Trainer Profile: Sahro Ahmed H. Koshin

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Training: Intercultural And Inter-relgious dialogue (15th – 22nd November 2004, Orthodox Monastery of Panagia Soumela, Veria, Greece)
Organised by: EYCE for a period of 9 days.
Description: Aim:
• to provide young people with practical skills and information how to encounter people from other cultures and religions and give participants tools how to prevent a possible conflict i.e. equip participants with the competence to encounter the challenges of cultural and religious plurality in today’s
Europe.

Objectives:
• to have a better understanding of both, Christianity and Islam
• to discover similarities and to respect our diversity
• to create space for participants to meet on a person – to – person level,
sharing ideas and experiences
• to discover historic and current positive examples of Islam – Christian
understanding and to learn from mistakes made in history
• to explore what has already been done in the process of inter-religious
dialogue
• to equip and train participants with the right tools so that they can initiate
similar activities in their home communities and home society.
* to establish our Muslim – Christian Dialogue as an example of inter-religious
dialogue in general.

Methods used
-independent work, which was partly done prior to the training course to group work where participants applied theory into the practice.
-lectures and role game,
- “Learning-by-doing”
- At the very beginning of the seminar there were different Ice-breakers, name games and group building activities used for participants to get to know each other and to create a friendly and positive atmosphere for further work.
- In order to meet everyone’s learning needs and to avoid frustrations
participants were asked to express their expectations and fears by writing them down on paper. It was done individually, so everyone got time to consider, what they want to learn or acknowledge and what their fears are.
- As a starting point for the training course participants worked in small groups in order to identify stereotypes towards Muslims and Christians.
- personal insight on the topic and sharing in the whole group, so that everyone is aware about the situation in the whole group. Eventually the conclusion was made that our perceptions about the other religions and cultures might be very wrong. Dialogue should be conducted with respect, patience, tolerance and an open mind, as a very substantial part of the training course, the personal approach was used.
- Role game as a method was used for further exploration of our own as well as other people’s beliefs and points of view. In the framework of the role game participants were exploring different issues from the perspectives of other people. The essential part of this method was avoiding judgements, before being in the role of others, before walking in other’s shoes. This method led participants towards a better understanding of others and their cultural and religious backgrounds, as well as different standpoints which this background is creating.




Reference person: Daniel MÜLLER = General Secretary (general.secretary@eyce.org, +32 2 5106187)

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Training: Reconciliation as a means for sustainable peace (28.03. - 04.04.2004, Strasbourg, France)
Organised by: EYCE for a period of 7 days.
Description: Aims and objectives:
The following aims and objectives for that study session have been defined by the International Planning Committee:
Aim:
·To explore the meaning of reconciliation as a concept and to help participants to find ways to implement it in their contexts for the purpose
of contributing to sustainable peace.

Objectives:
· to provide space for dialogue and individual reflection on reconciliation to explore reconciliation as a concept
· to find a common understanding of reconciliation
· to find ways how we can contribute to sustainable peace
· to identify and analyze the issues and concerns in participants’ contexts where reconciliation is needed
· to equip participants with tools with which they can contribute responsibly to sustainable peace
· to reflect on the potential role of EYCE in contributing to sustainable peace.

The session aimed at better understanding the concept of reconciliation and its contribution towards sustainable peace. The activity could be implemented thanks to the close collaboration and support from the Directorate of Youth and Sport of the Council of Europe. We were absolutely delighted to be welcomed in this comfortable and excellently facilitated place. It was there that through a wide range of methods, we successfully explored how reconciliation could be a tool for each of us in our own contexts. We succeeded in having explored a very difficult, profound topic, to the end that we even have some local and international project ideas springing up
from it. The programme focused not only at the theoretical discussion but also provided the space for getting practical tools on conflict solving and project development aimed at facilitating reconciliation.

Social highlights from the week included the French evening, hosted by our good friend Kim Goertz, a participant in former EYCE Programmes and his gang of locals, getting sick on all-you-can-eat tarte flambée, the visit to the Jewish synagogue, and of course the evenings spent on building great relationships.

Methodology:
The study session was working with and based on the active role of all participants. During the study session they could explore the meaning of reconciliation and sustainable peace as well as develop ideas. There was also time reserved for developing the ideas and transforming them into concrete project which could be implemented by the participants after returning home. Different methods used during the week varied a lot; it was individual work and teamwork as well as role games, presentations and lectures. Our guest speakers, Lord John Alderdice of Knock and Rev. Mathew Ross contributed a lot in our understanding of the concept of reconciliation and sustainable peace. The discussion in the small groups was essential for sharing opinions
and getting new ideas. We were challenged by the method of Open Space as it was introduced for the first time at an EYCE event. As it is shown in the
evaluation the Open Space was a great success. It allowed participants to raise the issues which hadn’t been foreseen by the programme or deeper
discussion of issues that had appeared.

Furthermore, the participants were asked to prepare a project. It was very important that the project they came up with during the sessions aimed at reconciliation and conflict solving. The projects that were presented by the participants had different dimensions and contexts. They were various: a TV programme, an interdenominational conference, a gender conference or website and community building.

As non-formal education is part of the image of EYCE study session, there was also the social part of the study session, which helped everyone in intercultural learning. We had an International Banquet, the European
Cultural Night, a French Surprise as well as many other activities during the course. All of them played an important role in learning from each others cultures.
Reference person: Daniel MÜLLER = General Secretary (general.secretary@eyce.org, +32 2 5106187)

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Training: Asking the Right Questions Cosultation, ToT (28/09-/10 2004, Chiang Mai, Thailand)
Organised by: International Fellowship Of Reconciliation (IFOR) for a period of 13 days.
Description: *How can I adapt exercises from another country for use in my own community?
*Where can I find practical information on gender and nonviolence in my own language?
*How can we get men and boys involved in changing gender roles?

Like all good gatherings, the Asking the Right Questions international consultation on nonviolence training and gender raised more questions than it answered. More than 300 inquiries and application were received by the organizers of the consultation, indicating a high interest in the issue of gender-sensitive nonviolence training.

GOALS:
*Breaking the isolation of women nonviolence trainers
*Bridging the gaps between different cultures and social change movements (for example, global justice, youth, trade unions, development, etc.) and in particular between age generations of women trainers
*Supporting women trainers in developing methodologies, materials and modules to integrate gender into their trainings
*Exploring new ways of organizing and activism.

Asking the Right Questions was a collaborative effort between the International Fellowship of Reconciliation's (IFOR) Women Peacemakers Program and the War Resisters International (WRI).

It was clear from the large number of applications received that Asking the Right Questions was answering a need. During the consultation nonviolence trainers identified a need for more information and practical training materials (especially videos and DVDs, training and resource manuals with exercises) on gender, while gender trainers requested more education and training materials (including case studies on successful nonviolent campaigns and actions; success stories on women peacebuilders, especially from Asia and Africa; and training manuals) on nonviolence. The need for materials in local languages, reflecting local contexts that demystified gender was equally clear. The emphasis from all trainers was on the very practical and on the very participatory.

Most of the 35 women trainers from 25 countries who met at Asking the Right Questions shared a sense of pain and anger at the way women are treated within their organizations. This reflects the denial of women's rights within their larger societies. Peacebuilding, in their view, is inextricably linked to women's equality.

This premise was shared among participants from a wide variety of social movements and training backgrounds -- in peace education, youth work, human rights, anti-trafficking, gender, and nonviolence. In order to achieve women's equality empowerment is needed. During the consultation many trainers repeatedly pointed out a need to increase women's self-confidence, especially at the grassroots level, and particularly for rural women, girls and youth, women in villages and illiterate women.

This need to empower women has many implications for training. There were repeated observations on the need to include in all trainings concerns and experiences of women themselves; examples of successful women's peace actions, and women roles models. Women, as peace researcher Cynthia Cockburn has pointed out, learn from women's lives.

Gender was a confusing concept for many of the participants. Practical exercises and materials that explained how gender impacts and involves everyone -- women, men, girls and boys -- were essential. How to involve the entire community, and men and boys in particular, in the struggle for equality, was a major issue for participants. How to deal with men's sense of being threatened or disempowered by a change in the power balance between women and men? Many trainers had experiences where the struggle for women's empowerment had resulted in a sometimes violent male backlash. Gender also includes relationships among women themselves, and many participants raised questions about the extent of solidarity between women.
Reference person: Shelley Anderson = Programe officer WPP (s.anderson@ifor.org, +3172 512 3014)

Current Occupation:
Program Officer (postdoc position), Women and Violence, Cordaid, The Hague, The Netherlands (www.cordaid.nl)

Work Experience:
2008 Aug-present: National Gender and Human Rights Liaison Officer, UNDP-ROLS, Garowe
Core Tasks: Coordinate the activities as designed in the work plan of the UNDP-ROLS programme with the authorities of Puntland as well as with the local civil society; Provide support and initiate dialogue with relevant Puntland authorities, line ministries, local and international NGOs, civil society organizations and other relevant stakeholders, and advance UNDP ROLS agenda on issues relating to human rights and gender; Represent UNDP ROLS and actively participate in various interagency groups, such as protection working group, by-working groups. Assist in training activities with the aim of improving human rights in Puntland, to law enforcement officials, custodial corps and civil society are conducted; Prepare project documents, notes/background briefs on human rights and gender issues in Puntland; Monitor and analyze media and other reports, in relation to the latest developments on human rights and gender issues on a continuous basis and report/inform UNDP ROLS staff on the same. SGBV data collection, analyses and documentation
2008 Jan-July: Project Cycle Management Consultant, Diaspora Partnership Program (DPP), CARE
Netherlands, Supporting staff of local NGOS in Garowe, Ghardo and Bossasso
Core Tasks: Carry out needs assessments and analyzing the data, Proposal development so as to access funding; Monitoring and evaluation; Report writing; Developing a fund-raising policy including identifying new sources of funding; Creating new donor relations and maintain existing ones; Developing tailor-made Comprehensive Training methodologies on Project Cycle Management (PCM) and giving trainings; Introduction to the EU System of Funding, Calls for Proposals and deadlines; Review organizational systems such as financial, human resources and procurement systems; Based on findings facilitate changes and / or on-the-job training to promote necessary; Development of Methodologies on Personal Development Skills & Planning; Monitoring and evaluation of Training Progress, Capacity Assessment (Institutional, Human Resources, Organizational); Enhancement of policy development; Information and Knowledge Management; Computer Skills such as database creation; Collecting best practices and lessons learned on PCM & Complex Emergencies; Conflict Transformation Training & Peacebuilding; Gender Analysis and Mainstreaming Training Courses; Advocacy and Lobbying on behalf of Puntland local NGOs among the Diaspora in Europe
2007-2008: Project Officer (Postdoc), Program on Women and Violence, Cordaid, The Hague
Core Tasks: Program Strategy development’ Qualitative Research and fieldwork on “The Cultural Dimension of Violence Against Women in Sierra Leone”; Thematic desk-studies on violence against women (Sexual trafficking, domestic violence, sexual violence in armed conflict); Knowledge & information management; Project Cycle Management; Work plans; preparing concept notes & TORs; Policy development and recommendation; Organize/facilitate workshops/meetings; Attend national and international conferences’ Reporting/taking of minutes during seminars; Progress evaluations & monitoring; Gender mainstreaming; Communications with Partners; Collecting and documentation of best practices on culture based violence against women

Educational Pathway:
2007: MA Degree in Advanced Developments Studies, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
2006: MA Degree in Cultural Anthropology/Development Sociology, Leiden University, the Netherlands
2005: BA Degree in Cultural Anthropology/Development Sociology, Leiden University, the Netherlands
2002: Higher Vocational Diploma in Cultural and Societal Forming, Hogeschool Leiden, the Netherlands

2002-2006: Various extra curriculum courses. Certificates obtained.
 Transitional Justice in Post-Conflict Settings, (NVVN), University of Utrecht
 Governance and Policymaking Strategies in the Third World, Leiden University
 Youth Transforming Conflict, the Network University, Amsterdam
 Gender & Conflict Transformation course, The Network University, Amsterdam
 Peace Journalism, Peace Education & Conflict Resolution, Leiden University
 Skills for Gender Mainstreaming, Inwent Online Course, Germany
 Computer Skills Course; Word, Excel, SBSS, MS, PowerPoint, Publisher, etc
 Participant & guest Speaker, Asking the Right Questions; Gender and Non-violence, Consultation and Training for Women Trainers, (IFOR), Chiang Mai, Thailand
 Participant, Course International Politics in a Global Age, University of Cambridge, UK, (ECHO-AWARD)
 Various Online Courses (such as the Women & political participation in Africa) United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs & UNIFEM/AWID,

Curriculum vitae:
CV S.A.Koshin For Salto Youth DETAILED.doc