On 14 March 2019, EQUALITY for Peace and Development organized an event with participation of over 80 participants from the Center and provinces of Laghman and Kunduz to exchange opinions and experiences on peace building. Peace merely does not mean to stop war and violence but it also refers to an environment where everyone without distinction of race, language and culture has equal rights and access to resources.
With the generous support of UK embassy, this central exchange event engaged community peace building actors and offered an opportunity for them to interact with other key stakeholders, creating a space for conflict transformation, and laying the groundwork for future cooperation, dialogue and reconciliation. The conference was actively, attended by provincial Peace Council members, CSO representatives including women groups, local elders, governor office, provincial council, department of women affairs and religious scholars.
Four group discussions were organized seeking insights regarding barriers, solutions and mechanisms for enhancing inclusiveness and a better formal and informal engagement in peace process. After presenting the main findings and inputs of the group discussion, the program covered speeches of distinguished key speaker; Ms. Nargis Nehan (Acting Minister of Mine & Petroleum) and Mr. Mohammad Asif Nang (Laghman Governor).
A panel composed of Sayed Ihsan Tahiri (HPC Spokesperson), Dr. Omar Sadr (Senior researcher at AISS), Zarqa Yaftali (Head of WCLRF), Sabrina Hamidi (Head of human right commission/east region) and Alif Khan (Influential elder from Laghman province) was moderated by Ms. Sheila Qayumi to analyse current peace process, it sustainability and to discuss role of youth and women in peace process.
The event significantly witnessed willingness of key actors to both attend and publicly declare their commitment to involving citizens within all aspects of the peace process. Please visit our Facebook page (feeds can be accessed by clicking on the right tab of the page) to get further updates of this Central Exchange Event.