2006

First Regional Steering Group Consultation

6-7 February 2006

Kalutara, Sri Lanka

With financial support from ECCP, the RCSS held its Regional Steering Group consultation meeting on February 6-7 at Tangerine Beach hotel in Kalutara, Sri Lanka. The first session of the meeting began with welcome remarks by RCSS Executive Director Dr. Rifaat Hussain. After thanking all the delegates for their participation in the RSG Consultation meeting, Dr. Rifaat Hussain gave a brief overview of the decisions taken at the previous ISG meeting of GPPAC that was held in Soesterberg, Holland, in early October 2005. He informed the delegates that the basic mission and purpose of GPPAC was to forge a new international consensus and joint action to prevent violent conflict and promote peace building, based on regional and global action agendas. He further told the delegates the GPPAC was in the process of setting up permanent structures and governance mechanisms with a "centre of gravity" in the regions. He said the regions are being called upon to proceed on the basis of regional action agendas, which were developed in the months leading up to the compiling of the Global Action Agenda. To shed light on the evolution of this process in South Asia, Dr. Rifaat Hussain requested Professor Sridhar Khatri, former Executive Director of the RCSS to brief the delegates.

In his detailed briefing, Professor Khatri described GPPAC activity as "work in progress" and informed the delegates that after the New York meeting the regional action agendas had assumed critical significance for GPPAC's future work. He said it was imperative that GPPAC should have its own organizational structure and there should be complete transparency and accountability in ISG decisions relating to allocation of funds for regional activity by GPPAC.

Following suggestions emerged from the discussion that followed individual country presentations:

  1. For better media coverage of conflict situations in South Asia, media training workshops should be organized. Best practices from the developed countries should be used as a guide.
  2. The thriving South Asian business community should be approached as potential partners of CSO activity. Business Alliance for Peace in Sri Lanka should be approached for providing financial support for future work.
  3. Governments should be lobbied for inclusion of peace studies in the IR/Strategic Studies curriculum.
  4. The need for peace education at different levels should be highlighted.
  5. Sharing of conflict resolution experiences must be encouraged.
  6. RCSS should explore the possibility if someone from South Asia could be invited by ECCP to work at its secretariat to help implement the regional action agenda.
  7. Dialogue and peace education should be the key elements of regional activity.
  8. Funding for regional activity should be streamlined and responsibilities of the ECCP Secretariat towards regional focal points need to be spelled out clearly.
  9. Quarterly updates on the funding situation for regional activity should be provided to the regional focal points to help them better plan and execute their activity.

 

The last two sessions of the Consultation focused on the Draft GPPAC Four Year Work Plan. During the discussion participants made following observations:

  1. In its present form, the Draft Plan is very abstract. It deviates from South Asian Regional Agenda when in its statement that "the Millennium Peace and Security Goals provide policy goals and guiding principles around which to construct a strong public awareness campaign." The linkages between Regional Action Agenda and Global Agenda need to be tightened.
  2. Making September 21 as a Peace Day is a very good idea but it must be pursued in a manner that it would lead to grassroots mobilization and participation.
  3. The activities mentioned under the Knowledge Sharing task force recommendations must include a reference to developmental goals as conflict prevention was not possible without achieving economic development.
  4. The issue of "Knowledge Sharing for Whom" needs to be clearly addressed.
  5. Creation of a regional network of peace-oriented actors should be given the highest priority. This should become the running theme of the draft plan.
  6. The commissioning of papers should not be postponed till 2009. This kind of work can be initiated immediately provided financial support is made available.
  7. RCSS is in the process of collecting inspiring stories on peace-building efforts in the region. These should be compiled, published and widely disseminated.
  8. RCSS should get funds to update its website and links for national focal point activity should appear on the Website for greater interaction and coordination.