Conflict Prevention

EWI, together with the Igman Initiative and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), organized a two-day conference in Neum, (BiH) that brought together foreign ministers and senior officials, including mayors from the Southern Adriatic regional triangle and heads of missions, and representatives of international organizations, regional and state institutions, and civil society.

During the opening of the conference the foreign ministers Mr. Sven Alkalaj of BiH, Ms. Kolinda Grabar Kitarovi ć of Croatia and Mr. Milan Roćen of Montenegro signed a joint statement in support of trans-frontier cooperation in the region. In their remarks, all three ministers emphasized the importance of cross-border cooperation in the normalization of relations among the three countries as well as for the sustainable development of the Southern Adriatic region.

EWI Director for Regional Trans-frontier Cooperation Mr. Robert Garnett stated that EWI, along with main local authorities in the region, has worked to make a difference on the ground, promoting cooperation where it is genuinely desired and communities across borders share a common interest. He added that the signing of a joint statement by the ministers reaffirms that interest and represents an important step forward that will further enable EWI to continue supporting the countries' efforts towards stability and prosperity.

During key plenary sessions of the conference, participants discussed at length particular areas of trans-frontier cooperation and significant progress was made towards establishing an "Umbrella Commission" on cross-border cooperation in the Southern Adriatic region. The first meeting of the commission is slated for October 2007.

EWI facilitated a meeting of the presidents designate of the soon to be established Prespa/Ohrid Euroregion in Florina, Greece to discuss development priorities for the Prespa/Ohrid region.

The Euroregion Presidents' meeting was requested by participants of EWI's 2nd Prespa/Ohrid Euroregion Council Meeting held in June 2005 as a way to facilitate communication among the three border-communities of the Prespa/Ohrid region. The meeting was the first of its kind and was covered by the local media.

The Municipality of Bitola hosted a meeting to discuss the signing of the final version of the Statute of the Euroregion Foundation in fYR Macedonia. The meeting was initiated by the Mayor of Bitola, who is the current president of the Coordination Committee of the Prespa/Ohrid Euroregion in fYR Macedonia.

 Present were the Mayors of the Municipalities of Bitola, Resen and Prilep, as well as represent-tatives from the Municipality of Ohrid and EWI representatives. The Mayor of Struga was unable to attend the meeting because of urgent travel.

On Thursday, May 1, 2008, the Countering Violent Extremism Initiative (CVEI) of the EastWest Institute hosted an event entitled “Building a Virtual Platform for Moderates: Reconciling Traditional and Religious Wisdom with Public Life in the 21st Century.” CVEI brought together members of the diplomatic, entertainment, business, policy, and academic communities to discuss the portrayal of violence in the media.

Participants discussed how the government, media, and civil society can work together to promote positive messages to work towards removing the reasons for violent extremism. J. Rami Mroz, Manager of the Countering Violent Extremism Initiative, Shamil Idriss, Director of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, and Andrew Nagorski, Senior Editor of Newsweek International, offered their views on the above issues and led the discussion with the assembled participants.

A declaration to improve the conflict prevention architecture and facilitate the international move towards preventing violent conflict is put forward by the High Level Advisory Board of the EastWest Institute's International Task Force on Preventive Diplomacy

On December 3, the EastWest Institute’s International Task Force on Preventive Diplomacy met at Palais d'Egmont to finalize a detailed program of work for 2008. The meeting resulted in a Declaration by the High Level Advisory Board that includes the establishment of an International Panel on Conflict Prevention and Human Security, and a Parliamentarians Network for Conflict Prevention and Human Security, as practical and advocacy mechanisms that will focus attention on key policy issues and help shorten the time between early warning and effective early response.

The Foreign Minister of Belgium, Karel De Gucht opened the meeting at Palais d’Egmont in Brussels in the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Philippe of Belgium.

A group of 30 experts and practitioners in the field of conflict prevention and conflict transformation gathered from all continents to share lessons learned and to identify ways of strengthening and enhancing the growing field of conflict transformation.

In conjunction with the work of its International Task Force on Preventive Diplomacy, the EastWest Institute, with the support of the UNDP’s Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery as a host, held the inaugural meeting of the Conflict Transformation Colloborative in Geneva, from 25-28 November.

 In the course of an intense and productive three days workshop the participants and the organizers agreed that a solid foundation was laid to continue the process of the Conflict Transformation Collaborative, turning it into a global network for the enhancement of the field.

 Participants felt that there is a great potential synergy between the International Task Force on Preventive Diplomacy and the Conflict Transformation Collaborative, the realization of which would contribute to the EastWest Institute’s commitment to the prevention of violent conflict.

Over thirty kindergarten-age children, their parents and teachers from Kosovo, Serbia and fYR Macedonia participated in the first ‘Smile Day’ event on 1 April.

Around half the children came from kindergartens in Gjilan/Gnjilane, Presevo, and Trgoviste – travelling across borders to join children from Kumanovo at the event and bringing together children and parents from Albanian, Serb, Macedonian, Roma and Vlach ethnic groups.

The ‘Smile Day’, a multi-ethnic activity day for children and their parents, was planned by the GPKT Women’s Working Group with the objective of building inter-ethnic relationships among the GPKT communities.

The GPKT Education Committee, ten directors and teachers from GPKT schools attended a two-day training on fundraising and donor relations in the mountain resort of Brezovica. The training was co-organised with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and included participants from CRS Gjilan/Gnjilane – Kumanovo agricultural working group and potential applicants for CRS small grants for agriculture and agribusiness cross-border co-operation.

Following a one-day training in Project cycle management for CRS participants, the GPKT Education Committee joined for an interactive workshop focused on developing skills on raising funds and working with potential donors and sponsors. Through group discussions, presentations and role plays the participants shared their own experiences with fundraising for their schools and agricultural associations. The training also provided the opportunity for the EWI and CRS participants already involved in cross-border activities to exchange ideas and explore possibilities for partnership.

The GPKT Education Committee members who have implemented small projects through the EWI Micro-project Launch Fund (MPLF) in 2005 shared their experience from the process with potential CRS grants applicants.

The GPKT Education Committee met in Gjilan/Gnjilane to plan activities for the next year, identifying common needs and outlining goals for the group. Activities and achievements from the first phase of the project, as well as the problems faced to date, were presented to participants, who included several new members.

Common problems identified included the limited resources schools in the region have, both in terms of financial and physical resources and facilities, and in terms of skills needed in various areas, including fund-raising capacity and knowledge of English and computer/IT skills; the lack of trust between ethnic groups was noted, as was the politicisation of institutions. The Committee formulated a series of goals for its work: the building of positive relationships between children from the different GPKT schools; capacity building for GPKT teachers; capacity building for teachers and children for continuing joint cross-border activities; and sustainable cross-border co-operation between GPKT schools. Activities planned for the coming year include: a GPKT sports competition, a series of cultural exchange visits, and training in English language teaching methodology followed by a camp for English teachers and pupils.