Nonviolent communication training in Bangladesh, the Maldives and Sri Lanka

The Asia-Pacific region has long had to contend with issues of hate speech, social and religious intolerance, the marginalization of minorities and violent incidents that fuel intolerance and extremism. Women and persons from marginalized groups may not feel comfortable or have spaces where they are safe to speak up or express their needs when faced with these issues. Responding to these challenges, UN Women and UNDP have piloted a training programme on Non-Violent Communication – a method which has found success in international mediation and conflict resolution settings – in Bangladesh, the Maldives and Sri Lanka. The project was generously supported by the Government of Australia and the European Union. This brief provides an overview of the approaches used in the pilot project and presents results from the evaluations of the trainings.