"What's Happening?" Blog is a weekly round up of the all the ADR news, jobs, events and more.  Check it out each week and view past news [HERE]

Muslims & Christians at Peace Amidst War

 Even as violence in the Central African Republic escalates, there are local communities showing that peace is still possible. Nyeko Caesar Poblicks, Projects Manager for Conciliation Resources, shares one such grassroots peace initiative that challenges and rejects violence.

I was in Lakounga, a southern suburb in Bangui, the Central African Republic, which was engulfed in five days of blind violence last month that has left at least 1,000 people killed. Communities 

Despite the presence of French troops and the International Support Mission in Central Africa (MISCA) deployed on the ground, some mosques have been burnt down, shops and houses owned by Muslims are looted by angry crowds who regard them as Seleka collaborators, and non-Muslims are often targeted by Seleka militiamen who brand them as ‘anti-balaka’ and seek revenge. Hundreds of thousands flee their homes and become displaced.who have lived in peaceful co-existence for generations, look at each other with mistrust and many fall victim to sectarian tit-for-tat attacks.

While international media portrays the current conflict as a conflict between Muslims and Christians, the reality is more complex than that.

Police: Hey Kid, Stop Using Twitter During Negotiation Standoff

Social media has increasingly become part of crisis and hostage situations.  The role social media has taken ranges from messages being posted by the subject leading up to the incident, the subject and victims posting during the incident as well as the police, and finally the police sharing information post-incident... 

TheEagle.com- When asked about whether he was worried he was giving away the location of the officers, Greer said any man "dumb enough to involve himself in a domestic violence case of that magnitude isn't going to be smart enough to check Twitter for a hashtag concerning police locations, but I did stop tweeting exact locations once I thought about it."

Divorce mediator wants to help Congress

Carol Bailey has handled family disputes for decades in her work as a lawyer at Seattle’s Integrative Family Law, and she’s applying her vocation to ease Washington’s gridlock.

In her pamphlet, “Easing Congressional Gridlock: A Divorce Mediator’s Guide for the union that can’t dissolve,” Bailey applies reconciliation principles to politicians.

“Because I spend my days helping couples communicate to solve real life problems, I can’t avoid seeing the hallmarks of a dysfunctional marriage in the current Congress: tiresome bickering while neglecting the needs of the family,” Bailey writes. “Let’s not fall back into this pattern.”

She organizes her advice into 10 categories...

News, Articles & More

How to avoid impasse in settlement negotiations

Thank-you Bernie Anderson

"The age of passive deference to professional advice is over"

Conflict Mastery Action Planning

The Language of Conflict