ACT in Action: Irish Peace Process
The Walsh Visa Program participants from Northern Ireland and Ireland come to the U.S. for up to 3 years to work and live in a multicultural society so they can bring improved skills and attitudes home that support the economic regeneration and fragile peace process in their region. The participants went through an 8-week pre-departure training before arriving in the US and arrived in the US in groups of 60-70 on a quarterly basis. The participants went to live in one of four cities, including Washington, DC, Boston, Pittsburgh, and Syracuse. Local organizations in each city are the 'hub managers', and are responsible for identifying potential employers, arranging interviews, and providing participants with ongoing support and training in culture and conflict resolution during their stay in the US.
ACT was invited to develop and deliver the conflict resolution and cross-cultural skills training program for the participants, which was to be delivered in three stages (during pre-departure, during orientation upon arrival in the US, and ongoing monthly trainings in the US). ACT provided training for the participants during their pre-departure program in Northern Ireland/Ireland, and during some orientation and monthly programs in the US as needed, and provided ongoing consultation and monitoring for the conflict resolution and cross-cultural training program conducted by local hub staff.
Nike Carstarphen was the Project Director. ACT curriculum developers and/or trainers for the project also included Robert Harris, Giselle Huamani Ober, Craig Zelizer and Ilana Shapiro, as well as several ACT consultants, including Elham Atashi, Anna Ohanyan, Catalina Rojas, and Mara Schoeny.
Click on each image to see selected pictures from the project.
Goals of the Conflict Resolution and Cross-cultural Training Program
The training supports the overall vision of the Walsh Visa Program and has three major goals:
- To increase participants cross-cultural awareness, tolerance, respect and appreciation for differences
- To develop enhanced capacity to effectively address interpersonal, work-related, and cross-cultural conflicts in the U.S. and at home
- To prepare participants to return home with increased understanding, tolerance and appreciation of differences and skills for dealing with cross-community/border issues at home
The overall goal of the conflict resolution training is to enable the Participants to transfer their learning in the U.S. to their home environment and to look at their home country through new eyes when they return to it in three years' time.
Successes
Over 90% of the participants rated the ACT training as very useful. The WVP is being evaluated by the Program on Peacekeeping Policy at George Mason University. They have found that after 18 months in the program, participants have improved their attitudes and beliefs related to conflict resolution and cultural differences. The participants, who were all unemployed prior to their enrollment in the WVP, have also achieved great advancements at their jobs. The most beneficial aspect of the program has been that the participants, who hail from different backgrounds, live and work together, and have built deep friendships across religious, political and geographic boundaries.
ACT has made a small, but valuable contribution to the success of the WVP. It has been an extremely rewarding experience to help support the peace process in the Northern Ireland region.