The Cotabato project team initiated a new project that aims to enhance and reinforce the existing conflict resolution capacities of local and traditional leaders by complementing it with the framework of nonviolent conflict transformation. It specifically looks at strengthening the skills of the community leaders in a manner that the process sees simultaneous transformation on the individual levels of the parties involved, and relational and social transformation where broken relationships are restored.
Local community leaders are potential change agents particularly those who deal with resolving local disputes through conflict resolution processes. Several local conflicts are resolved in traditional conflict resolution, but these are immediate remedies that may have potential for conflict recurrence in the future – due to lack of transformation on the personal and relational level.
This project aims to introduce to selected community leaders in Central Mindanao - who are frontliners in resolving local conflicts within their communities - the framework of Nonviolent Conflict Transformation as an effective means of addressing the root causes of conflicts, resolving the conflicts, and restoring the relationship between the involved parties.
This project also highlights the importance of alternative or traditional conflict resolution skills, and how the framework of NVCT can complement in addressing root causes of conflicts that will eventually lead to individual and collective transformation.