Perspectives from the Field: Implementing Conflict Resolution in Indigenous Communities in Oaxaca, Mexico

Biography: Martha Galicia is a Mexican lawyer. She has been in the US since 2014 to study the Master program in Conflict Analysis and Resolution at S-CAR. Before that, she had mixed her activities as a lawyer with teaching, activity that she has practice for twenty years in the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo.

In 2010, Martha registered in a Master program in Social Sciences in Mexico. She chose to study the mediation process at the Centro de Justicia Alternativa del Estado de Hidalgo (Center of Alternative Justice of the State of Hidalgo) as the theme of her master’s thesis. This thesis was the beginning of the pathway that brought her to George Mason University.

Last summer she had a meaningful experience trying to implement conflict resolution interventions between two communities in the complex State of Oaxaca, in Mexico. These communities had armed confrontations a few years ago, and currently, they are trying to find a peace agreement. This experience allowed her to deeply grow in the understanding of the Conflict Resolution practice and to define the direction in her future as conflict resolver.