National Dialogue Handbook a Guide for Practitioners
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
National Dialogue Handbook A Guide for Practitioners In cooperation with National Dialogue Handbook A Guide for Practitioners National Dialogue Handbook PUBLISHED BY Berghof Foundation Operations GmbH ISBN: 978-3-941514-24-9 © Berghof Foundation Operations GmbH Altensteinstrasse 48a 14195 Berlin Germany www.berghof-foundation.org May 2017 All rights reserved. Contributing authors (Part I): Marike Blunck, Luxshi Vimalarajah (conceptual design and guidance), Oliver Wils, Corinne von Burg (swisspeace), David Lanz (swisspeace), Mir Mubashir. Country fact sheet editors (Part II): Vanessa Prinz, Damjan Denkovski. Special thanks go to the fact sheet authors and reviewers, who have dedicated their expertise to this project. They are acknowledged separately in the list of contributors and key references to Part II. The final selection of country fact sheets is based on extensive research identifying and mapping National Dialogues across the world, for which we would like to extend our sincere gratitude to Nina Bernarding, Marike Blunck and Christine Seifert. Further thanks go to the authors of the in-depth case studies and the thematic papers, who provided key insights on which the Handbook rests. The papers can be accessed at: www.berghof-foundation.org/publications/national-dialogue- handbook. Graphic design and layout: AMBERPRESS Katja Koeberlin, Gosia Warrink Copy editing and proofreading: Aaron Griffiths, Beatrix Austin National Dialogue Handbook Special thanks go to the members of the project’s Advisory Group, who have lent their invaluable support by sharing their expertise, reflections and thoughts on the topic and the Handbook. We would like to thank Catherine Barnes, Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, Eastern Mennonite University • Roxaneh Bazergan, Mediation Support Unit, UN Department of Political Affairs • Mohammad Halaiqah, Member of Parliament and former Deputy Prime Minister, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan • Karam Karam, Common Space Initiative • Anne-Lise Klausen, Fragility, Conflict and Violence Group, World Bank • John Packer, Human Rights Research and Education Centre, University of Ottawa • Katia Papagianni, Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue • Mouin Rabbani, Arab Initiative for Conflict Transformation • Martin Wählisch, Middle East and West Asia Division, UN Department of Political Affairs. National Dialogue Handbook National Dialogue Handbook Contents PART I 11 Introduction 17 Chapter 1 Defining National Dialogue 37 Chapter 2 The Preparation Phase: Planning and preparing for a National Dialogue 67 Chapter 3 The Process Phase: Conducting National Dialogue 137 Chapter 4 The Implementation Phase: Implementing and nurturing outcomes 159 Chapter 5 External Engagement in National Dialogue 175 Chapter 6 Concluding Reflections PART II 193 Mapping National Dialogue Across the World Country fact sheets National Dialogue Handbook Foreword In conflict situations, National Dialogues present a valid way to overcome internal rifts and to rebuild relations between the state, its institutions and different groups in a conflict-torn society, to ideally reach a new social contract between the various interest groups to the conflict. Over the past decade, National Dialogues have thus gained considerable importance as platforms for peaceful transformation. Germany and Switzerland have supported National Dialogues in a number of countries, including Yemen, Lebanon and Sudan. An example for a successful National Dialogue is Tunisia, where the Arab revolutions began. The main civil society organizations behind this National Dialogue, the so-called Quartet, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015 for building the political basis for profound constitutional and institutional reform. The Berghof Foundation has authored this National Dialogue Handbook in cooperation with swisspeace. It is the result of an in-depth study to which many stakeholders and scholars have contributed. The support of Germany and Switzerland in the development of this National Dialogue Handbook underlines the strong commitment of both countries to resolve violent conflict through peaceful dialogue processes. This joint effort also illustrates the close partnership and cooperation between our two countries in the field of peaceful conflict transformation. It further reflects the belief that conflict resolution processes must be as inclusive as possible, involving a broad range of political actors and extending beyond a limited set of political players to include society at large. During political transitions, societal needs and interests have to be taken into consideration in order to achieve acceptance by the population. This rebuilds social bonds and allows progress towards national reconciliation. Like other conflict resolution mechanisms, National Dialogues carry the risk of being abused for short-term political gain. To prevent this from happening, we must seek to improve the structure of ongoing as well as future National Dialogues. National Dialogue Handbook By supporting the publication of this National Dialogue Handbook, both Germany, through the Federal Foreign Office, and Switzerland, through the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, hope to con- tribute to a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges of National Dialogues. This Handbook is meant to be one of the first practitioner-friendly reference guides on the subject incorporating analytical depth, lessons learnt and policy guidelines. We hope it will be of good use to stakeholders engaged in National Dialogues. Rüdiger König Heidi Grau Director-General for Crisis Prevention, Head of Human Security Division Stabilisation, Peacebuilding and of the Swiss Federal Department Humanitarian Assistance, of Foreign Affairs Federal Foreign Office, Germany PART I Introduction Introduction The Handbook offers Grounded in a series of Insights on concept and practice of contemporary case studies, National Dialogues this Handbook aims to Practical guidance on process design contribute to the nascent Systematic reflection on key dilemmas debate about National Detailed country mappings Dialogue, bringing together Process design tools and graphic visuals insights and expertise from Policy recommendations, including for diverse regions. In doing so, external supporting actors it seeks to present systematic reflections and offer practical advice. The Handbook thus supports conflict stake-holders and practitioners (both local and international) to grapple with the challenges they face and to pursue the most appropriate design for their particular context. Moving beyond simplistic approaches, the Handbook also seeks to provide an overview of National Dialogue processes, drawing from the expertise and practices of scholars and practitioners. The purpose of the Handbook is twofold: (1) to offer an analytical framework of National Dialogues and (2) to serve as a practical tool for those engaged in the implementation of these processes. This Handbook thus offers a unique practice-oriented resource guide for comprehensively designing, implementing and supporting National Dialogues. Why a Handbook on National Dialogue? Over the last decade, National Dialogues have come to be seen as a critical tool for the prevention of violent conflict and for managing political crisis and transitions. But while they may be widely discussed among national governments, opposition parties, civil society groups and armed movements, as well as in international policy, practitioner, diplomatic and donor circles, their popularity has to date not been matched by conceptual clarity. Few resources exist to offer sound and grounded guidance and practical support for those who are exploring National Dialogue as a possible way to move beyond political deadlocks, divisive conflict scenarios, or tumultuous periods of transition. As leading organizations in the study and practice of Systemic Conflict Transformation, the Berghof Foundation and swisspeace have been approached on multiple occasions by conflict parties and international actors to offer tailor-made support to National Dialogues. Yemen, Lebanon and Sudan are cases in point in which the Berghof Foundation has been engaged for a number of years supporting the design, conduct and implementation of National Dialogue processes with the support of the Federal Foreign Office, Germany. Similarly, development actors, in particular the World Bank, have sought our advice to increase the effectiveness of their support aimed at strengthening National Dialogue processes. The Berghof Foundation and swisspeace have also served the diplomatic community through in-depth discussions on lessons learned about how to calibrate political support for National Dialogues. 11 National Dialogue Handbook The increasingly wide array of needs expressed by an equally broad range of actors in search of adequate and effective process support prompted the development of this comprehensive guidance grounded in the most in-depth collection of case studies to date. Whom does this Handbook serve? This Handbook provides guidance to those engaged in (and sometimes overwhelmed by) rapid transition processes. Aimed at both internal and external actors who seek to plan, conduct, implement and support National Dialogues in an effective and efficient manner, it focuses less on whether and more on how to conduct and support such a process. It also assists those undertaking dialogue efforts by pointing to past cases, allowing them to learn from the mistakes and avoid shortcomings. It addresses the role of external actors