Local Students on the Footsteps of Mr. Martti Ahtisaari
A group of students from Katarina Zrinski high school recently visited the Embassy. They were introduced to the complex and demanding role that mediators play in resolving real life conflicts and put their knowledge to the test in a game where they had to resolve a conflict.
Before they began the role play game, the students were introduced to the work of one of the most recognized mediators in the world – Martti Ahtisaari, former president of Finland and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize who contributed to peace processes in Namibia, Kosovo and Indonesia. The students watched a playful video(Link to another website.) in which Mr Ahtisaari negotiated a ceasefire between the angry birds and pigs in the Angry Birds – world, which was released on the occasion of Ahtisaari day, which is marked each year in Finland around the Martti name day in November. After this brief introduction it was the students’ turn to put themselves in Ahtisaari’s shoes.
There are many ongoing conflicts in the world. However this time the conflict in question took place in an imaginary country called Kurkum. Many tensions led the state of Kurkum to the brink of civil war. Each student was given a role of their own. The representative of the separatists and one of his supporters dominated the conversation from the very beginning. Could the situation have resembled the real world any better? The refugee camp worker wanted a peaceful solution for the conflict. The representative of the neighboring country shared the same view with her. At the peak of negotiations there was discussion between the separatists and the government about bargains and how to divide the country into two parts. One of the students asked whether dividing a country has ever really happened? One recent example can be found in Africa where South-Sudan was separated from the country of Sudan. After long negotiations the representatives of the different parties managed to reach an agreement. They decided to divide the country of Kurkum into two parts. The separatists felt victorious as they managed the majority of the land's resources. In addition, they were happy that they were finally recognized as an ethnic minority group.
After this role-play exercise, there was a lively discussion among the students about what they learned. They agreed that they were able to understand the complexity of conflicts and how they involve many parties with differing backgrounds and goals. They also came to the conclusion that solving a conflict is not an easy task and that many compromises must be made. One of the students pointed out how one country’s conflict can even involve great world powers such as the case in the Ukraine. Indeed the conflicts are usually much more complicated in reality than in a game.
Ahtisaari Day(Link to another website.) has been taking place in Finland since 2010 to promote peace mediation and importance of conflict resolution. It is marked each year at the beginning of November, particularly at schools to increase awareness about conflict prevention and mediation both at the international level and within the school community. It has also become part of the curriculum in many schools in Finland, from the lower grades of comprehensive school to general upper secondary education.
The Kurkum conflict resolution role play(Link to another website.) was produced by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. The game, designed for upper secondary schools, encourages students to think about conflicts, crises, peace and mediation.