International Center on Conflict and Negotiation (ICCN)

Best Practices and Lessons Learned from the Infrastructures for Peace" was held on 8 May 2012 at Sheraton Metekhi Palace Hotel, Tbilisi

The aim of the Multi-Stakeholder Discussion was to provide a platform for GPPAC members to share the best practices and lessons learned on Infrastructures for Peace as operationalised in different conflict contexts and to discuss their applicability to the context in the Caucasus and Georgia in particular.

GPPAC is a global network of civil society organisations committed to act to prevent the escalation of conflict into violence at national, regional and global levels. It aims to build a multi-stakeholder partnership including civil society, governments, regional organisations and the UN. Enhancing Civil Society-Government cooperation for conflict transformation is therefore a priority in GPPAC’s approach to its mission.

Civil Society and Government working together for Peace and Human Security.

Georgia, Tbilisi, 7-11 May 2012

The Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) is a member-led network of civil society organisations (CSOs) active in the field of conflict prevention and peacebuilding across the world since 2003. The network is organised around 15 regional networks of local organisations, each region having its own priorities and agenda.

The Regional Secretariat of GPPAC’s Caucasus network is hosted by the International Center on Conflict and Negotiation (ICCN). GPPAC is governed by an International Steering Group (ISG) that meets every 18 months.

This document is adapted from a longer report on U.S. policy toward the Georgia conflicts by the authors, which was published by the Center for American Progress in February 2011 (available for downloading at www.ampr.gs [in English]). It draws from interviews conducted by the authors in Moscow and several places in Georgia during a research trip in December 2010.

II Stage “Training for Youth in Facilitation and Mediation” was held in Gori, on April 12-14, 2011. IDP and young people from war affected region/villages gathered at the office of the NGO - “Shida Kartli Committee of Unti-violence Network in Georgia”, the focal point of ICCN in Gori region. Series of training are held within the EED project. Within the project ICCN Trainers conducted trainings and ToT – in Conflict Resolution, Leadership and Team Work, Leadership and Group work, Crises Management etc. This time participants are learninng about Communication and Process Management, developing - communication, facilitation and mediation skills.

On April 15 the radio program “Gamarjoba Afxazeto” was broadcasted on FM105.0. It was an interesting discussion on Georgian-Abkhaz public dialogue. Participants were Maia Gelantia and Lali Devidze – participants of the youth meetings and Tinatin Asatiani – coordinator of the Georgian-Abkhaz, Georgian-Ossetian Dialogue processes.

Human Rights, Gender and Minority division  is aiming to achieve more gender equitable relations for the minority groups. Two step training on Diversity and Gender Participation Issues had been conducted in Akhaltsikhe for the mixed ethnic and gender group of community leaders.

ICCN regional coordinator in Akhaltsikhe Guliko Bekauri, PHD in Psychology, was in charge of recruiting the participants for the trainings. Community leaders, teachers, students, representatives of regional branch of the political party have been selected.   The first two day training took place in July 26-27 2010 to give the basic information on diversity issues.  The second stage in November 2-3 ,2010 was dedicated to the gender, gender equality and gender participation issues.

Both two day training have been conducted on the bases of the Experience Based Learning Approaches. The exercises from the Training For Change have been adopted to the issues of the Samtskhe- Javakjeti regional reality.

Trainings were planed within the “Young Facilitators of the Future” project and funded by EU /COBERM and administered by the UNDP.

Training of Trainers for young facilitators and process managers is the follow-up of the EU (Instrument of Stability) funded project “Engagement through Dialogue”. The team and organizations of this project are identical to the implementers of the “Engagement Through Dialogue” project. The goal of this project is to train and empower young professionals to facilitate and dialogue and meetings across the conflict divide in a sustainable way.

Within the framework of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), ICCN - as GPPAC’s Secretariat for the Caucasus Network - organized a Regional Steering Group Meeting (RSG) in Kiev, Ukraine, on 29-31 March.

In December 2008, George Mason University hosted a group of Georgian and South Ossetian peacebuilders at Point of View, the university conflict resolution retreat house in Mason Neck, Virginia. The meeting sparked a series of discussions that have enriched participants' understandings of the possibilities for confidence building in the aftermath of the August 2008 war. Seven Point of View Workshops have catalyzed numerous confidence building measures that bridge the Georgian-South Ossetian divide. The Georgian-South Ossetian Point of View Process continues with a goal of further catalyzing constructive confidence building, sharing highly informed understandings of the conflict dynamics with advisors and decision-makers on both sides of the divide, and ultimately contributing to peace and security in the South Caucasus and beyond.