r m o n y

between the two

sides to find out the

correct weight. The items

he needed to weigh included

policy analysts, DPKO political

affairs officers, DPA desk officers and

programming specialists. The first day the

man put them on the scale, he put light weighted

exercises on the other side of the scale. “These

analysts and desk officers all have different experien-

ces” he thought, “ so let’s place very basic things on the scale”.

The analysts and the desk officers, who all had broad and di-

verse experience with them immediately made the scale tip over.

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The second and the third day, the salesman tried a different

approach, putting heavier tools, analytical instruments and

theories. Although these had the risk of tipping the scale

again, because of those analysts and specialists with less

knowledge in the area, it created a perfect balance thanks to

the experience sharing of those political affairs officers with

more knowledge, which quickly brought the others

up to speed. On the fourth day the sales-

man had found the perfect har-

mony. He released the policy

analysts, desk officers and

political affairs officers

and let them go to

make the world live

happily ever after.

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Alice.The story begins with Alice and a rabbit, and in the curi-

ous way of how Alice followed the rabbit who was entic-

ing her with the potential to learn more that was behind

the world she knew and lived. So Alice followed the rabbit

down the rabbit hole in order to discover more knowledge.

The new world seemed strange with time for self-reflection

and role plays and games but Alice joined in to see what

this approach could offer her in terms of making sense of

some of the experiences she has had in her life and to try

and find tools to understand her situation. So Alice fol-

lowed the rabbit through the tea party, making new friends

along the way.

and his ventures into what

appeared to Alice to be side

tracks and of lesser impor-

tance than his final goal.

Alice nevertheless perse-

vered thinking to herself

that this was worth it

and that the end would

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undoubtedly bring more clarity

than before she entered in the

rabbit hole. Being more of a

straight thinker with a strong

curiosity, Alice would have liked

to stay in some of the places longer

and visit fewer, but meeting the

Mad Hatter and Cheshire Cat

was worthwhile and learning

how to deal with the Queen of

Hearts (and map and analyse

her) will stay with Alice upon

her return journey back to the

unreality of her current home in

the Congo.

Alice probably has many more

adventures in front of her which

will benefit from the wisdom she

gained from the rabbit.

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A New Man.When John decided sometime ago to attend a training on

conflict analysis, he had a vague idea on how the course

curriculum would look like.

As a young boy, John grew up in a war ravaged city of

Eton in the Democratic Republic of Carana. With a lot of

effort and courage, John was able to secure a graduate di-

ploma in law at one of the best universities in the Western

State of Mbengue. He has now joined the United Nations,

working in the headquarters. His life is quite good but John

still has Carana in his heart.

In a long term, John plans to go back to Carana and help

its people. So the training in Turin gives him the tools he

was looking for. Of course, John has always tried to solve

issues but now the most important is to understand how to

tackle major issues. He spent 4 days with different profes-

sionals from diverse backgrounds and he was impressed

by the motivations that can lead people to achieve great

things.

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DEMOCRATICREPUBLIC

OF CARANA

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One Man’sTransformation.

sharing and learning. Through the relationships, interac-

tions and knowledge that he felt and experienced, the man

was deeper intellectually and practically. The man thought

that before the workshop he had quite a bit of experience

with diversity and perspectives but through interaction,

hearing, listening, and participating in the past week, he

was wrong. The man deeply appreciated the insight, atten-

tion, eloquence, sharpness, articulation of the lead trainer/

facilitator from South Africa. She brought new paradigms,

ways of thinking to our own ways of seeing conflicts,

relationships and possibilities. The man also thanked the

other two facilitators for their efforts but most of what they

contributed or presented were known or should be basic to

every UN staff/officer already.

The man, finally, would like to suggest more practical role-

playing and smaller group practice/exercises in order to

apply what we know and learn.

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Achievements.Four days ago when I was first entering the class room, I

was not sure if it really was worth my time. I had expecta-

tion that I doubted the training would be able to fulfill.

Those expectations were:

1) To be able at the end of the training to identify conflicts

and their roots.

2) Analyse conflicts from different perspectives.

3) Understand existing relations between/among various

conflicts in a particular geography.

Achievements:

I am happy to write today that I learnt a lot in the train-

ing. From understanding to analyzing conflicts and from

theories to entry points, all were useful.

The training was conducted in a professional manner. The

trainers had come well prepared and the materials used

were quite relevant. There was a good level of interaction

and participation from the trainees.

I found the following areas particularly relevant,

useful and interesting;

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A

B C

Case studies chosen were relevant

and insightful. It would

have been useful to have

at least a case study

from Afghanistan. This

would have made the

training interesting

for a number of

participants.

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Before, After. I have attended many courses, workshop and seminars dur-

ing my long career with UN. I had different experiences and

learning curves as well as contributed my experiences.

Course facilitators impressed me with their knowledge

in their selected area. Participants in this course were a

group of highly professional people who had expertise in

their areas of work. Whoever screened their selection has

a credit. Participation was very high and sharing of expe-

rience very good. Materials used and presented were well

researched and selected to suit the course.

On the second day of the course, I had the wrong im-

pression that some of the facilitators were too young

to run such a course attended by such high qualified

group. My impression was wrong and I am very

satisfied with their level of professionalism.

Undine was exceptional. I thank them all. My

apologies for my earlier wrong impression.

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Sara and the Lion.

Sara lived in a small village in a very large but poor family.

The residents of the village and Sara’s family in particular

relied on water that was from a well a few miles away from

the village. Sara would normally go for water twice a day,

using two buckets, as would other members of her family.

She was afraid of approaching the well and waited for the

lion to leave. He did not. Sara returned back to her village

empty handed. The next day she came with her brothers

to see if the lion could be scared away. The

lion was rather aggressive and did

not let Sara or her brothers

take water from the well.

On the third day, Sara

and her brothers

returned back to the

well with a net to see

if the lion can be

captured.

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Water Point. Introduction: In African culture water is regarded as a gift

and that you cannot refuse anyone from enjoying the gift

of water because 70% of our bodies is made up of water,

we can stay for days without food but not water.

As the world climate changes, due to human activity, water,

the valued commodity has become a source of conflict in

many societies and between nations. This is true in Africa.

How can we go back and share the water resources for the

benefit of all - drinking water for animals and for agricul-

ture purposes. If our intention is to bridge peace, then let

drop of water be the source of connector and to regener-

ate life, peace and harmony.

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Two Stories and a Haiku.

Herman Hesse’s“Narcissus and Goldmund”tells the story of two very different friends. Narcissus is a monk, he finds freedom in reflection, in a regimented, structured way of experiencing the world. He is con-strained to his monastery (formal analysis, UNDAF etc…) and from it derives great insights, rigorously argued, or-derly, upholding the principles of do no harm. Goldmund is a bon vivant and a traveller, he meets many people, ex-periments with all, is always in the world. His knowledge is rich, messy and often chaotic and contradictory (field data, interventions); he is never sure of the consequences of his actions. When a space is facilitated for the two to meet,

both learn from the experience greatly.

Umberto Eco is said to have one of the largest private libraries in the world, and he freely admits that he has not read all of it. He calls it his “anti-library”. From knowing that we do not know, great insight is borne. Each book is a reminder of all the perspectives, all the lenses that would yield a different understanding of the world. So, to learn conflict analysis by showing all the things we cannot know is immensely helpful. Dipping into all the lenses/tools (even if there is limited time to explore them all) is like having a conflict analysis “anti-library”(backed

up in a USB stick, I hope!)

Haiku:

To see something, sometimes it’s useful to get rid of our natural home. Working with conflict data means I

sometimes loose sight of overall analysis of a con-flict, we get too lost in the stories. There has been very little discussion of data, which is useful, it’s forced me to see just how much insight can be gained by doing analysis of limited data. Prob-lem is, I’m still going back to data, and I am not sure how the barn and the moon can both be

seen/be useful.

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OpenYourMind.

The diversity of the group provided a great opportunity to

interact with other colleagues from the field and UN agen-

cies and hear their views. Through them and their field/

agency experiences, we gained a better understanding of

the comprehensive work of the UN on conflict analysis

and peacebuilding. Many of the field/agency colleagues,

who had a clear misunderstanding of our work in HQ ,

viewed us as “far removed from the field” (which could be

partially true). Subsequently, through the Panel discussion,

we were able to explain our DPA/HQ work as it relates

to their work and help them understand how the HQ and

Security Council decisions are made. As a result, their

views from the field missions/agency and our HQ analysis

helped portray the comprehensive role of the UN on

conflict analysis and peacebuilding.

On the other hand, I personally could not relate to a

hypothetical case study. We work with real cases on a daily

basis, and I believe we could have worked with real case

studies for the purpose of this training as well. Thank-

fully, we had presented the trainers with our feedback to

provide real case studies. They kindly accommodated our

request and provided outstanding real case studies, but I

would have personally preferred that we had spent more

time on these cases as they reflected the deep technical

analysis required for understanding root causes of conflict

and the analysis of conflict.

Finally, I was very pleased to be exposed to the conflict

analysis tools provided and refresh our minds on some key

issues of conflict analysis. This course was outstanding for

that as we were able to practice many of these concepts on

this training. My work experience as it relates to DPA and

particularly the Security Council and its sanctions are only

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partial. The training of conflict analysis and peacebuilding

certainly helps to better understand how the Security

Council decisions affect the dynamics on the ground,

which we often fail to see. Hearing our colleagues’ intakes

on the development or humanitarian side opened even

more questions for me to think about. And I believe that

this is the purpose of this training, to open our mind to

ever bigger and deeper questions.

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Circustown.It was a cold spring, and life had not yet breathed into

branches of the scattered trees surrounding Circustown.

And yet, Circustown was bustling!

Everyone was busy-busy-busy, preparing, rehearsing and

performing in a never-ending cycle.

One hazy morning, everyone was outside, practicing

their juggling. Some people could do only two balls,

some people could juggle up to six balls at a time. On

that morning, three wise elders walked into Circustown.

They greeted some of the jugglers, then sat down in the

town centre to observe. They sat under the biggest tree in

Circustown. One of the people in Circustown was a novice,

and had only recently learned how to juggle. She was try-

ing her best, but sometimes got demotivated and dropped

the balls on the ground.

Sometimes she became overly enthusiastic and threw the

balls too high. On that particular day, such an incident

occurred, and one of the balls got stuck high in the

branches of the biggest tree of Circustown.

The novice tried to climb the

tree to fetch the ball but

couldn’t manage

alone. Slowly other

jugglers noticed

her struggle and

offered to help.

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The third elder was expert in balance and movement, and

showed the jugglers how to climb using the ladder.

In this way, the group of people worked together, and

finally managed to retrieve the ball and return it to the

novice. The inhabitants of Circustown were very grateful

for the skills they had learned and the tools they had been

able to use and thanked the elders for

sharing their wisdom.

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If I am Given a Chance.

I have attended a 4-day training titled “Conflict Prevention

and Peacebuilding” in Turin City of Italy.

It was really important and useful training I have ever

seen. During the different sessions I have learnt a lot about

the conflicts and the ways of solution. First of all it is im-

portant to explore the different dimensions of the conflict,

conflict analysis, stakeholders, drivers and triggers and

then go deeper into the conflict and then act accordingly.

Before I go into the story I am wondering if I will be given

a chance to implement all these feelings and thoughts in

my life, but I hope I will do it if I would be given a chance.

Above were the main points to evaluate the training.

Meanwhile I am very thankful to our teacher trainers that

could provide us with good topics, good treatment, support

and cooperation.

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Run.In 2004, there was a coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea,

fomented by the rebels.

There was a big confusion in the capital city which is

Malabo. Policemen and military forces started to arrest all

foreigners, without exception. The Head of State chaired

a meeting during which he exhorted all citizens of Equato-

rial Guinea to be careful and to kill all foreigners suspected

to be rebels.

Some of the policemen came to the house of the FAO

Representative, while he was sitting in the front of his

house. When the policemen wanted to arrest him, he told

them that he is working for the United Nations and he is

the FAO Representative. And he showed the flag of the

UN planted just after the wall. Not convinced by the argu-

ments of the FAO Representative, they decided to kidnap

him. Unfortunately for them, the FAO Representative ran

and entered into his house. When the policemen wanted

to jump the wall, the big dog of the FAO Representative

dissuaded them.

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The UNCT has found this issue extremely grave and

decided to send a report to the UN Secretary-General.

Then, the UN Secretary-General decided to send a

Special Representative to address this issue with the

National Authorities at the high level,

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The Alligator River.

an opportunist called Sinbad, a sugar-burger lover-girl

who thinks that means always justify the end; Slug, self-

proclaimed sheriff, not of the town, but of the lover-girl

who not only will not get the guy she wanted but draws

the whole Alligator town into new brawls with the anti-

riot police as ordered by Hana, the power-pilot of the

story.

The funny thing is that while the town is called Alliga-

tor town, these strong and frightening reptiles are the

only non-conflictual beings in the Alligator town. We

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know how conflicts start but not how they end. And when

they start, they are like fires burning in stages sometimes,

and not necessarily linear. But they open people’s eyes to

differences, prejudices that were there but could not see.

In Turin, they gave us four days of tools, methodologies,

concepts to help us put all in perspective like Hercule

Poirot, so next time we are faced with conflictual situations

we are able to use the tree, the ABC tools to get to the

root causes.

What a week! So much about conflict, hope will be back

to peace town and all will settle down and

we all can get along...

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Different Perspective. The course provided an opportunity to learn new tools

for analysing conflict and different opportunities for

intervention. At times the course took a psychoanalytical

approach that could be viewed as too distant for

conflicts that deal with very real issues. However,

the course used a variety of live examples and different

role plays that were very helpful.

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Coffee Break. My journey to Turin began on 26th February. I met with

my family in Milan and spent a few days in Milan before

travelling to Turin. We spent the next few days and they

departed on March 7 and I proceded to the UN Campus.

Upon my arrival I met with my colleague from Darfur and

so began my days at the UN College. The next morning I

met with some of the course colleagues at breakfast. We all

tried to find the location of the lecture hall, and after a few

missteps, we located the Asia building.

My apprehensions about the course-work and the atmo-

sphere were put to rest upon the introduction of the facili-

tators. I have always believed in first impressions. I was im-

pressed and felt comfortable. The first day progressed well

and I was not in the least disappointed. The mature nature

of discussions and the examples given were engaging.

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This course is my first training session where I’m not coor-

dinating other staff members. Participating and observing

the facilitators at work impressed me and I have

picked up a few points.

Congratulations

guys, you have done

a wonderful job.

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Limitations. My objective was to better understand the techniques of

conflict analysis for the purpose of preventing conflicts in

the first place and also to use it more effectively as a tool

for long term peacebuilding mechanism.

The main objectives of the training were realized. The

various types of conflict-mapping exercises and models

were immensely valuable tools to understanding conflicts.

They are also useful in pinpointing intervention points,

and most importantly, the types of intervention that could

help. But I also felt some limitations of the tools. I am

aware that not all conflicts are similar. Although many

ingredients are not the same, the dynamics involved could

be vastly different.

I also realize that finding entry points and modes of in-

tervention are immensely difficult. Perhaps some real-life

examples of these would have been useful.

Conflict management/transformation occurs at many

levels. I felt that they should have been a mix of local

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experience and HQ-based experiences. Many of my fellow

trainees lacked the knowledge of what HQ mechanisms

are used to resolve conflicts. Similarly many of us from

HQ were not aware of locally driven initiatives at the

UNCT/field mission levels. Thus it would be good to have

at least one resource person who could have given

HQ-based experiences both from the development

as well as political angle.

But overall I appreciate the training

for adding value to my

knowledge and experiences.

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Four Days are Really Short.

It is Friday afternoon at the end of 4 intense days of train-

ing and the task of inventing a story that would also provide

an evaluation of the course is really stretching my creativity

to the limit. So at the risk of being “boring”, I will simply jot

down a few comments in more “traditional” style:

First of all, I would like to thank the facilitators for all their

hard work. They were wonderfully patient and open-minded,

taking each and every student’s concerns seriously.

The course covered a lot of ground in terms of the theo-

retical and practical aspects of conflict analysis. And at

the same time, there is of course infinitely more that can

be done. I therefore wonder if narrowing down the focus

of the course wouldn’t be worth considering. Trying to

include both prevention and peacebuilding may simply be

too much (and we did actually mainly address peacebuild-

ing). Maybe there should be a focus on only one or two

concrete conflicts as examples through which more general

and transferable skills can be acquired.

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Getting to know each other and learning from the diverse

experiences participants brought to the table was another

crucial aspect of the course. This worked well, especially

due to the very interactive methodology used. But again

I think it would have been beneficial to have another 1-2

days extra.

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Listening.

On the one hand it was a good “refresher” on how to do

conflict sensitive programming and how to apply it in my

daily programming and planning work. On the other hand

it taught me how I can apply various listening skills in

everyday conversations, not only in the work space but also

how you relate to people around you, and how the listen-

ing techniques can empower one to identify a solution

to problems in their environment. I enjoyed the training,

interaction, experience, sharing and mode of training.

Thank you.

P.S: Excellent organization

and time management.

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Pendulum. It is 09:00 hrs 08/03/11, I sit in Asia 14 room 141 after

tracing my way from America 1. It is chilly but every par-

ticipant and the facilitators are in the room except for two

people who have not arrived; we are informed that one

will arrive late due to flight connections, the other one is

uncertain.

Introduction begins with a welcome to UNSSC, Turin

Italy, then the facilitators and their profiles, sticky cards on

the wall, as role models, participants are asked to do the

same, a quick way of knowing about our Agencies, coun-

try profile and what we do. This was quite interesting. We

then agreed on house rules, debriefed expectations along-

side the four days schedule. Everyone is alert as the facilita-

tion changes hands and focus and stimuli.

Adequate room for asking questions, clarification and

name it all- our facilitators, full of smiles, with vivid exam-

ples drawn from across the globe especially areas that have

experienced conflict and have the UN presence /interven-

tion/ programs (Liberia, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan,

DRC, Sierra Leone) to name but a few.

Unlike many training programmes, there were no defi-

nition because conflict is about our perceptions, beliefs,

values and assumptions, hence no need to dwell on what

will not add any value. Each morning, we have to look for

where the name tag is, no fixation in comfort zones.

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6 57Lots of practicals, to break the ice, was a moral story of

the Alligator infested river and love driven Abigail.

Participants took positions, then negotiated to come to

some agreement. Group discussion made the theories

more meaningful and we were kept on our toes.

No boredom.

Practicing listening was fun and mixed with anxiety

due to observer element.

The tools and their application to real conflict

issues appeared simple yet dynamic. I can now

draw what is useful for my work and practice.

I have realised that conflict analysis require

a multidisciplinary training. I have no

regrets having invested in this training

since I sponsored myself fully.

Long Live CAPP, Long Live

UNSSC and the training

Team. Keep up the good

work.

Question: Can we

actually live without

conflict???

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1. I would said I am delighted to have made it to the 3rd

cohort of Conflict Analysis for Prevention and Peacebuild-

ing Course. I was impressed by the number of participants

from different UN Agencies, missions, programmes, funds

and from UNHQ NY. I knew I was lucky to be here given

the wealth of experience the participants brought with

them. I indeed looked forward to an interesting interaction

and brainstorming session for the period of the course.

2. The lead facilitator, Undine, really made the inspiring

stage of the course and indeed the climax of the course

interesting, coupled with the introductory remarks of the

course director, Svenja, the other facilitators Fabio and

Ana Maria.

3. The lesson on intention and methods, deliberations

and interactive exercises on Carana, the Alligator river are

A Big Thank You.

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worthy of commendation. The exercise on the Alligator

river brought out the different dimensions a conflict could

take if not tackled at its early stages.

4. The different conflict analysis tools, the conflict tree in

particular was very well taught and I would like to com-

mend the facilitators for an eloquent delivery. It only goes

to show they are on top of the subject matter.

5. I would conclude by saying, I met my learning inten-

tions as stated on the first day of the course and look for-

ward to attending future courses at the UNSSC in the not

too distant future. The film shown on Quantum Physics

was good and indeed the course dinner is worthy of com-

mending the organisation.

6.

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I am Back. I am very and extremely satisfied with how the training

was packaged. The quality of didactic materials, teaching/

lecturing style is very simple I had fun!!!

While learning and improving my skills in conflict analysis

for peacebuilding.

A big congratulation to the lead trainer, to the workshop

organization Very professional and FLEXIBLE.

The training package in pipeline such as “Electoral Vio-

lence” are very welcome. I would suggest to also think about

the nexus between conflict disaster risk reduction.

The journey from 8 - 11 March is just amazing. I am back

to Johannesburg full of skills and tools for effective CDA.

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Graphic Design and IllustrationsMarco Giraudo

PrintingTipografia da inserire

Printed on FSC ecological paper

Copyright © 2011,

United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC)

Viale Maestri del Lavoro 10, Turin 10127, Italy

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in

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means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or

otherwise, without prior permission.

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http://www.unssc.org

Tel: +39 011 65 35 911

Fax: +39 011 65 35 902

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