Stakeholders at a two day capacity building and training workshop on conflict transformation and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) have advocated the making of ADR part of the nation’s law.
Fifty civil society organizations from Lokoja and Kabba brainstormed at the workshop, as part of efforts at countering radicalization and violent extremism organized by CLEEN Foundation and Trees on Earth Development Foundation.
In a communique issued at the end of the capacity building workshop, the CSOs agreed that inclusion of alternative dispute resolution in Nigeria law will be of immense benefit.
The communique called on advocacy and sensitization on the use of ADR, noting that it does not only saves time, but it is less costly, and does not take time like the usual court processes.
The communique said ADR gives people more time, opportunity to determine when and how disputes are resolved and called on CSOs to include ADR in any peace process so as to ensure thorough conflict resolution.
The communique among other issues called on CSOs to place pioneering roles in conscious building, deployment of conflict transformation strategies and the employment of Alternative Disputes mechanism.
The senior program officer of Trees on Earth Foundation, Inedu Simon, called on CSOs to collaborate with the legislature towards making ADR a means of settling disputes.
Earlier in a welcome address, Moses Adedeji, Executive Director, Tress on Earth Development Foundation, said conflict has become a challenge competing for scarce resources in communities, rather than dissipate energy and resources in resolving conflicts, the use of ADR he noted would help in reducing conflicts and the waste of scarce resources.
Mr Adedeji, urged CSOs to the workshop is to better equip participants on the skills to transform conflicts into peaceful outcomes, using ADR, a tool he described as less expensive and formal.
In a paper presentation at the workshop, Ebenezer Adurodija, who delivered a paper on an over view of conflict transformation, Alternative Dispute Resolution and the Role of Civil Society, says ADR is a means of conflict resolution other than litigation. He described the two most common forms of ADR as arbitration and mediation and advocated ADR as a system of resolving crisis if societies must survive, given the number of ethno-religious crisis in the country.
