Dispute Resolution Prize helps fund post-tsunami work in Asia
Press release
19 November 2008
“The best year of my life” is how Otago law student Naomi Johnstone, 23, describes the 10 months she spent in Asia this year on post-tsunami and civil conflict resolution work. A Dispute Resolution Prize awarded by LEADR NZ helped in part to fund her trip.
LEADR NZ is New Zealand’s leading dispute resolution organisation that undertakes the training, representation and accreditation of mediation professionals. It is a not-for-profit organisation. See http://www.leadr.co.nz
Naomi, who is a final year LLB (Hons) and BA (Linguistics/Maori) student at Otago University, took a break from her studies to undertake unpaid internships in Aceh, Indonesia, and in Sri Lanka. She was in Asia from January to October this year.
Naomi is described by Otago law lecturer Jacinta Ruru as “a top law student with a passion for social justice” and “an incredible young dynamic woman.” Naomi has been a Project K mentor, an outdoor youth camp leader, and a Tearfund advocate. She comes from Gore, Southland.
In addition to the LEADR NZ prize of $500, Naomi used her savings, and sought sponsorship from Dunedin businesses for a half-marathon she ran around the central city Octagon to finance her trip.
LEADR NZ Executive Officer Gabrielle O’Brien says LEADR NZ’s Board was delighted to support Naomi.
“We were extremely impressed by the work that Naomi had already been involved in, and that she was such a self-starter. She also demonstrated a real interest in the value of mediation and alternative dispute resolution,” says Ms O’Brien.
Aceh and Sri Lanka were the areas worst affected by the Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004, which killed an estimated 225,000 people. Naomi was involved in research, policy support and analysis relating to a number of issues arising from the tsunami and decades of internal conflict in both countries.
Naomi initially intended to stay for just a two-month internship in Aceh with UNORC (http://www.unorc.or.id), a United Nations agency established in 2005. However, inspired by “the fascinating work, people and place”, she extended to a full six-month internship.
“The work UNORC is engaged in is very varied and stimulating,” Naomi says. “It ranges from providing policy support to various Aceh government departments to supporting the Governor of Aceh’s comprehensive framework for sustainable peace, prosperity and growth in the province.”
This work put her in contact with the International Development Law Organisation (IDLO), an international NGO that has UN observer status. It focused on community mediation training and legal rights awareness, aimed at helping the most vulnerable in society particularly women and children.
“For example, many wives did not have their name on the certificate of title of their land and homes. When husbands passed away [in the tsunami], these women, left to look after surviving children, were left without sufficient resources and land. Other critical legal issues related to inheritance and the guardianship of orphans.”
Naomi’s long-term interest in mediation led her to attend some of its training workshops.
“Using local lawyers and judges, IDLO have run community mediation training alongside legal rights awareness programs for the past three years in communities around Aceh,” says Naomi.
“Traditionally, village leaders have been involved in community-level dispute resolution based around both customary (adat) law and Islamic (syriah) law. The training built on these competencies, and was also designed to build trust and cohesion in communities recovering from not only the tsunami but also the previous 30 years of violent conflict with the central Indonesian Government, which only ended in a peace agreement signed in 2005.”
At the end of her time with UNORC, still “enthused and excited”, Naomi carried on to Sri Lanka, where she worked for three months for an international organisation that supplies independent analysis and advice to the world’s diplomatic and political community regarding conflict situations. Naomi’s work here involved research, political analysis and policy recommendations.
After working 12- to 14-hour days, often six days a week, for the ten months she was in Asia, Naomi stopped off in Thailand for a week’s holiday en route home to New Zealand.
Naomi says her time in Aceh and Sri Lanka was very inspiring.
“It was such a privilege to work in these parts of the world; to play a small part in a much wider struggle for recovery, peace and development and to gain insights into various aspects of culture, dispute resolution and law,” she says.
After completing her undergraduate degree in 2009, Naomi hopes to undertake post-graduate study in North America, and then to pursue a career in conflict resolution in developing nations.
“Working in developing nations is a way that I can see that my legal skills can help to make a real difference.”