The Conference on Non-Formal Dialogue Processes and National Dialogues brings together practitioners from conflict-ridden countries to discuss peacebuilding efforts
Press release 253/2015
13 November 2015
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland will organize the second Conference on Non-Formal Dialogue Processes and National Dialogues in Helsinki, Finland, on 16–18 November 2015.
The Conference will bring together the world's leading peace and reconciliation experts. It will provide a platform for joint reflection and in-depth discussion between practitioners, stakeholders and experts involved in or working with dialogue processes in different contexts.
The Conference is a continuation to the first conference held in April 2014, which enjoyed the participation of over 200 international experts and practitioners.
The event will be opened by Peter Stenlund, Secretary of State at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. Keynote speakers include Nobel Laureate Jerry White, Shaykh Abdallah bin Mahfudh ibn Bayyah, who is one of the leading scholars of Islamic law in the world, and Thania Paffenholz, Director of the Inclusive Peace and Transition Initiative (IPTI). MP Pekka Haavisto, the Foreign Minister’s Special Representative on Mediation, will chair the opening session.
This year, the Conference will focus on Myanmar, Yemen, Somalia and Tunisia. Examples of experiences of challenging change processes and mediation and peacebuilding efforts in these countries will be examined and analyzed.
The overall objective of the Conference is to provide a forum for national stakeholders, facilitators and international experts for sharing and reflecting on their experiences of non-formal dialogue processes and National Dialogues in the current changing landscape, particularly in the context of fragile states and other areas affected by fragile conditions.
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland will organize the Conference in cooperation with the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission, Finn Church Aid, Crisis Management Initiative and Common Space Initiative.
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Further information: Janne Oksanen, Desk Officer, tel. +358 295 35 1333 or Conference Secretariat tel. +358 40 500 5512, +358 40 358 0462.