Pagpati'ut - Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue

Mediating Violence In Sulu
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communities that were working and try to support these communities
comprehensively as models. If communities such as Silangkan can
it can serve as a target for broader assistance that would address all
others to emulate. This is what came to be referred to as Peace Centered
Communities (PCC).
Peace Centered Communities
successfully resolved, albeit its sustainability is yet to be seen. The point,
however, is that people in these communities initiate interventions to create
pave the way for development initiatives. Rather than simply accepting
things as they are, people in these PCC mediate their everyday encounters
with violence and create a conducive environment for development,
governance and private investment.
This is the inspiration of the present project. The fundamental premise of
the study is that communities are not passive receivers of violence, but
are actively negotiating, mediating the everyday violence that come their
way. Mediation here is broadly framed to include interventions – done by
individuals, groups, or communities – that directly and creatively confront
violent situations sans the use of arms.
The goal of the current research is to discover current community
practices in mediating violence, and effective policies (customary and
legislated) that support a positive environment for peace building. Its
general and overarching intention is to document ‘what works’ given
‘peace
technologies’ to other communities in similar circumstance.
Goals and Objectives
The goal of this project is to contribute to the reduction of violence in the
1. To understand, what is the problem;
2. To understand why violence occurs; and
violence from escalating in communities
While a number of studies have already been done as regards peace