Conflict management

Conflict is the social process in which individuals or groups seek their ends by
directly challenging the antagonist by violence or threat of violence.
Nepal today is seen as a country in a situation of multi-level conflicts of structural, manifest,
perceptual and latent nature. The issues of civilian crisis prevention, conflict resolution and
post-conflict peace building have, therefore, become increasingly important themes during
the last few years. An inter-agency Working Group on Development and Peace (FriEnt), set
up in Bonn in 2001, aims to promote institutional cooperation among important German
organizations working in Nepal. Since 2001 Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Nepal office also
undertook the responsibility to support its partner organizations in peace efforts. Growing
awareness of the importance of conflict resolution and peace building concepts, approaches
and activities is expected to help understand and identify structural causes of conflict and
furnish ideas to equip the state institutions, political actors and civil society with the crisis
prevention and conflict resolution mechanisms.
Under the overall objective crisis prevention and conflict resolution, FES supported its
partner organizations in various activities. Their roles in conflict management have been
confined to:
holding political dialogue with major political parties on various methods of conflict
resolution,
training of journalists on peace journalism and developing measures to rehabilitate
journalists of conflict area,
reporting womens issues from violence affected areas,
training of trade unions on conflict management skills,
dialogue with scientific community and preparation of a book on Conflict Resolution
and Governance in Nepal,
helping partner organization in the establishment of an organization of widows (who
have lost their husbands in the conflict) of two Village Development Committees of
Dang District, developing their access to the institutional resources of NGOs in
Kathmandu, and counseling training for victimized single women,
sensitization of civil society about the possibility of peaceful options to conflict
resolution in Nepal, and
lecture course to RNA officers at Kharepati on the "Crisis of Governance and Modes
of Conflict Resolution in Nepal."
FES activities were conducted independent of partisan considerations and tried to look into
the deescalating forces of the conflict. Partners of FES conducted their activities mostly in the
districts, outside Kathmandu to activate civil society.

Causes of Conflict:
Conflict is universal. It occurs in all places. There has never been a society in which some
individuals or groups did not come into conflict. According to Darwin, the principles of
struggle for existence and survival of the fittest are the main causes of conflict.
According to Freud and some other psychologists the innate instinct for aggression in man is
the main cause of conflicts. Thus various causes have been mentioned leading to conflicts. It
arises primarily from a clash of interests within groups and societies and between groups and
societies. Conflicts also ensue as a result of the difference between the rate of change in the
moral norms of a society and mens desire, hopes, dissatisfactions and demands.
The moral norms that children should obey their parents have persisted in our country since
times immemorial but now the younger generation wants to go its own way. In consequence,
there is more parentyouth conflict than even before. Sometimes the moral norms are so
broad in scope that conflicting parties can often claim similar norms to justify their separate
demands.
For instance, the employees would justify their strike on the plea of deserving high wages in
this age of inflating prices whereas the management would justify its stand of reducing them
by advancing the excuse of its deficits in this age of competition.
Briefly stated the causes of conflict are:
(i) Individual Differences:
No two men are alike in their nature, attitudes, ideals and interests. On account of these differences
they fail to accommodate themselves which may lead to conflict among them.
(ii) Cultural Differences:
Culture is the way of life of a group. The culture of a group differs from the culture of the other group.
The cultural differences among the groups sometimes cause tension and lead to conflict. The religious
differences have occasionally led to wars and persecution in history. India was partitioned in the name
of religious differences.
(iii) Clash of Interests:
The interests of different people or groups occasionally clash. Thus he interests of the workers clash
with those of the employers which leads to conflict among them.
(iv) Social Change:
Social change becomes a cause of conflict when a part of society does net change along with
changes in the other parts. Social change causes cultural lag which leads to conflict. The
parent-youth conflict is the result of social change. In short, conflict is an expression of social
disequilibrium.