Reflections on Peace Mediation

Mediating Peace in Africa: Securing Conflict Prevention

Addis Ababa, 10 March 2009

Honorable Colleagues,
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

With the foundation of the African Union and contribution of some key individuals, such as former Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Africa is entering into a new era of conflict resolution and peace mediation.

The scale of the challenge is sobering. Africa suffers from a number of conflicts – according to one measure seventy eight conflicts were raging during 2008 with twelve of these being highly violent. Africa, according to research, loses around $18bn per year due to wars, civil wars, and insurgencies. On average, an armed conflict shrinks an African nation’s economy by 15 per cent, and this is probably a conservative estimate. The strengthening of the AU’s Mediation capacity is a recognition that finding ways to solve these conflicts is the means to demonstrate that Africa can address this problem.

The Africa Union will set an example for other regional organizations to develop the capacity to mediate within the global framework of the United Nations. The United Nations is the most important ‘peace-making’ body – there is no alternative. But the UN cannot do it all alone. It is often constrained and over-burdened with mandates for which it does not have adequate resources. It is now the obligation of regional organizations such as the African Union to contribute to the mission of the United Nations.

I am a citizen of the European Union. My experience as an eternally displaced person as a Karelian Finn have shown challenges and the opportunities of peace from my early childhood. It is not that long ago that Europe was in a full-scale war. Today, I am proud that the European Union seeks to share its experiences and values of peace with the world. This has underpinned the EU commitment to the shared priority to place the promotion of peace and security at the heart of the Africa-EU Strategic Partnership. It is encouraging that this is a commitment backed up with more than just words: I am sure my colleague from the EU will remind us that the EU’s African Peace Facility has been by far the most important source of funding to support the African Peace & Security Agenda.

I am particularly pleased, therefore, to offer my strongest endorsement of the Finnish initiative to support the partnership between CMI, ACCORD and the AU in further developing the AU mediation capacity and I am hopeful that Finland will take a leading role in the deepening of the AU-EU exchanges on mediation.

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Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today, I would like to share with you six insights that I have gained during my career and in the hope they may trigger thinking and discussion during this conference and hopefully beyond.

1: A peace process is ONE essential building block in building peace but not all.

My first point concerns context: The role of a mediator must be understood as being only one part of a peace process.

In the life of a conflict, the most effective but least publicized mediation lies in the prevention of that conflict. The mediator is central to preventive diplomacy. Consider the lives and enormous sums of money that could be saved if we had increased recognition and engagement of mediators earlier in the stages of conflict. But, early warning systems and mechanisms are only effective instruments when they trigger action. But we also know that conflicts do occur. In this instance, one can compare the role of a Mediator to that of a midwife: we can assist the parties to come to a peace agreement, but the child – peace – is owned by the parties. Sometimes such a process can take years. The conditions for peace to grow needs to be in place. For Africa in particular, this means that poverty needs to be eradicated, and human security for all people need to be provided for. Democratic governance and economic development will allow peace to flourish and become sustainable.

Living in a multimedia world, we too quickly forget the suffering of a people or a nation-state when they are no longer part of the headline news. From my experience in Africa, Asia and Europe, I know that a peace agreement is just a beginning. Post conflict reconciliation is an equally vital part of the peace process. The hard work only starts after a peace agreement has been concluded. The agreements reached have to be implemented. This is why a peace agreement must benefit from measures to observe, monitor and reward a peace process. Sufficient resources have to be provided to provide for lasting peace.

I have been impressed with the willpower of the African people to come to peace through their efforts in reconciliation. Reconciliation requires long term dialogue of the people torn by conflict, it requires painful questions to be addressed, and it requires a fundamental commitment for peace by all involved. Such a process takes years, yes, even generations. What always impressed me most during my Africa years was the ability of Africans to forgive. This is a rare gift. Unfortunately I have not witnessed the same in Europe.

2. Values are anchors in peacemaking

People consistently ask me what a good mediator is. As each conflict and each mediator is unique, this is a question that is not easy to answer. The answer is: it depends. The most important resources that a mediator can rely on is his or her own values. And maybe not surprisingly, these values come from our upbringing and our beliefs, some of which maybe culturally bound, but many of which are universal. The bringing out of a peace mediator and sharing these essential values is probably what makes mediation an art.

One value that has come with my Nordic upbringing just like my African colleagues, is that we need to give conflicting parties the sufficient space to speak and listen with our mind and heart. Asking the right questions will get the parties to find answers to their problems themselves. We, as mediators lead the process by supporting the parties, and this is what produces results.

We have to be positive and encouraging: The nicest compliment I have been given was by an Eritrean economist who said that he wanted to spend a year with me to learn how one says difficult things in a nice manner. For me, it means to believe always in the good in people, and also that conflicting parties need constant encouragement. One of my profound beliefs is that all conflicts can be resolved. Wars and conflicts are not inevitable. They are caused by human beings. There are always interests that are furthered by war. Therefore those who have power and influence can also stop them.

Openness and transparency is another value but let us not fall into the trap of believing that such values cannot be cultivated. There will be those who resist openness and transparency since it threatens their power. But there are always ways which can be found to build the necessary trust to encourage the kind of openness and transparency. This is a crucial tool towards peaceful resolution of disputes.

Gender equality and sensitivity in peace making is another value I care about and will continue to advocate for. In Africa and elsewhere we find many women as able facilitators in conflict resolution, but too seldom we recognize the importance of including women in top level negotiations, nor do we – the international community - appoint enough women mediators. Why we do not do that, is simply a mystery to me.

On the subject of values, let me address the vexing question of how to reconcile the values and principles of justice with those of peace. Peace and justice are not and cannot be opposites. Nevertheless, we have seen specific cases, and not least on the African continent, where mediators face very real dilemmas concerning the scope of peace agreements and their relation to international law. My own personal view is based on my experience as a mediator not as a jurist. A mediator is not a prosecutor. A mediator acts in the shadow of international law, but needs to be given the necessary discretion during peace negotiations. Certainly no blanket amnesties for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity are acceptable but local solutions must be allowed to emerge and develop to allow reconciliation.

3. We need to open our minds when resolving conflicts

When talking about peace mediation we most often refer to internal conflicts, it is evident that the very principle of sovereignty is most often at stake. This is particularly the case with Africa, where ethnic grievance can be both cause and consequence of conflict. Acknowledging the interests of parties or people in conflict, however, does not have to result in changing state boundaries. It is about ensuring the human security of all, including minorities. Mediating towards better governance is preferable to mediating a separation. And here many options are possible. Mediators need to take care to investigate how needs can be balanced by fair distribution of power and resources to parties, recognize the rights and plight of minorities, and allow for cultural diversity.

To many, peace negotiations are seen to be conducted by small elite. But peace mediators do not work alone: indeed working in isolation is a recipe for failure.
All my peace assignments have taught me that a peace process is largely a matter of cooperation and partnership between different actors, parties to a conflict, other peace mediators, governments, the civil society and international organizations. Namibia is an excellent example of this. The process leading to Namibian independence was long and required strong commitment and determination from the Namibians. We managed to get all the key actors, the Western five (US, UK, France, Germany and Canada), the Soviet Union, the Organisation of African Unity, (represented by the African front-line states), the South-African government and all the political parties in Namibia, including SWAPO, to work towards a shared goal. It also taught that a durable solution can only be found if one is also prepared to engage in discussions with your political opponents.

In this context, we need to be acutely aware of the role of mediation support.

I have had the opportunity to work with many highly qualified colleagues in different peace processes. Their flexibility to engage in processes, to reach out to parties that some state actors have impediments to link in, their expertise and insights is something that needs to be integral to our approach to mediation. In other words, specialized organisations in this field such as the Crisis Management Initiative, or the coorganiser of this conference, ACCORD, as well as others non governmental organisations present here today are important centres of excellence that do and can support capacity building and engagement in mediation efforts. They are part of the core business.

4. Inspire and Transform with Mediation

Successful conflict resolution inspires others in conflict to take the courage to embark on the path of peacemaking. This was also the case with Namibia which I believe inspired South Africans to begin the process of democratic change. The more effectively we engage in mediation at all levels of conflict, the more we will create hope for others engaged in conflict that peacemaking is also a way to realize the interests of conflict parties.

Mediation that is geared to building peace inevitably requires the transformation of society at all levels. This work is not simply the monopoly of governments. Lasting peace and reconciliation need a constituency and this is only acquired through the participation of institutions outside of government. This is why I want to stress the importance of engaging civil society in an effective way, parallel and integral to a peace process. They are the clients of the conflict parties; they are essential institutions of society that will bear the burden of ensuring reconciliation. We have to be open to their concerns, even and especially if they do have different aspirations of the negotiating parties. Their involvement in the process is a necessity.

5. Cultivating the next generation of peacemakers

Mediation in Africa as well as elsewhere in the world is carried out by seasoned and experienced practitioners. We must now cultivate the future generation of peace-makers. Whilst my generation has practiced mediation more as an art, we should support its systematization, based on the understanding of needs. I know from my experience that a mediation process has many and in most crucial times technical aspects which the mediator alone cannot manage him or herself. The more readily available and tailored those instruments and expertise we have, the more efficient we will become. Mediation is also a skill. There are outstanding young professionals in this field that we need to mentor and give them the opportunity to practice, learn and build capacity.

6. Shouldering responsibility – sharing peace

I am seriously concerned about the large number of conflicts that the international community has not solved. We should never accept and allow that some conflicts remain frozen forever, and in consequence people suffer. A peace process is important but we have to be result oriented. This means more skills, more resources, and more pressure from the international community. Each unresolved conflict is to be seen as a vital challenge. We must, together, learn from our experiences. Learning has many dimensions: we need to reflect on our past efforts and capture them in a way that they can be easily shared, to improve, and not to forget our mistakes. We need to do so in a focused and meaningful manner. And, maybe most importantly, we need to accept that there are things that we can still learn about making peace.

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Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am proud that the government of Finland, has made a firm commitment to assist in the building of building mediation capacity on the African continent through a partnership between the AU, ACCORD and CMI. This partnership will bring expertise and support to ensure AU mediators, AU Special Representatives, and mechanisms such as the Panel of the Wise, with to bring peace to the African continent. May I wish you good success in today’s conference with good opportunity to maybe discuss some of the issues that I have raised.