Building Peaceful and Tolerant Communities

Dialogue Fiji Nadroga-Navosa:

SCEFI EMBLEMATIC STORIES

The series of emblematic stories under the Strengthening Citizen Engagement

in Fiji Initiative (SCEFI) were developed in collaboration with the relevant civil

society organisations, with contributions from:

ϐ Sonja Bachmann, UNDP SCEFI Coordinator

ϐ Fane Raravula, Independent Consultant and Grant Facilitator

ϐ Rusiate Ratuniata, Independent Consultant and Grant Facilitator

ϐ Isikeli Valemei, Grants Manager, SCEFI programme

ϐ Janet Murdock

ϐ The stories were edited by Ms. Achila Imchen.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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Rapid urbanization, a growing modern economy and demographic

shifts are eroding entrenched ethnic divisions in Fiji today, and

inter-ethnic tensions and conflicts over land-use and access to

natural resources arise periodically. Promoting dialogue among

different sections of the population has become critical for the

peaceful resolution of conflicts. Dialogue Fiji Nadroga-Navosa

(DFNN) is an organisation formed by social workers in the

province of Nadroga-Navosa. In 2014, DFNN organised a training

programme to develop much needed capacity and skill building

among social workers and community leaders in facilitating

dialogue processes. The initiative, made possible with funds from

UNDP’s Strengthening Citizen Engagement in Fiji Initiative (SCEFI),

was implemented through a series of workshops. It imparted

training to 75 participants from across the province, setting a new

way forward for building tolerant and peaceful communities in

Nadroga-Navosa.

SUMMARY

Building Peaceful and Tolerant Communities

Dialogue Fiji Nadroga-Navosa:

SCEFI EMBLEMATIC STORIES

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INTRODUCTION

Fiji’s Nadroga-Navosa province faces certain issues which give rise to

disagreements in both traditional iTaukei villages and non-iTaukei

communities. These include disputes over land and fishing ground

boundaries, expiring land leases and evictions of tenants by landlords.

In recent times, a substantial number of Fijians of Asian descent, who

traditionally relied on leased land, have faced evictions upon expiration

of their leases, cutting them off from a long-established way of life.

Traditional iTaukei villages also face infighting among families, clans and

sub-clans over land ownership.

These underlying disagreements exacerbate minor conflicts, often

spiraling them into situation of verbal and physical violence. People

of Nadroga-Navosa, particularly youth, resort to alcohol and drugs

combined with other problems such as domestic violence, rapes and

teenage pregnancies. Despite these challenges, however, social workers

in Nadrosa-Navosa lack essential skills and knowledge in resolving

conflicts through a process of dialogue.

In 2010, a group of social workers formed the organisation Dialogue

Fiji Nadroga-Navosa (DFNN) to promote participatory and inclusive

dialogue processes as a way to find solutions to the province’s diverse

problems. DFNN is Nadroga-Navosa’s branch of Dialogue Fiji, a national

organisation formed in 2008 by Fijian civil society leaders, academics

and senior civil servants to achieve the following:

ϐ develop inclusive dialogue processes to support and provide momentum

toward finding peaceful and inclusive solutions to Fiji’s problems

ϐ provide mechanisms for long-term conflict resolution and nation

building to organisations and individuals in Fiji.

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DFNN was formed after five social workers from Nadroga-Navosa

attended Dialogue Fiji’s first national conference in June 2010. They

realised that the issues discussed nationally were similar to those

that they were grappling with in their province. They also began to

understand how dialogue platforms could create safe spaces for

parties to share their account of events with an audience, and the

effectiveness of dialogue skills in conflict resolution processes.

At the conference Dialogue Fiji offered support to participants in

the form of capacity building workshops, trainings and information.

Motivated by such support, the Nadroga-Navosa delegation collectively

decided to form DFNN as an extension of Dialogue Fiji. Upon their

return, those who attended the national conference formed DFNN’s

first committee members, responsible for the growth of the network

in the province. They also began to apply their acquired knowledge to

the different social problems in the province (see Box 1).

Photo Credit: Pacific Centre for Peacebuilding

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BOX 1: From Theory to Practice

The first significant resolution of a dispute through dialogue in Nadroga-Navosa

was a boundary dispute involving two tribes over the fishing grounds in the

mouth of the Sigatoka River. In 2010, fishermen of the two tribes entered into

an argument over issues of trespassing which escalated to verbal abuse and

eventually into fist cuffs. A vicious cycle of alcohol-induced retaliatory violence

began, with one tribe assaulting vulnerable members of the other tribe and the

other tribe retaliating soon after. Children and elders also suffered in this negative

cycle.

Penijamini Vakili, a Methodist clergyman and member of one of the

tribes, had attended Dialogue Fiji’s national conference in June 2010.

He convened a meeting of the two tribes to initiate dialogue, laying

down rules to guide the dialogue process based on guidelines he

had learned at the national conference. Both parties were given time

to fully articulate their arguments and asked to refrain from coarse

language when expressing anger, frustration or hurt, and to listen to

the other party without interjections. Each tribe cited papers and maps

to convince the other party of their claims to the larger portion of the

fishing ground. A representative from the Fisheries Department was

given time to deliberate on the law’s interpretation and explanation of

the ownership claims. Upon hearing the Fisheries officer, both parties

came to the understanding that neither had ownership over the fishing

ground which lay with the Fiji government. Both, however, had the right

to use the fishing ground. The iTaukei Lands and Fisheries Commission

(TLFC), also present at the meeting, provided the legal boundaries of the

fishing ground.

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Another resolution at the meeting was that if members of one tribe

wanted to fish within the boundaries of the other tribe, then approval

had to be sought from the chief of the latter. A third resolution required

that each tribe recount the wrongs of its members. Wrong doers were

made to understand the gravity of their acts and asked to verbally

express regret in the presence of those wronged. In return, the wronged

parties publicly forgave those wrongdoers. With the implementation of

the three resolutions, a positive cycle of engagement was initiated.

Despite the formation of DFNN, its members were not equipped or

certified enough to train others at a macro level. The organization did

not have the knowledge or capacity to handle social conflict that arose

in their communities. There was a need to accelerate the training of

social workers throughout the province.

Photo Credit: UNDP

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PROCESS: TRAINING ONE TIER AT A TIMEWhen the opening arose for a funding opportunity through UNDP’s

Strengthening Citizen Engagement in Fiji Initiative (SCEFI), DFNN’s

members viewed it as an opportunity. They developed a funding

proposal to organize a training workshop based on the themes of

transformation leadership, non-discrimination and inclusiveness, voice

and choice and equitable service delivery. The objective of the workshop

was to train social workers and community leaders in Nadroga-Navosa

in the skills and tools of dialogue facilitation. The initiative was premised

on the belief that closing this knowledge gap would greatly facilitate

resolution of community conflicts without violence. DFNN’s proposal

was approved for funding by SCEFI in 2014 (see Box 2).

Photo Credit: UNDP

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BOX 2. How SCEFI Supports Civic Engagement in Local Communities

UNDP’s Strengthening Citizen Engagement in Fiji Initiative (SCEFI) is a three year

project (2013-2016) aimed at strengthening peaceful and inclusive development

in Fiji by enabling citizens to engage in community activities. It emphasises

fostering democracy from the bottom up, and as such, the strengthening of

collaboration between decision-makers and citizens. SCEFI is organized around

six core themes: transformative leadership, non-discrimination and inclusiveness,

equitable service delivery, accountability and human rights, voice and choice,

decision making and coalition building.

SCEFI’s outreach strategy involved receiving proposals and funding projects of

civic engagement across Fiji. Towards this objective, it recruited and trained 11

local facilitators who visited Fiji’s 14 provinces and conducted 236 information

sessions that reached over 3,000 people in 2014. SCEFI facilitators were critical

to realizing the Initiative’s aim of targeting far-flung communities and citizens

groups, and identifying emblematic projects which represented empowerment,

self-help and collaborative action.

Through the outreach effort, 88 project proposals in total were

submitted for consideration. Facilitators also helped organizations to prepare

grant proposals. Once the grant proposals were approved, representatives of

each organization attended a three-day training workshop where grantees were

informed about SCEFI’s overall objectives and provided support on management

and reporting requirements. The training provided skill-building and information

on key concepts such as civic engagement and strengthening collaboration

between government and civil society. Facilitators also provided mentoring and

facilitation support to grantees during project implementation, and assisted with

reporting and financial requirements.

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Given its lack of organizational capacity, DFNN sought assistance from

the Pacific Center for Peace-building (PCP). PCP is an organization with

a history of resolving conflicts through dialogue, and with refined

conflict resolutions tools to suit Fiji’s contexts. Its personnel were

certified to train others in the application of the dialogue methods in

conflict resolution. Subsequently, the programme and training content

of DFNN’s workshop was entirely spearheaded by PCP. A three-week

training programme was planned and implemented during February-

March 2015. Participants for the workshops came from diverse

backgrounds and age groups, including youth, community leaders

and social workers.

ϐ A first workshop was a “training for trainers” aimed at experienced

community practitioners. Participants included those who had

attended previous Dialogue Fiji events, and those already working

with communities who required skills to transfer their experience and

knowledge to a second tier of community leaders. The ‘training for

trainers’ workshop was held at Nayawa village from 18-20 February

2015. The total number of participants was 25, of which 8 were females.

Participants included village and district administrators, provincial

officials, clergyman of various Christian denominations, and three

community leaders from non-iTaukei communities. About 18 of the

participants were in age bracket of 35 to 45, four were above the age of

45 and three belonged to youth age category of 15 to 35 years.

ϐ The ‘training for trainers’ was followed by two successive workshops

where DFNN facilitators, along with PCP facilitators, trained social

workers and interested community leaders. Some participants from

the ‘training of trainers’ workshop were also selected as co-facilitators.

The first of the two workshops was held from February 25-26, 2015 in

Vunavutu village. It was aimed at social workers from the surrounding

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areas. The total number of participants was 23 of which 16 were females.

Nineteen of the participants belonged to the age group of 35-45, and

three were above the age of 45.

ϐ The second workshop was held in Sigatoka town from March 4-6,

2015. Out of a total of 27 participants 14 were female. There were 13 non-

iTaukei and 14 iTaukei. In the youth bracket there were four participants

between the ages of 15 to 35 years. Thirteen participants were in the age

group of 35-45 years old, and 10 participants were over 45 years old.

Participants were introduced to various tools of facilitating dialogue.

Related issues such as understanding different layers of a conflict and

the importance of focusing on issues rather than the person were also

discussed. The workshops reinforced the notion of unity in diversity as

participants learned about understanding and appreciation each other’s

unique attributes, views and perspectives. Resolutions from the three

workshops advocated for the inclusion of women and youth, various

committees of the villages, and non-iTaukei communities. At the end of

the three weeks of training, about 75 people reached a certain level of

competency in facilitating dialogue processes.

DFNN also organized a final workshop for the more experienced

members, including those co-facilitating the workshop along with

PCP. The workshop was specifically tailored around the ‘consensus

facilitation’ methodology, to equip them with facilitation skills to chair

meeting for all occasions and confidently facilitate any type of workshop.

UNDP helped develop the programme and content of the consensus

facilitating workshop.

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RESULTS AND IMPACT ϐ Benefits from the DFNN training programme were soon evident after

its completion in Nadroga-Navosa. Testimonials from workshop

participants attested to their use of the skills at different levels, from

family level conflicts to resolving conflict at community and district levels.

For example, a public consultation was held in April 2015 at Sigatoka

Town Council conference room by the iTaukei Land Trust Board, over

the equitable distribution of lease money to landowners as authorized

by the government. Participants from the DFNN dialogue workshops

participated in the consultation. Another participant of the ‘training for

trainers’ workshop from Vunavutu village reported that she used the

dialogue process to resolve an administrative conflict within a national

women’s group.

ϐ Anecdotal evidence from resolved cases achieved through support

of DFNN members showed that DFNN was being acknowledged by the

province as a driver of peace-building, using approaches that complemented

traditional ways to build tolerant and peaceful communities.

LESSONS LEARNED ϐ Appreciation and acknowledgement of diversity is essential across

all phases from facilitating dialogue to creating change. By this token,

consideration of diversity in race/ethnicity and factors such as gender,

age groupings, sexual orientation, and language diversity are important

to consider when executing action plans during dialogue processes.

ϐ Understanding structures that condone or support inequality is also

essential while promoting dialogue and long-term change.

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ϐ Sharing personal concerns and stories while organizing dialogue

processes, by both facilitators and participants alike, helps in addressing

issues of privilege, power and inequity. Personal change brings energy

and persistence to long-term democratic processes aimed at systemic

change.

ϐ Measuring progress of changes in community is essential. This makes

it possible to keep engaging new people in dialogue and action, and

build on the changes that have already occurred.

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