Strands - Civil Society

Building sustainable platforms for peacebuilding

Led by International Alert, this strand of work creates opportunities for civil society leaders, as well as groups and communities mostly affected by the conflict, to participate in cross-conflict dialogue, conflict transformation initiatives and policy dialogue.

Highlights

■ A collaborative network of resources centres and discussion clubs provides Armenians and Azerbaijanis the opportunity to discuss conflict issues both in the safety of their own societies and across the conflict divide.

■ Civil society leaders have formed a strong coalition in each society building the confidence they need to develop a joint vision of the mutually beneficial outcomes a peace agreement can bring.

Work in Action

The initial challenge was developing enough trust between civil society leaders on both sides to negotiate a format for dialogue that neither recognises nor rejects either side’s claims. It required participants to trust in the motivations of their counterparts so that neither side would jeopardise the process by making short-term political gains against the other. One such test took place in Cyprus in December 2006 when, after over a year of negotiations, civil society leaders from both sides co-facilitated a meeting bringing together grassroots leaders of groups directly affected by the conflict, many deeply traumatised by their experience.

Impact

■ Mechanisms have been institutionalised to enable people with widely diverse opinions to debate on the peaceful resolution of the Nagorny Karabakh conflict, both cross-conflict and within their societies, filling a gap that prevented serious dialogue to take place in the past.

■ Through these mechanisms, an increase in debate and dialogue within civil society has evolved. And we can even observe a gradual increase in the level of tolerance towards different views in the mainstream – changing from ‘feeling of threat’ to ‘need to exchange views’ and even ‘need to accommodate the interests of the conflicting sides’.

CO-FACILITATING A DIALOGUE SESSION. © INTERNATIONAL ALERT.