News

CSSP Correspondance

CSSP wishes to strengthen its outreach and communication with our partners, sponsors and friends. We invite you to subscribe to our newsletter, to join the roundtables in Berlin and to liaise with our projects in the field.

If you have ideas or comments to the work of CSSP we kindly invite you to contact us and share your ideas. All comments will be handled with sensitivity, confidentiality and with appreciation. We hope the CSSP Annual Report 2009 will serve to inform you about our work.

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Multi-track Peace Mediation Course

CSSP is happy to announce the second course on "Multi-track Peace Mediation" provided by CSSP, Inmedio Berlin and the Berghof Foundation.

The course is focused on a multi-track approach of mediation in peace processes. It introduces into the basics of mediation and gives space to intensively train the methods and skills of mediation. It then emphasizes the specifics of mediation in peace-building and demonstrates how mediation and its outcomes are increased through multi-track interventions.

The interlinkage of mediation, peace and multi-track makes this course unique. Additionally, the course fulfils part of the main requirements of training by the German Federal Association for Mediation (Bundesverband Mediation).

For more information on the specific contents of the modules, the teaching methods, the financial frame and the trainers please look into the course booklet here.

December 2011

Newsletter December 2011

In this newsletter we would like to inform you about our activities in the last quarter of this year. As winter and the end of the year approach, our thoughts turn to family, celebration and a sense of community. We are reminded in our various religious traditions that history and belief play major roles in how we view the world. From Afghanistan to Nepal to the Balkans and North Africa people around the world are struggling for freedom and justice. CSSP is privileged and honored to be a part of the developing processes in many transitioning countries. Our wishes go out to them for safe, loving and peaceful end of the year and a good start into 2012.

November 2011

Conference Integration and Democracy in South Serbia

In November CSSP and Partners Serbia organized a conference on „Integration and Democracy in South Serbia" under the auspices of the municipality of Bujanovac. The conference took place on 16-17 November in Hotel Rozafa in Bujanovac and was funded by the Austrian Development Agency and the German Foreign Ministry.

The conference was opened by a panel discussion on past achievements of political integration and democratic reform in South Serbia with Mr. Shaip Kamberi (Mayor of Bujanovac), Mr. Branko Delibasic (Coordinator of the operation of Bujanovac and Presevo Offices of the Coordination Body), Mr. Nenad Vasic (President of the Roma National Minority Council) and the moderators Mr. Blazo Nedic (Partners Serbia) and Mr. Julius Goldmann (CSSP). The panel discussion was attended by almost 50 participants from the region as well as from Belgrade and some other cities. The participants were representatives of political parties, civil society organizations, the judiciary and school mediators.

On the second day the conference continued with another panel discussion with Mr. Dragi Krstic (President of the Nis Bar Association) and Mr. Nenad Tairovic (Vice President of the Roma National Minority Council) and the moderators of Partners Serbia and CSSP. The topic of this panel was access to justice for the citizens of South Serbia that has been affected by the closing down of the basic courts in Preshevo and Bujanovac. The interest in the second day of the conference was even higher so that around 60 participants were present.

After a short coffee break the participants split up into four working groups on 1) access to justice, 2) political integration, 3) social integration, and 4) community mediation. In the working groups the main past achievements and best practices were discussed and existing challenges to further development identified. The participants developed concrete recommendations and conclusions to further improve the respective.

In a conclusive panel the results of the working groups were collected and a joint document stating the various conclusions and recommendations was written.

Until the end of the conference in the evening around 40 participants were present which is a good sign that a conference with this topic and at that time is of high importance to the citizens of South Serbia and that they have the motivation to jointly move the process of political and social integration and democratic reform in their region forward.

October 2011

CSSP Report 2010/2011

In 2010/2011 CSSP promoted and implemented crisis prevention and conflict resolution activities in South Eastern Europe as well as in Northern Africa.

The developments in the MENA region are about to transform the societies in Northern Africa and the Middle East. In Germany and Europe this has lead to a controversial discussion on conflict resolution, peace-building and democratisation support. CSSP believes that there still is a need in finding a cohesive approach of governmental and non-governmental cooperation in these fields.

The transformation processes in the MENA region bear great potential for the democratic integration of various societal groups into the new state structures. In this context CSSP made an initial assessment visit to Egypt. In response to a request of Egyptian politicians and civil society representatives, with the encouragement of the German Bundestag and the support of the German Foreign Ministry, CSSP developed a concept on how civil society and political parties can enter into dialogue to jointly design the transformation process. Also, for the time beyond the elections CSSP was requested to further support and consult with our Egyptian partners.

The main focus of CSSP's mediation activities in 2010/2011 however has still been in the Western Balkan. In June 2011 the first mediators were trained and certified in Kosovo. In the recently published 'EU Progress Report on Kosovo' this cooperation project between Kosovo's Ministry of Justice, CSSP and other partners has been highlighted as a progress in the area of rule of law. Additionally, CSSP mediated a Memorandum of Understanding between Kosovo Serbs and Kosovo Albanians in southern Kosovo which has sparked a positive response from diverse areas and actors in Kosovo. A mediation in South Serbia lead to an agreement of formerly fragmented Roma groups. In Macedonia CSSP, in cooperation with UNDP, supported institutions that are responsible for the implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement. Furthermore, CSSP facilitates talks on constitutional reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

July 2011

Assessment of political developments in Egypt

The enduring unrests in the Arab regions of North Africa, especially the critical development in Egypt came constantly in the focus of our activities. At reiterated request for advice on the situation by several Members of Parliament, CSSP decided to undertake a first assessment visit to Egypt based on in-depth preparation in order to gain an unbiased, direct analysis and to carry out CSSP's own needs assessment. Within 12 days of travelling to Cairo and Ismailia close to the Suez Canal, Dr. Dieter Wolkewitz and Dr. Christina Stenner spoke with up to 30 representatives from all kind of interest groups of the Egyptian society, such as political parties, religion, civil society, revolution movements, youth and women activists, etc.

A highlight was definitely the successful conduction of a first joint workshop in the facilities of the German initiative "Tahrir Lounge". Due to the well-thriving first experiences regarding Integrative Mediation in Egypt CSSP is going to continue with its engagement in the future.

June 2011

CSSP certified first 15 mediators in Kosovo

CSSP realised a basic and advanced mediation training in June and July for the first 15 certified mediators for Pristina. The trainings were a result of a cooperation between the Ministry of Justice in Kosovo with its Mediation Commission as the leading actor, the Royal Embassy of Norway in Pristina as a main donor and CSSP as the implementing organisation. The new mediators will start working on cases within the next months. One goal is that the case backlog in the courts may be reduced through a referral of cases that qualify for mediation. The preventive potential of mediation is another goal where disputes might be resolved through mediation instead of being brought to court.

The training and certification of mediators by CSSP is part of a larger cooperation between the Mediation Commission, USAID, the EU Twinning Project, Partners Kosova, UNDP and CSSP.

For a picture of the opening session of the trainings and the press release from the Ministry of Justice please following the link:
http://www.md-ks.org/?page=2,83,404

Panel Discussion Peace Building, Peace Mediation and Private Diplomacy

On 8 June 2011 inmedio berlin and CSSP organized a high level panel discussion with leaders from politics and civil society on Peace Building, Peace Mediation and Private Diplomacy at the Humboldt-Viadrina School of Governance. As the keynote speaker Ambassador John W. McDdonald, founder of the Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy in Washington DC (see www.imtd.org)  spoke about private diplomacy in civil peace building processes. Following his speech a panel with Ms. Kerstin Müller (MdB), Ms. Edelgard Bulmahn (MdB), Günter Nooke (Kanzleramt) and Tobias Pietz (ZiF) discussed current German and European peace building structures. The conclusion of the panel discussion was mainly that there have been a lot of efforts to increasingly integrate non-state actors into civil peace building processes during the last years. Instruments have been developed that are also visible and effective. However, more coherence and harmonization among the different approaches and actors is required in the future. Therefore a systemic approach is needed in order to develop an effective and sustainable peace building structure. Moreover the gap between the need of long-term involvement and short-term funding has to be resolved to guarantee sustainable processes. Hence an integrated approach coordinating state and non-state actors in peace building together with funding structures that allow long-term commitments are needed to increase the efficiency of German and European peace building and conflict prevention efforts.

Multitrack Peace Mediation Course

In June 2011 CSSP and inmedio berlin held the third module of the joint seminar „Multitrack Peace Mediation" in the premises of CSSP. Guest speaker during the seminar was Ambassador John W. McDonald who shared his experiences in multitrack diplomacy. It was the first time that CSSP held a seminar in its own premises and the excitement was rewarded with interesting discussions, creative rola plays and lots of reflections. The last module of the training will take place in August 2011. CSSP and inmedio are planning to offer a similar advanced mediation training next year. For further information please contact us at: info@cssproject.org.

May 2011

Evelyn Franke joined CSSP

In May our colleague Jusuf Hadziselimovic who managed our finances left CSSP. Although we are very sorry to let him leave we wish him all the best on his further path and thank him very much for the creative and realistic ideas he contributed to our work and our team.

Mr. Hadziselimovic has since been replaced by Ms. Evelyn Franke. Ms. Franke holds a diploma in economics and has several experiences in development cooperation in Africa and the Caucasus and is managing our finances from now on. We are happy to have her in our team and enjoy working with her.

April 2011

Libya

CSSP was asked by the subcommittee for civilian crisis management (Unterausschuß Zivile Krisenprävention und vernetzte Sicherheit) of the German Bundestag to introduce its concept to implement UNSC Resolution 1973 and give recommendations to Germany. The recommendations include appointing a Special Envoy of Germany to coordinate German activities for Libya, start with shuttle diplomacy to advocate in the international community for a political solution in the conflict and serve as bridgebuilder between the different concepts seeking for conflict resolution. CSSP advocates for an immediate ceasefire between the conflict parties to allow for humanitarian relief and solutions for the refugee crisis. The recommendations were discussed in the German media (articles in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the Tagesspiegel). CSSP is in exchange with regional experts and stands ready to assist Germany to assess the potential role of civil society for conflict transformation in East Libya.

MENA

With the current events in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region CSSP developed a concept on how to integrate civil society into a dialogue between local and European organizations. CSSP advocates that civilian crisis management should be an integral part of any short to long term planning of German and European foreign and development policy. Europe is sending to many negative signals to the people in the region. Societies in the MENA region feel left alone by European support as expert exchange and political consultations normally happen behind closed doors. CSSP recommends to German and European decision makers to set up diverse teams of diplomats, politicians, experts and representatives of civil society to assess the real needs of their counterparts in this transition times. The transformation process will only lead to democratic change if the civil society is involved in the decision making of the region's future. Examples from other countries have shown that democratic development can turn sour if civic movements are not turned into political partnerships. CSSP is preparing to travel soon to the region and asses potential partners in the region. After the assessment a report with findings will be published. Additionally, CSSP will organize an exchange for German and European counterparts on the subject at its Berlin Center.

January 2011

Newsletter January 2011

In January 2011 we published our first newsletter of this year. It looks back at the Western Balkans and our activities in the last three months of 2010. We explain our work and draw some major conclusions. If you want to learn more about it, please take a look into the newsletter and feel free to send us any comments or thoughts on it.

Julius Goldmann back in the office

As of 24 January 2011 Julius Goldmann is back from his parental leave. He took over the position of Head of Training and will develop the training material for the projects. He will also accompany the projects with conceptualization and planning and will be available as expert mediator. We are very happy to have him back in the office and are looking forward to working with him again.

Luckily, Dr. Christina Stenner who replaced him during his paternal leave is also staying with us and will continue her position as project manager for Macedonia and Serbia.

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CSSP in UN report on "Civilian capacity in the aftermath of conflict"

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon released the report of an independent advisory board on "civilian capacity in the aftermath of conflict", chaired by Jean-Marie Guéhenno (former Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations). The report aims to analyse how the United Nations and the international community can help broaden and deepen the pool of civilian experts to support the immediate capacity-development needs of countries emerging from conflict. CSSP supports the approach to combine multi-track and multi-stakeholder processes in which state and non-state actors will have to work closer together. Together with Berghof Peace Support, CSSP is the only German actor listed in the „Sub-cluster mediation, good offices and conflict resolution". Presenting the results of the senior advisory group, Mr. Guéhenno, resumed: "If we can harness both national and global capacities, and deploy them efficiently, then we can deliver better results, faster."

Previous to the acknowledgement of the UN and since early 2010, the team of CSSP, together with its colleagues in Brussels, started to support the implementation of the „Concept on Strengthening EU Mediation and Dialogue Capacities". CSSP is also participating in an exchange with the Subcommittee on Civilian Conflict Management of the Bundestag on Germany's contribution to multi-track peacebuilding.

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March 2011

"The more beautiful and full the remembrances, the more difficult the separation. But gratitude transforms the torment of memory into silent joy."

 -  Dietrich Bonhoeffer  -

Javor Pobrić

1954 - 2011

Our friend and colleague Javor has passed away recently. We from CSSP are missing him a lot.

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February 2011

SEEMF Mediation Conference Report 2010

A documentary report of the annual SEEMF Mediation Conference in Durres in October 2010 has been published.

The report contains the presentations on mediation and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms in the various countries of the region and summarizes the outcomes of the different workshops held during the conference.

For more details on newest mediation issues in the South Eastern European Region please have a look into the report. You can download it here or directly from the SEEMF webpage.

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December 2010

Workshop in Landshut on 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.

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.

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November 2010

GTZ Winter Academy at Hertie School of Governance

On 3rd November Mr. Juan Diaz provided a one day workshop on negotiation skills and leadership during the GTZ Winter Academy on “Transformation Lawyers – Legal Dialog for Legal Transformation” for young lawyers from the Caucasus. The programme was part of the GTZ Caucasus Initiative which promotes cooperation between the different countries in the Caucasus region. For more information please visit their webpage:

www.gtz.de

CSSP on webpage of Macedonian Parliament

CSSP has been in Macedonia in late October to meet the members of the Committee for Inter-Community Relations (CICR). This body has been established in accordance with the Ohrid Framework Agreement, however, until today it is confronted with various problems and challenges that effect on the proper functioning. CSSP therefore met the members to assess the perceived problems and to find out in what way CSSP can support this body.

See the webpage here:

www.sobranie.mk (Macedonian)

www.sobranie.mk (Albanian)

The article describes the purpose of the meetings among CSSP and some of the members of the CICR and explains that the CICR is an important body concerning inter-community relations in Macedonia. As an outcome of the Ohrid Framework Agreement the body should not avoid debates on questions concerning inter-community relations. The article concludes that the body is functioning partly, but propositions were made on how to improve the outcome of the CICR and recollects the importance of the CICR for the multi-ethnic make-up of the state.

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October 2010

SEEMF Mediation Conference in Durres

In October the South Eastern Europe Mediation Forum (SEEMF) had its annual conference in Durres, Albania. On the Regional Forum mediators from the region came together to exchange ideas on developing alternative dispute resolution and mediation mechanisms in South Eastern Europe.

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September 2010

Interactive Training
Communities Committees of Ferizaj/Uroševać and Štrpce/ Shtërpcë

Partners Kosovo and CSSP jointly conducted an interactive training for the communities committees of Ferizaj/Uroševać and Štrpce/ Shtërpcë. During the two-day training participants were trained in problem-solving and communication skills and worked on collaborative processes and  on increasing the understanding of their mandate. 

Presentation on Integrative Mediation in the Western Balkans
to Projektgruppe zivile Konfliktbearbeitung Rhein-Main

On 10 September 2010, Brigitta von Messling presented on the contribution of the Integrative Mediation approach to peace-building in the Western Balkans at the meeting of the Projektgruppe Zivile Konfliktbearbeitung Rhein-Main in the Landeszentrale für Politische Bildung Rheinland Pfalz in Mainz.  During the meeting attended by different peace-building organizations from Rheinland-Pfalz, Ms. von Messling discussed the challenges and successes of Integrative Mediation and elaborated on a specific Integrative Mediation process at the municipal level in Kosovo.  

 
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July 2010

EUPM Interactive Mediation Training

CSSP and the EU Police Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (EUPM) organized a joint mediation training in July. The training was a first pilot training together with an ESDP mission. The programme was based on the “EU Concept on Strengthening Mediation and Dialogue”. The training for selected staff of the mission focused on understanding third-party interventions, interest-based problem-solving, interactive experiential learning, working in political mediation processes and developing communication skills in conflict resolution. 

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June 2010

Joint Meeting
Working Group of Social and Political Integration South Serbia

CSSP seeks to further institutionalize the communication on the issues of importance between the municipalities of South Serbia and the state ministries in Belgrade. In order to strengthen these institutions, CSSP together with Partners Serbia and Rational Games Inc facilitated a meeting of the local members of the Working Group for Social and Political Integration. In two days, the group discussed the main issues of social and political integration in South Serbia and began to develop a strategy on how to create a common platform for integrative policies towards all citizens of the three municipalities.

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May 2010

Interactive Training
Municipal Assembly Štrpce/ Shtërpcë

In order to support the new multi-community leadership of the municipality of Štrpce/ Shtërpcë, CSSP provided an interactive training with the municipal assembly to strengthen cooperation among the members and build their skills as political representatives. Over three days the municipal members discussed issues of concern to the municipality, prioritized needs of the citizens and developed action plans on how to move forward on the most pressing issues.

Kumanovo Assesment Trip

CSSP met with several political leaders, civil society members and government officials to finalize its analysis of the status of community relations inside the municipality. As general assessments of this visit, CSSP sees that inter-community relations in Macedonia are currently stagnating and leading to an increasing separation of the communities. CSSP is working to support the Committee on Inter-Community Relations which has a direct mandate from the Ohrid Framework Agreement.

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April 2010

Nachmittagsgespräch

On April 21, 2010 CSSP held a Nachmittagsgespräch in the premises of the German Parliament to announce the publication of the KFOR report and to discuss its conclusions. Due to the approaching decision of the German Parliament on the mandate of the German Military Contingent in Kosovo interest in the event was high.

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Publications

KFOR Report

In April 2010 CSSP has broad the results of its latest report about KFOR's contribution to peacebuilding in Kosovo. The German Parliament had to renew the mandate for German troops in May and a lot of attention was brought to the discussion. The report, written by a CSSP researcher in Kosovo, looked into municipalities where CSSP is engaged and brought KFOR's activities in peacebuilding into correlation of inter-community mediation. The report can be downloaded here: KFOR Report

ANNUAL REPORT 2009

2009 was an eventful and crucial year for the Balkan region and an important year for our organisation. The work of CSSP was very successful as you will discover in our CSSP Annual Report 2009.

In 2009 CSSP implemented projects in more than 10 municipalities in Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia and Bosnia and has further activities in the region, interactive training, systematic advocacy, conflict analysis, stakeholder consultation, and inter-community mediation.

We advanced our methodology - Integrative Mediation - and developed further tools for conflict analysis and evaluation which are part of the Multitrack Peace Mediation Course in 2011, developed jointly with Berghof Peace Support, Inmedio and CSSP.

The projects presented in the report could not operate without our supporters and partners. We thank them for their dedication to CSSP and to our mutual vision of peaceful and locally owned inter-community resolution of conflicts.

We hope the CSSP Annual Report 2009 will serve to inform you about our work.

The report can be downloaded here: CSSP ANNUAL REPORT 2009