| Posted: Feb. 27 2005,15:58 |
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PROGRESS: Has your organization seen
progress toward a culture of peace and nonviolence in your domain of
action and in your constituency during the first half of the Decade? |
Community
Mediation, Inc. (CM) is a nonprofit organization committed to promoting
peace and justice by enabling individuals, groups and communities to
resolve their conflicts themselves through mediation and other
nonviolent means. Locally, we provide staff, trained volunteer
mediators and other resources to resolve disputes. CM also offers
training and education to broaden the uses of mediation as a valuable
tool in conflict resolution.
The major progress we have seen
during the first half of the Decade is the continued growth of our
Dialogue Project described below. The dialogues began between
local religious congregations, but since 2002 have included dialogues
involving a number of local police departments and members of the
communities they serve.
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OBSTACLES: What are the most important obstacles that have prevented progress?
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The major obstacle we face is the lack of adequate and consistent funding for the work we do.
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ACTIONS: What actions have been
undertaken by your organization to promote a culture of peace and
nonviolence during the first half of the Decade?
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The
DIALOGUE PROJECT (DP) is a collaborative effort between CM and
Interfaith Cooperative Ministries, Inc. (ICM), a council of 43 faith
communities, including Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Unitarian and
Baha’I congregations. In 1997, CM and ICM established
the DP in response to the severe racial tensions created in the greater
New Haven community by the tragic shooting of an African-American New
Haven resident by a white East Haven police officer as a result of a
traffic stop.
During the DP's first six years, more than 2,000
individuals from more than 100 organizations have come together to
dialogue and develop actions plans to remedy racial and ethnic
discrimination in our community. The DP uses the dialogue model
developed by the Study Circles Resource Center located in Pomfret, CT.
See www.studycircles.org. The dialogues usually progress over
five sessions, moving from building personal relationships to
developing joint action plans. We have held dialogues between believers
from all different faiths, community-based dialogues that bring
citizens of different racial and socio-economic backgrounds to the same
table, and workplace dialogues that enable co-workers to discuss racial
issues in a safe and productive environment.
In 2003, the City
of New Haven continued to contract with CM to administer a major grant
on racial profiling, which the New Haven Department of Police Service
(NHPD) had received from the Office of Community Oriented Policing
Services of the United States Department of Justice. In 2003, the
Community Justice Dialogue Project (CJDP) brought police officers from
East Haven, Hamden, New Haven, Southern Connecticut State University,
West Haven and Yale University together with African-American and
Latino citizens of New Haven to discuss and develop action plans for
addressing the issue of racial profiling. For more information
about the CJDP, see www.cjdp.org. In addition to these
police/citizen dialogues, the CJDP Advisory Board proposed the
formation of a new Police Citizens Relations Council to oversee the
implementation of action steps developed during the CJDP-sponsored
dialogues.
In June 2003, CM and ICM jointly hired a new
DP Coordinator Sharon Stoyer, who had been working as a CJDP intern.
In 2003, in addition to the CJDP dialogues, Sharon coordinated a
number of other dialogues. At Wilbur Cross High School in New
Haven, dialogue participants focused on how to get more parents of
African-American and Latino students involved with the PTO. At
Southern Connecticut State University, the dialogue involving college
students and campus police focused on bridging the gap between student
life and law enforcement. Another youth-oriented dialogue brought
together 17 African American and Caucasian students from the Makom
Community Hebrew High School in Woodbridge and the Hill Regional Career
High School in New Haven. Finally, approximately 20 congregants
from the Muhammad Islamic Center and the Unitarian Society of New Haven
held an interfaith dialogue series.
The Dialogue Project in Hamden.
The Dialogue Project in Hamden.
The Dialogue Project in East Haven.
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ADVICE: What advice would you like to
give to the Secretary-General and the General Assembly to promote a
culture of peace and nonviolence during the second half of the Decade? |
I
would recommend that the Secretary General and the General Assembly
urge member states to provide more funding for initiatives and
organizations promoting the culture of peace and nonviolence.
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PARTNERSHIPS: What partnerships and
networks does your organization participate in, thus strengthening the
global movement for a culture of peace? |
National Association for Community Mediation
National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation
Study Circles Resource Center
Interfaith Cooperative Ministries, Inc.
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PLANS: What new engagements are
planned by your organization to promote a culture of peace and
nonviolence in the second half of the Decade (2005-2010)? |
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Postal address of organization
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134 Grand Avenue New Haven CT 06513
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E-mail address of organization
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mail@community-mediation.org
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Website address of organization
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www.community-mediation.org
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Highest priority action domain of a culture of peace
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Understanding, tolerance, solidarity
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Second priority action domain of a culture of peace
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Democratic participation
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Highest priority country of action (or international)
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United States
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Second priority country of action (or international)
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