Baht Latumbo on Conflict Mapping

SESSION 4: CONFLICT MAPPING & IDENTIFYING PARTNERS IN CONFLICT, THEIR RELATIONS AND POWER PLAY

Conflict Mapping is a graphical presentation of a particular conflict situation (what, who, when)
• Identifying parties involved in the conflict (directly & indirectly)
• Examining kinds of relationship between and among parties
• Looking at alliances and possible alliance to emerge
• Power relations (who has power and what are the sources of power)
• “Where are we on the map?”

Benefits of conflict mapping
Conflict mapping is beneficial in peace-building and developmental intervention because this help:
• Deepen awareness of the conflict situation
ü Educating one another (checking our perception or misperception about the situation)
ü Developing empathy by trying to understand attitude and behavior of parties in conflict
• Look at possible entry for strategic intervention
• Conflict mapping is dynamic – we keep on revisiting our map

Steps to do your mapping exercise
Discuss and agree on particular, specific conflict that you want to map out
Identify main parties or groups who are in conflict as well as other groups/institution who are directly or indirectly involved or affected by conflict situations
Using different conventions (figures) examine closely and describe the kind of relationship these groups have between and among one another
Don’t forget to place yourself on the map