2.2.

11 Shura Jirga as an example of Group Work (Conflict Resolution)

Shura & Jirga is one informal institution that has very formal effects on the Afghan. It is
dubbed the bulwark of liberty and independence. "The shura& Jirga, by which most
community business, both public and private, is settled in Afghanistan), is probably the
closest approach to Athenian democracy that has existed since times immemorial. The
Jirga, shura represents the essence of democracy in operation under which every
individual has a direct say in shaping the course of things around him. Practiced this
way, democracy operates as a spiritual and moral force instead of becoming an
automation of votes," writes Syed Abdul Qudus in his book, The Pathans
The shura, Jirga is a customary judicial institution in which cases are tried and rewards
and punishments are inflicted. From the outset, the use of the shura, Jirga is limited not
only to trials of major or minor crimes and civil disputes but it also assists in resolving
conflicts and disputes between individuals, groups and tribes. It is the only vehicle by
which the political administration in the tribal areas dispenses justice.

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2.2.12 Child Self helps Groups

Traditional speaking children in Afghanistan organized themselves in different group

setting. Children with in family, community, mosque education, school going children
groups are few example. The children in such group understand each other problems
and deal with through elders of their respective communities. Such are mostly happened
in the rural areas, while in urban areas the children are facing different problems to deal
with. Due to lack of specific community they need out side support for their group or
organization. Such support is mostly extended by the NGO’s, UN sister agencies,
Government institutions. The children organized themselves under the umbrella of the
mentioned organization. A social worker from the respective organization guides the
process of the group for the fulfillment of their needs through self help or out side
agency. Such group deals with their problem with awareness raising, practical work
like, painting, music group, child journalist etc.

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2.2.13 UNDERSTANDING GROUPS

Any group of individuals working towards the same goal must co-operate with each
other in order to achieve success. Any group activity should be premised on the notion
that the individual is insufficient in relation to the expected output. The strength lays in
members’ com-plementing each other in a manner that leads to the achievement of
group goals.
WHAT IS A GROUP?
A group can be thought of as two or more persons who are interacting with one another
in such a manner that each influences and is influenced by each other.” (Shaw, 1981)
Without mutual influence, you are a free rider. Given this definition, list the groups that
you are involved in and indicate how the groups influence you and vice versa.

ISSUES RELATING TO GROUP SIZE

Before you constitute any group, be aware of the advantages and disadvantages brought
about by group size
Advantages of a large group:
• Different skills.
• Different values.
• Different perceptions.
• More people power.
• Social facilitator – increased output due to increased number of people as well as
individual accountability.
Disadvantages;
Out of control
Different opinion with no consensus
Personal interest and gain
Personality clashes
Diverse values, Perception
Lack of leadership
The Importance of Preparation for the meeting
To ensure everyone involved has the opportunity to provide their input, start your
meeting off on the right foot by designating a meeting time that allows all participants
the time needed to adequately prepare. A meeting time and place has been designated,
make yourself available for questions that may arise as participants prepare for the
meeting. If you are the meeting leader, make a meeting agenda, complete with detailed
notes.

In these notes, outline the goal and proposed structure of the meeting, and share this
with the participants. This will allow all involved to prepare and to come to the meeting
ready to work together to meet the goal at hand.
The success of the meeting is hinged on the skills displayed by the meeting leader.

To ensure the meeting is successful, the leader should:

•Generate an agenda to all involved in the meeting
•Meeting should be started with recitation of the Holy Koran
•Start the discussion and encourage active participation
•Work to keep the meeting at a comfortable pace – not moving too fast or too slow
•Summarize the discussion and the recommendations at the end of each logical section
•Circulate minutes to all participants
•While these tips will help ensure your meeting is productive and well-received, there
are other important areas that need to be touched on to make sure your meeting and
negotiation skills are fine-tuned and ready to take to the boardroom.

Managing a Meeting
Choosing the right participants is key to the success of any meeting. Make sure all
participants can contribute and choose good decision-makes and problem-solvers. Try
to keep the number of participants to a maximum of 12, preferably fewer. Make sure the
people with the necessary information for the items listed in the meeting agenda are the
ones that are invited.

If you are the leader, work diligently to ensure everyone’s thoughts and ideas are heard
by guiding the meeting so that there is a free flow of debate with no individual
dominating and no extensive discussions between two people. As time dwindles for
each item on the distributed agenda, you may find it useful to stop the discussion, then
quickly summarize the debate on that agenda item and move on the next item on the
agenda.
When an agenda item is resolved or action is agreed upon, make it clear who in the
meeting will be responsible for this. In an effort to bypass confusion and
misunderstandings, summarize the action to be taken and include this in the meeting’s
minutes.
Issuing Minutes
Minutes record the decisions of the meeting and the actions agreed. They provide a
record of the meeting and, importantly, they provide a review document for use at the
next meeting so that progress can be measured - this makes them a useful disciplining
technique as individuals' performance and non-performance of agreed actions is given
high visibility.

The style of the minutes issued depends on the circumstances - in situations of critical
importance and where the record is important, and then you may need to take detailed
minutes. Where this is not the case, then minutes can be simple lists of decisions made
and of actions to be taken (with the responsible person identified). Generally, they
should be as short as possible as long as all key information is shown - this makes them
quick and easy to prepare and digest.
It is always impressive if the leader of meeting issues minutes within 24 hours of the
end of the meeting - it's even better if they are issued on the same day.

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2.3 Community development

2.3.1 Community:

Community refers to people who live in some specific relationship to one another and
who shares interests and values.
According to Bogardus:
“A social group with some degree of feelings and living in a given area.”
Schnore defines community as:
“Population whose are interdependent on a daily basis and who performs many
activities that satisfies the population’s economic and social needs.”
Webster’s dictionary describes two kinds of communities. The first is a body of people
living in the same place and with same laws. The second is a body of people having
common interests. The first is geographical and the second is psychological or spiritual.
According to Cary:
“Community is a group of people who lived in some spartanly relationships to one
another and who shares interest and values”.
According to Mhann:
“Community as any group of people who live together and belong together in such a
way that they do not share this or that particular interest only but a whole set of life or
interests.”

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2.3.2 Essentials of a community: 1.Physical part: Territory, buildings, roads, streets and
lawns. They constitute physical part of a community.
2.Means of production and employment: When people live together in the form of
community, they must have some means of earning production and employment. They
can become employee of a private firm, company, and government or have their own
business.
3.Services: Water supply, electric supply, transport and communication, shopping
centers, medical services, educational and health centers, recreational facilities. These
all things people must have in community.
4.Relationships: People of a community live in a network of relation, family, friendship
circle, personal relationship etc. there are three types of relationships:

i) Primary ii) Secondary iii) Tertiary

1.Primary: Relationship is basic and natural, so relationship with parents is called
primary relationship.
2.Secondary: Relations of individuals are less personal and no emotional attachment
with one another. Their contacts are casual and not based on parental basis, e.g., when
there is interaction between an employee and his employees or of a shopkeeper and a
customer. They constitute a secondary relationship.
3.Tertiary: This relationship needs no physical relations. In case of tertiary relations, we
know about a person through newspaper, radio or TV but we don’t have any personal
contacts with him or her. So this is called tertiary relationship.
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