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This article assesses the agency of UN mediators through a single case-study of the UN mediator in Syria – Staffan de Mistura. Drawing on and contributing to an emerging research agenda, we argue that UN mediators do have significant room of manoeuvre and thus the ability to conceive, negotiate, and execute key mediation policy-decisions. Our analysis bridges the literature on levels of analysis in International Relations (IR) and Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA). We developed a method that uses process-tracing to identify distinct mediation initiatives. We then pinpoint the mediator’s input on the conceptual and operational components of these main pillars of the mediation process. We question the prevailing perspective wherein the individual mediator has become conspicuous by their absence as the research gaze has been geared towards contextual constraints to mediation, the organization employing the mediator, and developing generic guides for good practice in ‘successful’ mediation. We put the study of the mediator’s agency firmly back into the comparative study of mediation, this way strengthening the validity of arguments that mediators’ personalities, skills and their individual characteristics shape their mediation initiatives just as they point up to considerable personal responsibility for which they need to be better held to account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is a regional organization with institutional experience in active conflict mediation, accumulated over many years. The emerging conflict in Ethiopia's northern region of Tigray – and specifically the fact that the conflict involved Ethiopia, considered to be one of the most significant powers in East Africa and a prominent member of IGAD – posed new challenges to the organization's mediation efforts. As such, it is important to ask what the role of regional mediation is, or how effective can such mediation be when a significant regional power is involved in an intrastate conflict with major potential regional implications. This article addresses this question considering the conflict that has engulfed Ethiopia's northern region of Tigray since November 2020 and argues that IGAD's late response and hesitant stand on its role as mediator in this conflict, which was related to Ethiopia's status in the organization and the region, was a lesson that IGAD should learn regarding its involvement in current and future conflicts. Furthermore, the specific timing of the Ethiopia-Tigray crisis, which coincided with an acute climate crisis in the region, underscores the fact that IGAD must move beyond a mediation role and propose more viable ways of coping with the devastating interwoven consequences of human-made conflicts and climate hazards, especially in view of IGAD member states' common vulnerabilities based on its experience in conflict mediation, both in relation to the Ethiopia-Tigray conflict and in other conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

En este artículo nos ocupamos de la emergencia de los Conflictos Públicos Complejos, una categoría novedosa en la administración de conflictos. Nos concentraremos en el análisis etnográfico de su progresiva estatalidad en la provincia de Salta (Argentina) a partir de la experiencia de su absorción en el ámbito de la mediación penal. Tal noción comprende la intervención sobre controversias que involucran a sujetos colectivos como grupos de familia extensa, grupos vecinales, comunidades originarias, etc. Asimismo, asuntos de interés público y actores estatales como parte del conflicto y como quienes deben contribuir a dirimirlos, suponiendo un enfoque de intervención distinto a la mediación clásica. Entendemos que la emergencia y la relativa permanencia en el tiempo de esta iniciativa institucional articula la creciente preocupación por cierto tipo de conflictividad social persistente en Salta (como las demandas de tierras de comunidades indígenas) con distintos compromisos y motivaciones individuales y grupales de los propios mediadores con la práctica de la mediación, actualizando un rasgo sobresaliente de este campo que es su innovación y expansión permanente. In this article, will discuss the emerging process of Complex Public Conflicts, a new category in conflict management. Specifically, we will focus on the ethnographic analysis of its progressive stateness in the state of Salta (Argentina) based on the experience of its incorporation in the field of criminal mediation. This notion includes intervention in disputes that involve collective subjects such as extended family groups, neighborhood groups, indigenous communities, etc. At the same time, this modality considers public interest and state actors as part of the conflict and as those who should contribute to resolving them, assuming an intervention approach different from classical mediation. We understand that the emergence and permanence of this institutional initiative articulate the growing concern about a certain type of persistent social conflict in Salta (such as the land demands of indigenous communities) with different individual and group commitments and motivations of the mediators with the practice of mediation. All this upgrades a distinctive feature of the Mediation field: its innovation and permanent expansion. Available from: https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1368

Qatar’s role in mediation diminished following the 2017 Gulf Crisis and the regional backlash to its interventionist policy during the Arab Spring. After the resolution of the Gulf Crisis in 2021, the Qatari role in conflict mediation re-emerged with a return to third-party mediation in the early 2020s, receiving widespread attention following the U.S.-Taliban agreement. The post-crisis return of Qatar to playing central mediator and facilitator roles in conflict management has, however, been subject to discontinuities as well as continuities in its mediation style as a result of the crisis in its international relations. This article analyses the evolution of mediation strategy, utilizing case studies of Qatar’s mediation in Afghanistan, Chad, and Libya through a framework focusing on results, modality, acceptability and reception. The analysis identifies key comparative findings on Qatar’s post-2020 renewed role in conflict mediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The phenomenological approach of the Family Constellation, developed by philosopher and therapist Bert Hellinger, was introduced to the Brazilian Judiciary by Judge Sami Storch in 2012, humanizing the practices of reconciliation and mediation of conflicts between litigants. Through his empirical experiences, Hellinger found that the most varied problems faced by individuals are shared by the familiar unconscious and transmitted to the following generations. To understand the notion of Field in the practice of the Family Systemic Constellation carried out in the Judiciary and, to verify whether there would be a correlation with the concept of spirituality as proposed by Hanegraaff, from a perspective of the Sciences of Religions, semi-structured interviews were conducted with lawyers, magistrates, prosecutors and civil servants of the Judiciary - all constellators. The Iramuteq software analyzed the data from the interviews. For constellators, it occurs during the dynamics of the Family Constellation a spiritual transformation (or emotional experience more profound than that conventional), and the statistics verified that spirituality is recognized by them independently, differentiated, but influential throughout the dynamics of the Family Constellation; this corroborated the sustained correlation between what happens in the establishment of the Field and the admission of the influence of spirituality in this dynamic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Violence is a significant social problem in many cities throughout the world. In seeking to prevent or control violence, communities have put in place a variety of interventions. Many of these rely on the formal criminal justice process to arrest, prosecute, and imprison offenders. However, formal social control is well known to be an incomplete solution to violence. As a result, some communities have experimented with community-based solutions. One such approach is Cure Violence, an initiative that treats violence as a public health issue. Based on methods used to prevent the spread of infectious disease, Cure Violence seeks to stop the spread of violence within communities. This study presents qualitative results on the implementation of Cure Violence in Trinidad and Tobago, a two-island nation in the southeastern Caribbean near Venezuela. We conducted 36 in-depth semi-structured interviews and two focus groups with a variety of stakeholders, including program staff, residents, family members of victims, and police. Our findings suggest that the implementation of Cure Violence in Trinidad and Tobago led to educational and employment support for community members and a reduction in violence, particularly retaliation killings in the target communities. Our results are useful for understanding the factors that shape the implementation of community-based violence reduction initiatives like Cure Violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accusation that someone is putting words in someone else's mouth can be heard in everyday conversations, but what does this phenomenon reveal about the ways human beings communicate? This paper aims to show that it is useful to view putting words in someone's mouth as a form of ventriloquation. By theorising this phenomenon, this paper explicates how people discover a version of what they said in their interlocutors' mouths, and in turn react to these ventriloquations. Since this phenomenon is especially visible in conflict situations, this paper demonstrates the value of using a ventriloquial lens to study human interactions through a detailed analysis of a public dispute and a conflict mediation session. Thus, this paper shows how this lens can be used to gain insight into the communicative constitution of conflict as well as its resolution. More broadly, it proposes to conceive of interaction as a process of mutual ventriloquation and highlights the methodological, ethical, and political implications of this analytical move. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition to a low-carbon energy system is imminent under the constraints of carbon-peaking and carbon-neutral targets. Undoubtedly, coal-related carbon emissions over the past decades have had profound negative impacts on human life and the global climate. However, the main position of coal in the energy system determines that pure coal reduction strategy will inevitably lead to a systemic energy crisis. To this end, we explore the conflict formation mechanism among coal enterprises, downstream coal-fired power plants, and government in the process of strategic energy decarbonization transformation from the perspective of industrial chain, and analyze the feasible conflict states and their NASH, GMR, SMR, and SEQ equilibrium characteristics by constructing a ternary GMCR model. It is found that there are two feasible conflict states s10 and s12 that simultaneously satisfy the conditions of the above four types of equilibria. In this context, the evolution paths of s10 and s12 are further analyzed and conflict mediation strategies are proposed accordingly. Meanwhile, the decarbonization transition of the energy system needs to consider both the stage characteristics and regional differences of energy reform, as well as the important role of green low-carbon technological innovation as a grip for the decarbonization transition of energy.

We argue that social construction theory can be used to inform data gathering techniques before launching a mediation program. Focus groups were consulted to gather attitudes, metaphors, and perceptions of a proposed mediation program. The results influenced decisions about the program structure. The influence of the focus group analysis on revised program structure are shared. Framing programmatic decisions in light of socially constructed ideas of conflict should ensure better program utilization and impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article's aim was analyze teachers' and principals' perceptions of a public elementary and high school, in the state of São Paulo, about Human Rights Education, to understand how it was conceived and experienced in the school and whether its principles were part, or not, of conflict mediation processes. The problematizing question was: what is the knowledge of this school team about Human Rights Education and how it reflects, or not, in their daily lives, especially in conflict mediation processes? The analysis was based on the premise that the Human Rights are the basis of participatory democracy. It was a qualitative investigation, carried out through documental analysis of official documents that regulated the work on and with Human Rights in public schools. In addition, semi structured interviews were conducted with the following members of the school team: Principal, Coordinator, School and Community Mediator Teacher and teachers. The results indicated the relevance of the adhesion of the school teams to Human Rights Education, in a participative and autonomous way, involving all school segments, and, therefore, in this process, teaching, learning, and experiencing social justice and democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Today’s conflicts are becoming increasingly complex, fluid, and fragmented, often involving a host of national and international actors with multiple and often divergent interests. This development poses significant challenges for conflict mediation, as mediators struggle to make sense of conflict dynamics, such as the range of conflict parties and the evolution of their political positions, the distinction between relevant and less relevant actors in peace-making, or the identification of key conflict issues and their interdependence. International peace efforts appear ill-equipped to successfully address these challenges. While technology is already being experimented with and used in a range of conflict related fields, such as conflict predicting or information gathering, less attention has been given to how technology can contribute to conflict mediation. This case study contributes to emerging research on the use of state-of-the-art machine learning technologies and techniques in conflict mediation processes. Using dialogue transcripts from peace negotiations in Yemen, this study shows how machine-learning can effectively support mediating teams by providing them with tools for knowledge management, extraction and conflict analysis. Apart from illustrating the potential of machine learning tools in conflict mediation, the article also emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary and participatory, cocreation methodology for the development of context-sensitive and targeted tools and to ensure meaningful and responsible implementation.

Over the past couple of decades, “new” state actors, such as Brazil, China, Russia, India, Turkey, and countries of the Arab Gulf, have been playing an increasingly prominent role in assistance provision to conflict-affected states. Skeptical of the liberal peace-building model, they have emphasized supporting economic development and avoided promoting political reforms, viewing them as too interventionist in domestic affairs of conflict-affected states. Rather, they have emphasized solidarity, cooperation, mutual support, and respect for state sovereignty; and they are committed to non-intervention norms. However, the foreign policies of “new” state actors have been far from static. This article argues that these norms mask more complex relationships between “new” state actors and conflict-affected states. Historically, the “new” actors have tended to adhere less to non-intervention norms in their immediate neighborhood. Now, as they become more deeply engaged with countries emerging out of violent conflict, have come to aspire playing more prominent global roles, and the competition among them has risen, their adherence to principles of non-interference is under strain and policies regarding issues of peace and security are shifting.

Interpersonal conflict requires interventions that reach community members across settings to develop peaceful conflict resolution skills. This article presents a case study from Aim4Peace, a multicomponent violence prevention initiative to prevent community gun violence based on the Cure Violence (formerly Ceasefire Chicago) model. The article presents types of violence and a framework for understanding contributing factors, followed by approaches to understanding and strategies for constructing peace. The Aim4Peace program is described, including a community--academic partnership with behavioralcommunity psychologists, through which collaborative action and evaluation occur with trusted partners across community sectors to provide nonviolent alternatives across socioecological levels. Next, we describe participatory evaluation methods for examining the underlying processes that support Aim4- Peace's efforts to build a culture of peace through conflict mediation and resolution strategies. Descriptive data are presented for how Aim4Peace implemented peace education processes through multisector partnerships. The article discusses process and proxy outcomes of the program and concludes with comments on multidisciplinary action and research for addressing large-scale problems such as violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a multidisciplinary analysis of the Russian Federation’s exploitation of legal systems, both international and domestic, to pervert arbitration efforts in Ukraine. This short study seeks to address challenges in moving forward with future mediation efforts and asserts that the Russian Federation exploits Minsk II to contain and subdue Ukraine. Simultaneously, Russia overtly disassociates itself with its manufactured conflict in Donbas while covertly maintaining a violent stalemate in the region. It deceptively supports these arbitration efforts to satisfy international stakeholders, but has weaponized the process to achieve impunity in pursuit of greater geopolitical objectives and violations of Ukrainian sovereignty. This article offers an overview of the emerging concept of Malign Legal Operations, a notion which is colloquially known as lawfare. It highlights the Russian Federation’s use of this strategy to achieve impunity within a revisionist approach to the rule of law. Furthermore, it summarizes peacebuilding efforts in the Russo-Ukrainian war from the perspective of malign legal operations and assess Minsk II to be a trap used to reduce violence in the region on the Kremlin’s terms by creating a “frozen conflict” in the likeness of South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and Transnistria. This article asserts that the Ukrainian law “On Special Self-Governance Procedure in Separate Regions of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts” is, de facto, the legal implementation of the Minsk Agreement without the accord being referenced by-name in the law. This fact, inter alia, serves Moscow by legally containing Ukraine and forcing a situation whereby the Kremlin’s objectives are pursued by Ukraine’s genuine and sincere desire to bring about peace in a conflict that was manufactured by the Russian Federation.

Despite considerable interest in the effects of evolutionary conflict in colonies of social insects, relatively little attention has been paid to this issue in clonal animals with modular construction, such as colonial ascidians, bryozoans, and cnidarians. These colonial animals are structural individuals, subdivided into repeated morphological modules, which can individually acquire, process, and share resources. While size‐related selection favors colony formation, evolutionary conflicts remain a potent obstacle to such cooperation. These conflicts can occur at several levels and must be mediated for cooperation to emerge. Module‐level conflicts potentially result in coalitions of genetically similar modules failing to share resources or monopolizing reproduction. Mediation occurs by a number of mechanisms including: (a) a single‐module bottleneck at the initiation of colony formation, (b) allorecognition that limits colony fusion to close kin, (c) development of new modules from connective tissue, (d) synchronization of module budding, (e) programmed module death, (f) terminal differentiation of reproductive modules, and (g) architectural constraints. Effective mediation of module‐level conflicts, however, may in some cases contribute to cell‐level conflicts. Animal colonies typically have multipotent stem cells, and genetically variant stem cells can potentially monopolize gamete formation. Limiting colony fusion to close kin may not eliminate such conflict. Finally, in at least some taxa an association between photosymbiosis and coloniality is found. Allocation of photosynthate can lead to host‐symbiont conflicts that can be mediated by housing symbionts intracellularly and using chemiosmotic mechanisms to detect defectors. Colonial animals thus serve as a living laboratory of evolutionary conflict and its mediation. Research Highlights: Colonial animals are a living laboratory of evolutionary conflict and its mediation. These themes are explored at the level of modules, cells, and intracellular symbionts. Understanding the synergisms and antagonisms of selection at these various levels better illuminates the natural history of colonial animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes conflict mediation as a field of practices and knowledge of conflict management in Brazil, referred to in this article as « justice of dialogue ». I examine how the workings of extrajudicial mediation in the Balcões de Direitos, or Counters of Rights, in two Brazilian cities. Mediation brings an ideal of participatory justice based on communication, less bureaucracy and greater access to justice for low-income populations. However, I also argue that the use of mediation ends up producing not a subject of citizenship rights but the recognition of women as « subjects of alimony », through the educational control of poor families.

This study is part of a research project into coexistence and school mediation. Its aim is to develop a tool (short version) to measure moral, emotional, and socio-cognitive training and the socio-personal impact of mediation on mediating pupils and teachers and mediated pupils. The theoretical starting model on which the development of this tool is based is the Educational Model for Development of Competences through Mediation (EMODESM). Methodology: the design is based on combining three previouslypublished questionnaires to create a single tool for evaluating mediation. The construct validity of this tool was studied in two phases. First, a sample of school students (n = 102) from Navarra (Spain) was evaluated, which gave rise to the revision of the tool. Second, the construct validity (confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis) and reliability (Cronbach's alpha [a]) of the revised tool were assessed with a new sample of school students (n = 140) from the Autonomous Community of Valencia. Results: we present a mediation assessment tool (MEQ) with 23 items and four dimensions: social impact, the interpersonal emotional area, the personal emotional area, and the moral cognition area. The reliability of the questionnaire showed appropriate values (aTotal = 0.9497; aPerception SocialImpact=0.7896; aEmotionalInterpersonal=0.7690; aEmotionalPersonal=0.8672; aCognitiveMoral=0.9402). Discussion: the structure of factors shown the MEQ questionnaire is not fully consistent with the EMOSDEM theoretical model. Consequently, we present a proposal for modifying the theoretical model on which it is based. Conclusions: a single validated and reliable mediation evaluation tool (MEQ) is presented, together with a review of the theoretical model for mediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista del Museo de Antropología is the property of Museo de Antropologia - IDACOR and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The research lens of this study falls on the importance in managing interpersonal conflicts that occur in the university context. In this direction, this study aims to think about mediation as a conflict management tool in a Public Higher Education Institution. Methodologically, the method used was the deductive, based on a basic and descriptive study. The approach is qualitative, based on bibliographical and documentary strategies. Analysis of content were the techniques applied for the analysis data. The results showed, theoretically, the applicability of the mediation in the Institution studied, making it a promising tool for solving less complex interpersonal conflicts in the study environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to know the capability of Portuguese teachers to promote the inclusion of children and teenagers refugees when it comes to language teaching, in the context of reception measures. Data was collected on 32 Portuguese language teachers. We conclude that there are some problems with teamwork, that teachers feel the lack of flexibility to develop intercultural competence and few of them contacted with concepts as intercultural dialogue, or intercultural cultural consciousness, intercultural mediation and global citizenship. Teachers' main preoccupations are the language of communication; planning adaptation; unfamiliarity with culture and syllabus of schools of the students; the possibility of cultural shock; integration difficulties; lack of attractive and suitable didactic resources and materials. We thus conclude that interculturality is seen as a problem and is perceived as being difficult to manage, with academic activities falling short of the desirable development of critical intercultural awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In classroom interactions, facilitation of children's autonomous choice of acting (agency) may produce conflicts among children. While facilitation does not have the function of managing these conflicts, it shares some types of action with conflict mediation, one of which is formulation. Formulation elaborates the gist of previous utterances and enhances interlocutors' actions. This paper provides a qualitative analysis of nine transcribed sequences of interaction, included into five different programs of facilitation. The analysis shows that formulations fulfil two different functions. First (function of mediation), they are designed as developments of the gist of children's utterances, enhancing stories of cooperation. Second (function of facilitation), they are designed as explications of the gist of children's utterances, without enhancing cooperative stories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In this study, mediator – party power dynamics in workplace disputes mediation dialogues are examined. Adopting Gramsci's concept of hegemony (e.g. 2005) and Foucault′s notion that power is not fixed in dialogues, but constantly negotiated by participants (e.g. Foucault 1980), the analyses show that the power dynamics shift in the mediation setting when mediators subordinate dominant parties and enforce their own formalized power as procedural guides to design (Aakhus 2003, 2007) a favorable context for conflict resolution. When their procedural power is threatened, mediators may use specific devices in their interventions that correlate with the four devices – interruption, enforcing explicitness, topic control, and formulation – Fairclough (1989, 135–137) states can be used by dominant participants to control weaker parties in dialogues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power sharing is largely accepted among scholars and policy-makers as a potentially effective mechanism for building peace in the aftermath of violent ethnic conflicts and self-determination disputes. Although the operation of power sharing may be prone to ongoing challenges and even political crises arising from the legacy of the conflict, international actors continue to promote power-sharing arrangements to manage self-determination and other ethnopolitical conflicts. This article investigates the normative and instrumental reasons why third-party mediators (on behalf of international organizations and/or states) turn to power-sharing strategies during peace negotiations. It considers the reasons why third-party mediators promote power sharing when its maintenance is likely to depend on their ongoing commitment and governance involvement. We argue that mediators draw from four different perspectives in their support of power-sharing settlements: international law, regional and internal security, democracy and minority rights, and a technical approach where mediators focus on the mechanics of power-sharing designs. The article draws on in-depth semi-structured interviews with officials from the United Nations and the European Union working for the organizations’ respective mediation units as well as documentary analysis of official mediation documents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the EU has expanded its common security focus in the 1990s, this important regional organisation has become the most frequent mediator in low-level civil conflicts worldwide. Under what conditions is the European Union (EU) likely to become involved in mediation in civil conflicts? Is the participation in mediation only explained by the EU's bias toward its near abroad, or is the EU more strategic? Some scholars have suggested that the EU's regional bias for its near abroad is the key explanation for the onset of EU mediation, but we propose that the reality of EU mediation presents a more nuanced story. We posit three explanations based on mediator bias: regional bias, economic bias, and normative bias. Overall, we argue that the EU will mediate in civil conflicts that are in its near abroad, but also where the EU has economic bias and where the EU can exercise its normative power in highly intractable conflicts. We test our hypotheses using statistical analysis of the UCDP low-level civil conflicts data from 1993 to 2004 and Civil War Mediation data from 1974 to 2005. We find strong support for our hypotheses, determining key factors that reveal the EU's strategic onset of mediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: Evolutionary theory is formulated in terms of individuals that carry heritable information and are subject to selective pressures. However, individuality itself is a trait that had to evolve – an individual is not an indivisible entity, but a result of evolutionary processes that necessarily begin at the lower level of hierarchical organisation. Traditional approaches to biological individuality focus on cooperation and relatedness within a group, division of labour, policing mechanisms and strong selection at the higher level. Nevertheless, despite considerable theoretical progress in these areas, a full dynamical first‐principles account of how new types of individuals arise is missing. To the extent that individuality is an emergent trait, the problem can be approached by recognising the importance of individuating mechanisms that are present from the very beginning of the transition, when only lower‐level selection is acting. Here we review some of the most influential theoretical work on the role of individuating mechanisms in these transitions, and demonstrate how a lower‐level, bottom‐up evolutionary framework can be used to understand biological complexity involved in the origin of cellular life, early eukaryotic evolution, sexual life cycles and multicellular development. Some of these mechanisms inevitably stem from environmental constraints, population structure and ancestral life cycles. Others are unique to specific transitions – features of the natural history and biochemistry that are co‐opted into conflict mediation. Identifying mechanisms of individuation that provide a coarse‐grained description of the system's evolutionary dynamics is an important step towards understanding how biological complexity and hierarchical organisation evolves. In this way, individuality can be reconceptualised as an approximate model that with varying degrees of precision applies to a wide range of biological systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With some notably rare exceptions, the literature on religion and peacebuilding has predominantly focused on men as religious actors, leaving the works of female religious actors in the shadows. This research focuses on a group of female religious actors in Afghanistan, their aspirations, and modes of working to build peace in their country. The research draws on structured interviews with 20 female members of a network of religious actors working for peace. In addition, quantitative data on activities carried out by those women and other network members has been employed to contextualise and improve the validity of findings. By examining the experiences and perceptions of these female religious leaders, the article illustrates the importance of religious literacy for Muslim women working for peace in Afghanistan. This research shows that such literacy facilitates social acceptance: it enables women to maximise the impact of the gendered peacebuilding spaces they have and, more importantly, to enlarge those spaces and create opportunities for conflict transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Context: Dying is a natural process, yet physicians are often uncomfortable caring for dying patients. Learners have limited exposure to curriculum on caring for dying patients and often navigate these encounters without appropriate skills and confidence. We developed and implemented the Double Parallel Curriculum in Palliative Care (DP-PC): End-of-Life (EOL) module. The DP-PC focuses on teaching third-year medical students (MS3) to not only take care of patients in their last hours of life but give learners the confidence to teach patient's families what to expect as they hold vigil at their loved one's bedside. Objectives: To develop and implement an educational intervention that improves learners' knowledge and confidence in EOL patient and family care. To expand learner confidence to a dual level (learners become teachers) with a simplified and culturally sensitive electronic bedside teaching tool designed to guide learners and patients/families conversations. Methods: Curriculum was completed during MS3 ambulatory rotation and included pre-/posttests, an online case-based module, faculty demonstration, and learner role-play using the bedside teaching tool. Results: A total of 247 participants took the pretest, 222 participants took the posttest, and 222 participants matched the pre-/posttest surveys. Students' knowledge of EOL care and the confidence to teach other learners and families about EOL care significantly improved after completing the curriculum. Conclusion: The DP-PC is a technology-savvy educational intervention that improves learner confidence and knowledge toward caring for dying patients and their families. Easy access, technology-based teaching tools may enhance bedside teaching of health-care learners and improve the care of patients and their families at the end of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is an emerging literature on the physician competencies most meaningful to patients and their families. However, there has been no systematic review on physician competency domains outside direct clinical care most important for patient- and family-centered outcomes in critical care settings at the end of life (EOL). Physician competencies are an essential component of palliative care (PC) provided at the EOL, but the literature on those competencies relevant for patient and family satisfaction is limited. A systematic review of this important topic can inform future research and assist in curricular development. Methods: Review of qualitative and quantitative empirical studies of the impact of physician competencies on patient- and family-reported outcomes conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines for systematic reviews. The data sources used were PubMed, MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. Results: Fifteen studies (5 qualitative and 10 quantitative) meeting inclusion and exclusion criteria were identified. The competencies identified as critical for the delivery of high-quality PC in critical care settings are prognostication, conflict mediation, empathic communication, and family-centered aspects of care, the latter being the competency most frequently acknowledged in the literature identified. Conclusion: Prognostication, conflict mediation, empathic communication, and family-centered aspects of care are the most important identified competencies for patient- and family-centered PC in critical care settings. Incorporation of education on these competencies is likely to improve patient and family satisfaction with EOL care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]