by Jose Belo, East Timor
I came to this year’s symposium with the conviction that the event will hopefully enrich my insights and knowledge as well as validate my hands-on experience gained in my work with the government of Timor Leste (TL). A few of the sessions that have stood out for me have been on negotiation skills and social entrepreneurship.
It was what Raymond Shonholtz, from the organization Partners for Democratic Change, captured during his distinction between conflict and dispute and conflict resolution mechanisms (explained as Direct Negotiation, Conciliation, Mediation, Arbitration and Litigation) that I learned the most.
I now clearly understand how these mechanisms can be helpful to understand both nature of the conflict and its disputant. I applied this session to my own experience in Timor Leste and learned that rebuilding relationships, through conciliation mechanisms and conflict resolution through mediation, is sometimes not clear when it refers to the community, ethnic, family issues.
Further still, to be a Social entrepreneur you must be the type of “…