PROJECTS // 

The Black Sea Peacebuilding Network

The Black Sea Peacebuilding Network (BSPN) is a project that engages leading think-tanks and NGOs from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Moldova to motor a Black Sea regional network on peacebuilding with strong linkages at the European level. The partners of the network are Crisis Management Initiative (CMI), ICHD, Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, Helsinki Citizens Assembly - Azerbaijan National Committee. The network enables a solid basis for the development of national and regional civil society peacebuilding forums.

The objectives of the network are: (a) to continue to foster local ownership and regional collaboration between NGOs in the Black Sea area; (b) to create linkage to civil society from specific conflict-settings; (c) to forge common approaches of key regional actors and the EU to strengthen the role of civil society and unlock their peacemaking potential; (d) to strengthen peacebuilding capacities at local policy and grass roots level; (e) to improve efficient communication and advocacy at the EU policy level by providing opportunities for networking.

In December 2009 Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) held a one day dialogue meeting in Tbilisi that convened the representatives of CMI’s regional partner organizations as well as selected members of the Peacebuilding Expert Councils from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Republic of Moldova. After the "Black Sea Peacebuilding Network" Project launch in May 2009, this was again an opportunity for all the parties involved in this initiative to discuss the results achieved by each country partner and each new established civil society expert council over the 6 months of project implementation.

Peacebuilding Expert Council in Armenia

During the 2009 project implementation, ICHD experienced several challenges in establishing a large, inclusive council due to lack of time and insufficiently polished selection mechanisms of the expert members. For this reason, the Peacebuilding Expert Council in Armenia, currently composed of 10 members is still in the process of fine-tuning its internal procedures and organizational structure. In order to consider the local organizational culture and traditions, and to adapt the Peacebuilding Expert Council structure to the needs of the civil society in Armenia, the members of the council dedicated one of their meetings to developing a Memorandum of Understanding regarding the internal work of the network. The document was aimed at detailing the procedure of the membership to the network while setting relevant responsibilities. In that occasion the members of the Peacebuilding Expert Council have reiterated the adoption of the Chatham House rules, and specified additional disciplinary issues. Despite all these structural problems, the ICHD organized 4 meetings inviting a number of speakers and consulting several external experts. According to recent estimations, approximately 80 experts have participated in the discussions and contributed to the development of policy briefs prepared by ICHD in Armenian and English. The meetings of the Peacebuilding Expert Council in Armenia were organized around the following topics: Nagorno-Karaback Issue and the role of Europe; Will the open border between Turkey and Armenia contribute to the enhanced role of BSEC? Black Sea NGO Forum: Imitation vs. Reality; NGO Law: What Are the Next Steps?

The results of the discussions and recommendations were advocated at a national level by ICHD who kept a permanent communication with key decision makers and representatives of the Armenian political leadership. The report is available at the CMI's website.

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