HDF's Role in Conflict Resolution: Where There's Will, There's a Way!

By Muhammad Ijaz Moazzam.
Social Organizer, HDF RYK

Conflicts and disagreements within a family or a community are a part of everyday life. In fact, a day hardly passes without us disagreeing with someone. However, if these little conflicts turn into lifelong animosities, the whole community suffers.

HDF's intervention and self-help programs in the village of Chak in Rahim Yar Khan have produced some interesting and unique results. This village is predominately Christian with roughly 35% of its inhabitants being Muslim.

The village has four development organizations (DO). These are community-based organizations responsible for administering and running projects with the help and guidance of HDF staff. They are the backbone of the HDF self-help model.

The president and secretary of the DO's are asked to attend a Community Management Skills Training (CMST) workshop. One advantage of these organizations is that people learn to sit together and discuss their problems. These discussions also help generate feelings of empowerment and a desire toward self-help.

One of the first tasks the DO's had was to take care of a conflict resolution case. The case involved a dispute over a cattle shed. It was owned by four families who had been fighting in court for the past eight years. The members of the DO held a meeting and solved the case in an amicable manner to the utmost satisfaction of all concerned. Thanks to the professional conflict resolution and public relations skills of the HDF managers and DO members, the parties have withdrawn their petitions from court.

This solution has saved a lot of money, energy, and time that could well be utilized in building and empowering the entire village community. It has also brought love, brotherhood, justice, and harmony to the village of Chak.

"HDF has enabled us to solve our problems on our own instead of battling suits in court. Now we feel we are not alone," says the president of the DO.