Hama – Mhardeh | Steps Syria for Community Development Foundation
Mhardeh, Hama – May 3-6, 2025 – In a step to enhance the local community’s capacity to understand conflicts and build peace, the Steps for Community Development Foundation organized an intensive training titled “Understanding Conflict and Designing Peacebuilding Initiatives” at the Mhardeh Charitable Association. The training targeted 20 young men and women, including 12 females and 8 males, who are teachers and university students, within an interactive learning environment.
Building Capacities to Address Community Conflicts
The training, which spanned four days under the supervision of peacebuilding consultant Mr. Abdul Fattah Sheikh Omar, sought to enable participants to deeply understand the nature of community conflicts, analyze them, and design effective peaceful intervention strategies. The program included key themes such as the concepts of conflict, violence, and peace; stages and levels of conflict; conflict analysis methodologies (such as analyzing parties, positions, interests, and needs); and direct and indirect conflict management mechanisms.
The training was characterized by an interactive methodology that combined theoretical presentations with practical activities, contributing to enhanced understanding and experience exchange among participants.
Tangible Outcomes and Future Prospects
The training yielded positive results, as all participants gained a clear understanding of the conflicts surrounding them and the ability to analyze them and design appropriate intervention strategies. They were also able to distinguish between positions, interests, and needs within conflicts and actively participated in group activities.
Despite challenges such as the short duration of the training and a lack of prior local experience, participants showed a great desire to learn, affirming that the training “opened up horizons for us” and “provided us with communication and training skills in addition to important information.” It was agreed that follow-up field visits would be conducted to apply what was learned in practical reality.
The Steps for Community Development Foundation reaffirms its commitment to empowering local communities and enhancing their capacities for peacebuilding and conflict management, in order to build a more stable and cohesive Syria.
For more details: Mhardeh Thrives with Peace: A Workshop to Build Bridges of Understanding Among Community Components
