Message to Global Unites

So our theme this morning is on the challenge of conflict transformation especially in settings where conflict has not only had a long history but has had serious levels of violence that many of you have experienced and continue to experience on a daily basis. Many years ago, I started using the word ‘transformation’ instead of the concept of ‘resolution.’ Not that I have any opposition to the wonderful skills and abilities that come with conflict resolution, but simply from the viewpoint that we have to have capacities to think very strategically about the changes that we’re trying to promote. And the word transformation for me helps us think more clearly about the nature of social change, but also the different facets of change that are happening at the same time in these settings…