CSSP_Newsworld Newsletter January 2011

CSSP_Newsworld Newsletter January 2011 Looking back at the year 2010 in the Western Balkans one can draw two major conclusions. First, the prospect of a closer integration with EU improved with the visa liberation for Bosnia and Albania and accession talks with Serbia and Montenegro. Unfortunately Kosovo was not able to benefit from visa liberalization process, a step which would be a positive signal and would bring the citizen of Kosovo closer to EU integration. On the other side we have seen a professionalization in the way Balkan leaders speak about issues but overcoming the decades old interethnic spiral remain elusive. Ethnic communities continue to find political and economic gains in having political conflicts that border on discrimination. What is needed is a fresh approach by governments and civil society actors in the region to address issues of gender equality, diversity, integration, non-discrimination, and professionalism. Good governance requires creative thinking, a pro-active approach, openness and goodwill and this is still developing in the region. The last three months have shown that parts of the region are still not ready to take on this responsibility of creating and governing in a diverse society. Bosnia and Herzegovina continues to struggle with adopting a new constitution which provides each citizen with equal rights, Mitrovica continues to be a source of interethnic tension and election in Kosovo remains mired in accusations of electoral fraud. Macedonia is still struggling with the implementation of Ohrid, and while, in Serbia there has been a small breakthrough with the formation of a multiethnic government in Bujanovac, the systemic integration of Albanians into state structures remains an ongoing challenge. These are the four remaining big issues of the region in terms of improving intercommunity relations and creating equality of the individual in the region. The region is not solely to blame for its ills. Despite public commitments to the region, the international community s willingness to engage in the problems of the Balkans remains relatively bureaucratic. Policy is mostly developed in donor and western capitals and often does not reflect the wishes of locally elected leaders. The EU and its member states remain surprisingly too unaware and the above mentioned key problems of the Western Balkans remain unsolved. Recent efforts to solve constitutional reform in Bosnia failed precisely because it was not inclusive and did not meet the needs of Bosnian politicians and EU Mediation between Serbia and Kosovo remain a secretive diplomatic effort. If the international community is serious about finding sustainable solutions for the Western Balkans it needs to reevaluate, reform and recommit to the region. Specifically it will need to re-examine its history of funding, and find new and creative initiatives for economic development. The creation of the new EU External Action Service and the EU initiative on Mediation and Dialogue, and the new initiative by Germany to solve the issues of the region, for example facilitating a dialogue on constitutional reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina are very encouraging signs for improvement in EU foreign policy. Over the last three months CSSP supported the establishment of interethnic structures and conflict resolution mechanisms in Serbia, Bosnia, Macedonia, and Kosovo. In Serbia we supported the gender commission and mediated among the Roma community. In Macedonia we continued our work with the Committees for Inter-Community Relations and started with supporting inter-institutional linkages between the local and the central CICRs. In Bosnia we conducted an inter-community mediation with the support of Dr. Christian Schwarz-Schilling in the City of Mostar and worked on the improvement of interethnic relations in Canton 10. Important was the initiation of a dialogue with political leaders in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the role of mediation in the constitutional reform process conducted in cooperation with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Sarajevo on the occasion of the 80ths birthday of Honorary President Dr. Schwarz-Schilling. In Kosovo we further supported the skills development of the members of the Community Committees in Ferizaj/Uroševac and Shtërpcë/Štrpce and initiated cooperation with a civil society in Mitrovica to enhance their mediation skills in inter-community dispute resolution. CSSP also supported the work of the Mediation Commission in Kosovo and the development of a design and implementation of a system for alternative dispute resolution. At a regional level CSSP participated in the annual meeting of the South Eastern European Mediation Forum network further promoting good standard of practice and professional mediation in the region. For detailed information on our activities in the last three months please discover the following pages. We thank all our supporters and cooperation partners for the joint work in 2010. We are looking forward to continue our cooperation. Thank you for reading. Best, Dr. Juan Diaz

Kosovo Activities Mitrovicë/Mitrovica CSSP and Community Building Mitrovica (CBM) realised a joint workshop from 19-22 November 2010, aiming to analyse the current situation and designing plans how to gradually improve the daily life of the cities citizens. CBM and CSSP will continue the cooperation, enlarge the informal network and realise joint activities in 2011. For more information on CSSP s activities in M/M please contact Christoph Lüttmann: cluettmann@cssproject.org. Mediation Commission Workshop The Mediation Commission for Kosovo and its supporting organisations Partners Kosova, UNDP, USAID-SEAD and CSSP met from 17-18 December 2010 for a planning workshop in Prevalla. All participants reviewed the activities related to the development of an alternative dispute resolution system in Kosovo in 2010. Then the activities foreseen for 2011 were concluded in a joint work plan, focussing on training, certification and licensing mediators in Kosovo. The first call for trainings is now open and pilot projects in five municipalities are foreseen to start within the next months. For more information please contact Christoph Lüttmann: cluettmann@cssproject.org. CSSP in Bujanovac, South Serbia Gender Commission Training Bujanovac, South Serbia In early October 2010, CSSP conducted a two days workshop with members of the Gender Commission of the municipality of Bujanovac and selected representatives of municipal NGO s. As a requirement of the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia as well as of the Law on Local Self-Government this body was established since two years. Unfortunately, it remained at its initial status of just having members elected and could not proceed to its first convoked session so far. In the workshop, in order to support multicommunity leadership CSSP strengthened cooperation among the members and build their skills as political actors. Over two days the Gender Commission members and representatives of the civil society discussed issues of concern to the municipality regarding equal opportunities, prioritized needs of the citizens and developed action plans on how to move forward on the most pressing issues. They practiced legal procedures and organized themselves in the liaison with the municipal assembly as well as the council. As a highlight they productively conducted an improvised first session of the Gender Commission. Here, they successfully executed election procedures, discussed gender issues of concern in the municipality and drafted a proper resolution for the municipal assembly. For more information on CSSPs activities in South Serbia please contact Dr. Christina Stenner: cstenner@cssproject.org. CSSP Newsletter January 2011 2

Joint Meeting and Mediation with Roma Community Bujanovac, South Serbia One of the highlights of CSSP s activities in Serbia was to win its Honorary President Prof. Dr. Christian Schwarz-Schilling to conduct mediation in Bujanovac in early December. CSSP and Dr. Schwarz-Schilling met a full day with different private, political and civic representatives of the Roma community of Bujanovac as well as with representatives from the local government in the setting of a roundtable to discuss the implementation of the local action plan of the Roma Decade of Integration initiative in the municipality of Bujanovac. Finally, CSSP could have witnessed the signing of a 12-point joint conclusion on how funds for the Roma community will be spent and future dialogue among them will be coordinated in an omni-participatory way. A follow-up mediation is planned in the second quarter 2011 in order to secure sustainability and adjust such declaration to actual developments. CSSP in Macedonia CICR/SIOFA Assessment Visit In order to improve inter-organizational relations between the central and local level, CSSP broadened its radius of work from just municipality level to the central level, starting in early October. CSSP met with the members of the Parliamentary Committee for Inter- Community Relations (CICR) and conducted a workshop with the Secretariat for the Implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement (SIOFA) as organizations on state level sharing a common mandate on realizing inter-community dialogue. For more information please contact Dr. Christina Stenner: cstenner@cssproject.org. Assessment Visit CICR Kičevo CSSP visited the municipality of Kičevo to meet with the local Committee for Inter-Community Relations (CICR). Each member was consulted individually, thus CSSP could receive an in-depth and comprehensive picture of the situation of the functionality of the CICR in Kičevo. This assessment was an essential preparation for the adjacently started project Enhancing Inter- Ethnic Community Dialogue and Collaboration in Macedonia. Sponsored by UNDP, CSSP brings central and local stakeholders of the Ohrid Framework Agreement together in various formats and is going to promote vertical integration of the stakeholders and strengthen mediation as a sustainable mechanism of dispute resolution. As such, in November and December the three municipalities already successfully conducted public debates accompanied by CSSP and its partner FORUM CSRD applying mediative capacities developed in workshops beforehand. In the next months a series of leadership, mediation and integration activities will be conducted in order to promote the country-wide infrastructure for inter-community dialogue and collaboration. CSSP Newsletter January 2011 3

CSSP in Bosnia Inter-Community Mediation Mostar CSSP intensified its mediative activities in the last quarter of the year and focused on Canton 10, Mostar and a joint workshop on mediation and constitution with the Konrad-Adenauer- Foundation. Assessment Visit Canton 10 Canton 10 is a part of BiH where Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Serbs still try to find a way of coexistence. Many Bosnian Serbs returned from Republika Srpska and feel that the municipalities they live in are disadvantaged from the Cantonal government and the majority Croat population. CSSP met with the stakeholders to discuss a more transparent and equal distribution of funds to the majority Bosnian Serb municipalities. Only two weeks after the Cantonal elections it was a new start for the incoming government to reach out more to these three municipalities and engage into dialogue with the local governments. The participants agreed with CSSP to meet more often in the coming legislative period to discuss pressing issues like education, infrastructural investments and economic development. For more information please contact Dr. Dieter Wolkewitz: dwolkewitz@cssproject.org. In the City of Mostar CSSP had bilateral consultations in October and November with the municipal government, the City Council and members of the civil society to prepare a joint meeting in November with CSSP s Honorary President, Dr. Christian Schwarz-Schilling. The participants expressed the wish to work closer together and intensify the dialogue in a transparent way. Members of different communities in Mostar feel left out or uninformed about the political decisions of the local government. The mayor and parts of the City Council admitted that over the recent years the cooperation has stalled and improvements would be desirable. In the joint meeting in November Dr. Christian Schwarz-Schilling proposed that a system should be designed together with the stakeholders in 2011. CSSP was asked by the Council and the civil society representatives to provide resources and methodology to facilitate the future dialogue. CSSP Newsletter January 2011 4

Workshop Mediation and Constitution with KAS On 8-9 December CSSP co-organised a workshop on Mediation and Constitution with the Konrad Adenauer-Foundation (KAS) in Sarajevo. The goal of the workshop was to introduce the concept of mediation to a select group of local politicians and allow them to design possible models for a constitutional reform process. The workshop was followed by a public symposium on Democracy and Constitution with regional and international experts and politicians. They were exchanging their experience with local counterparts and the interested audience about the challenges and opportunities during the process of European integration and the effects it has on the constitutional and democratic reform processes in their countries. Both events were organized to mark the 80th birthday of former High Representative and EUSR, Prof. Dr. Christian Schwarz-Schilling. overview of the presentations and workshops, focusing on different fields of mediation and developments in the member states. The report and program can soon be downloaded at the SEEMF homepage: www.seemf.eu CSSP in cooperation with the Swiss Embassy in Pristina enabled all members of the Mediation Commission (MC) Kosovo to participate in the SEEMF conference. An extra working group session aimed to increase the trans-border cooperation and regional exchange of lessons learned in the design and implementation of alternative dispute resolution systems. At the same time participants discussed how a cooperation of state institutions and civil society can improve these systems. CSSP is supporting the MC on a needs basis since 2008 and in cooperation with UNDP, an EU Twinning Project and USAID-SEAD. For more information on SEEMF please visit www.seemf.eu or contact Christoph Lüttmann: cluettmann@cssproject.org. Advocacy Visit Brussels Five years SEEMF Conference in Durrës The South Eastern European Mediation Forum (SEEMF) held its annual conference in Durrës, Albania, from 14-15 October 2010 and celebrated its five years anniversary. The conference was organized by the Albanian Foundation for Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation of Disputes and other SEEMF members and was supported by CSSP, the Albanian Ministry of Justice, the International Finance Corporation, UNICEF Albania and the Albanian School of Magistrates. The conference report provides an Dr. Juan Diaz and Dr. Dieter Wolkewitz were following an invitation to Brussels in October to consult with the European Parliament rapporteur, Mrs. Franziska Brantner; on EU activities on Dialogue and Mediation. The EU is giving increasingly attention to mediation in its civilian peace building and the EP invited CSSP to speak about its experience with its training of the EUPM earlier in 2010. The EP is proposing mediation as a successful instrument for the EEAS to implement the Unions Common Foreign and Security Policy. CSSP Newsletter January 2011 5

CSSP_internal Honorary President turned 80 On the occasion of the 80th birthday of CSSP s Honorary President, the Berlin office cosponsored a reception in Berlin on 23 November to mark the engagement of Dr. Christian Schwarz-Schilling in the Western Balkans. Wolfgang Schüssel, former Chancellor of Austria and Pieter Feith, European Union Special Representative to Kosovo, honored his work and perseverance as politician, mediator and European citizen. Civil Society s Contributions in Serbia and Kosovo CSSP participated in the international workshop Shaping the Future in Serbia and Kosovo: Civil Society s Contributions to Dialogue and Cooperation organised by the Southeast Europe Association Landshut in November. The workshop was opened by former state secretary and chair of the association Gernot Erler. Christoph Lüttmann was invited along other participants from Serbia, Kosovo and Germany to discuss the role of civil society in times of the upcoming talks between Belgrade and Pristina. Further information can be downloaded from the Association website. CSSP was welcoming a few new members and is planning to expand with its memberships further. It was agreed that members meeting will be held in the future twice a year which allows more substantive debate between the members, the staff and the CSSP team about civilian crisis prevention, inter-community dialogue and private diplomacy. Bosnian TJ professionals at CSSP Just before Christmas s holidays, CSSP gladly welcomed a group of 15 experts on reconciliation and transitional justice from Bosnia & Herzegovina. Within the framework of a one-week excursion organized by the DGAP (The German Council on Foreign Relations) they visited the premises of CSSP and fruitfully discussed together with CSSP s honorary president Prof. Dr. Schwarz-Schilling and the CSSP transitional justice in Germany and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The afternoon was also the closing of the excursion before they returned to Bosnia & Herzegovina and are going to work within a newly founded Commission on Transitional Justice. CSSP was pleased to have exchanged each other s experiences, wishes them all the best and to stay as engaged as CSSP gladly got to know them. Members Meeting CSSP e.v. The members meeting of CSSP e.v. was successfully held on 21 December in the new premises on Schiffbauerdamm in Berlin. After passing the formal requirements and the review of 2009, Dr. Diaz and Dr. Wolkewitz were giving an overview about the work and vision of the organization from current to 2012. It is foreseen that CSSP is developing strategies for new regions beyond the Western Balkans over the next years and attracting new donors with these activities. Multi-track Peace Mediation Course 2011 Soon: MPM Course February September 2011 In collaboration with the Berghof Foundation for Peace Support and inmedio, CSSP is conducting a Multitrack Peace Mediation Course in four modules from February to September 2011. The training course is focusing on mediation in the context of peace support and multitrack interventions. We are proud to be able to offer a student reduction for the course which is 1500. Interested applicants can receive information at mpm@cssproject.org. CSSP Newsletter January 2011 6

CSSP_work in the field, October - December 2010 Area Purpose Dates Bosnia and Herzegovina Assessment Visit Canton 10 19-22 October 2010 Inter-Community Mediation Mostar 08-11 November 2010 Workshop Mediation and Constitution AA KAS 06-10 December 2010 F/U & S/S Preparatory Trip for Roundtable on Return 18-20 October 2010 Kosovo Serbia Macedonia Regional Assessment Visit on the Third Side in Mitrovicë/Mitrovica Workshop - Third Side in Mitrovicë/Mitrovica Mediation Commission Coordination Meeting & Working Plan 2011 Gender Commission Training in Bujanovac, South Serbia Joint Meeting and Mediation with Roma Community in Bujanovac 21-22 October 2010 17-22 November 2010 17-18 December 2010 01-04 October 2010 28 November - 01 December CICR/SIOFA Assessment Visit 25-27 October 2010 Assessment Visit CICR Kicevo 08-12 November 2010 5 years Conference of the South Eastern European Mediation Forum (SEEMF) in Durres, Albania SOEG Conference Shaping the Future in Serbia and Kosovo - Civil Society s Contributions to Dialogue and Cooperation in Landshut, Germany 13-16 October 2010 26-27 November 2010 Brussels Advocacy 06-09 October 2010 funded by CSSP Newsletter January 2011 7